The unsuccessful resolution of the conflicts engendered by a platonic love affair at fourteen years of age was probably a major determinant of (1) Flaubert's subsequent turning away from any lasting relationship with a woman and (2) the choice of a literary career. This study focuses on Flaubert's adolescent literary productions; the basic recurrent themes of his subsequent writings can be found in these adolescent works. From fourteen years of age he was already preoccupied with love, incest, adultery, and sadomasochistic fantasies. The drive behind his prodigious literary output can be interpreted as an unconscious attempt to master his deep-seated conflicts. Inferences drawn from Flaubert's fiction are clearly supported by his correspondence and diary notations.