Charles Bovary

The novel's most underrated character may be Charles Bovary — Emma's husband, a mediocre doctor who loves her with genuine, clumsy devotion. He cannot see her affairs, match her aspirations, or understand why she is unhappy. After her death, he finds her love letters and dies of grief. Flaubert treats him with both compassion and cruelty, which captures the novel's moral complexity. Charles is boring, but he is also good — kind, faithful, and devoted.