How long does it take to read Madame Bovary?
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert is 115,561 words long. At an average reading speed of 250 words per minute, it takes about 7 hours 42 minutes to read — a substantial novel.
Reading time at your speed
Reading speed varies more than most people expect — the gap between a slow and a fast reader is more than double. Find your row, or take the reading speed test to get your real number first.
| Reading speed | Words per minute | Time to finish |
|---|---|---|
| Slowcareful reading, or reading in a second language | 150 wpm | 12 hours 50 minutes |
| Below averageunhurried, easily distracted, or a dense text | 200 wpm | 9 hours 38 minutes |
| Averagewhat most adults read at | 250 wpm | 7 hours 42 minutes |
| Fasta confident, practised reader | 325 wpm | 5 hours 56 minutes |
| Very fastskimming, or very familiar material | 400 wpm | 4 hours 49 minutes |
These times assume you read English comfortably. Dense prose and period vocabulary slow most readers down, so if this is your first classic in English, plan for noticeably longer than the table says.
How long if you read a bit each day?
Almost nobody reads a novel in one sitting. Here is how Madame Bovary breaks down at an average 250 wpm, depending on how much time you give it each day.
| Reading a day | Days to finish | That is |
|---|---|---|
| 10 minutes | 47 days | about 2 months |
| 15 minutes | 31 days | about 1 months |
| 30 minutes | 16 days | about 2 weeks |
| 60 minutes | 8 days | about a week |
How long is each chapter?
Madame Bovary has 35 chapters, averaging 3,302 words — about 13m each. The longest is Chapter 17 at 31m; the shortest is Chapter 27 at 3m. Useful if you read a chapter a night.
Chapter times at 250 wpm.
Start Madame Bovary today
350 pages, level B2-C1. Free on the 12-month plan, with a reading tracker, tap-to-translate vocabulary and a short quiz.
Common questions
How long does it take to read Madame Bovary?
Madame Bovary is 115,561 words long. At an average adult reading speed of 250 words per minute that is about 7 hours 42 minutes. A slower reader at 150 wpm needs around 12 hours 50 minutes; a fast reader at 400 wpm finishes in roughly 4 hours 49 minutes.
How many words is Madame Bovary?
Madame Bovary is 115,561 words across 35 chapters, which is a substantial novel. Of the 26 classics on readClassicly, 2 are longer and 23 are shorter.
Can I read Madame Bovary in a day?
It is possible, but it would take most of a day. At 250 wpm Madame Bovary runs to about 7 hours 42 minutes of continuous reading. Spread over about a week at an hour a day it is far more comfortable.
Is Madame Bovary hard to read?
At CEFR level B2-C1, Madame Bovary is moderately challenging, best suited to strong B2 to C1 readers. You can read it free at readClassicly and tap any word you don't know to look it up, which keeps a harder classic from stalling you.
Reading a classic to learn English?
readClassicly has a free plan for English reading for beginners: graded classic stories with tap-to-define words, audio, and a short quiz after each one. Start at your level and build up to full books like this one. If you are just starting, begin with the short English stories for beginners.