The haberdasher of the town of Yonville and an informal moneylender. Lheureux cleverly senses people's weaknesses (especially Emma's passion for splendor and shopping) and entraps them in debt with a fake amiability. At first, he seems to demand no payment and imposes goods; then, he binds his prey tightly with the promissory notes he makes them sign and the renewals of those notes. He is the chief architect of Emma's financial journey to suicide.
He is from Gascony and later came to Normandy. There are rumors that he has been involved in shady businesses such as smuggling or pawn-brokering in various places.
An oily-skinned, clean-shaven man with a face as dark as if it had been dyed with licorice water, sparkling dark eyes, grey hair though still vigorous, and someone typically walking around with boxes in his hands.
Emma Bovary
To him, she is just an account to be inflated; he ruins her by playing on her weaknesses.