PlanetPapers.com RSS Feedhttps://www.planetpapers.com/ Madame Bovary is a Universal text GUSTAVE FLAUBERT ONCE REMARKED, “Madame Bovary, c’est moi” (“Madame Bovary is me”). On the surface, this comment seems ridiculous; the circumstances of Flaubert’s life have nothing in common with those he created for his most famous character. However his reasons for writing and the techniques he administers in portraying his characters make it obvious that he was the basis for the character of Emma Bovary. Of course he failed to add that so are you and I, we are all the victims of unrealized or unrealisable dreams. Written in the mid-nineteenth century “Madame Bovary” is the portrait of a female adulterer who seeks freedom from a dull, disappointing life and ultimately is destroyed by her selfishness and sin. Emma is a country girl educated in a convent and married to Charles Bovary (a dull and unremarkable doctor) at a young age. She holds idealistic romantic fantasies, longs for sophistication, sensuality, and passion, and lapses into fits of extreme boredom and depression when her life fails to match the soppy romantic novels she treasures. Hoping that this marriage will fulfil her romantic and sexual fantasies ands solve all her problems she is greatly disgusted by the monotony and lack of passion. The Bovary’s meet Homais, the town pharmacist, a pompous windbag who loves to hear himself speak. Emma also meets Leon, a law clerk, who, like her, is bored with rural life and loves to escape through romantic novels. When Emma gives birth to her daughter, motherhood disappoints her—she had wanted a son—and she continues to be downhearted. Romantic feelings blossom between Emma and Leon; however Emma feels guilty and throws herself into the role of a dutiful wife. Leon grows tired of waiting and departs to study law in Paris. His departure makes Emma miserable. Soon, at an agricultural fair, a wealthy neighbor named Rodolphe, who is attracted by Emma’s beauty, declares his love to her. He seduces her, and they begin having a passionate affair. Emma is often indiscreet, and the townspeople all gossip about her. However, refusing to elope with her, Rodolphe leaves her. Heartbroken, Emma grows desperately ill and nearly dies. By the time Emma recovers, Charles is in financial trouble from having to borrow money to pay off Emma’s debts and to pay for her treatment. Still, he decides to take Emma to the opera in the nearby city of Rouen. There, they encounter Leon and 2005-03-07T10:03:47-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Madame-Bovary-is-a-Universal-text-6050.aspx Madame Bovary vs. The Awakening Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert and The Awakening by Kate Chopin both show the life of a woman in a half-dreamy stupor, overzealously running around looking for something but not knowing what it is they are looking for. They feel immensely dissatisfied with the lives they are stuck with and find suicide to be the only alternative. The two books, Madame Bovary, written in 1857 and The Awakening, written in 1899, both have the theme of confinement and free-will, yet differ vastly with respect to the yearnings of the main characters. In addition, Edna and Emma, the protagonists of Madame Bovary and The Awakening respectively, are faced with a conflict between external oppression and their own free will, which eventually leads them to take their lives. Edna and Emma have vastly different yearnings yet similar reasons for suicide. Edna’s and Emma’s yearnings are vastly different, if not opposite. Edna yearns for an uncontrolled lifestyle because her current lifestyle leaves her feeling like a possession. She yearns to break that label; she fights to do as she wishes. Her moving into the Pigeon house, shedding of layers of restrictive clothing, and having affairs with Robert and Arobin show this feeling of confinement. Emma, on the other hand, wants to indulge in what Edna fights against; she wants to be owned and attempts to achieve self-fulfillment through romantic attachments, whereas Edna wants to break away from all attachment, especially family and society. Emma’s yearnings are shown through her affairs with Leonce and Rudolphe, her unrestricted spending of money, and through her thoughts and feelings of discontent. Emma yearned to escape the monotony of her life; she coveted sophistication, sensuality, and passion, and lapsed into extreme boredom when her life did not fit the model of what she believed it should be. Emma merged her dream world with reality without knowing it in order to survive the monotony of her existence, while ultimately destroying her. It is not her intellect, but her capacity to dream and to wish to transform the world to fit her dreams, which sets her apart from Edna. For instance, at the scene where Emma and Charles go to the La Vanbyessard’s château, Emma is awestruck by a fat, uncouth, upperclassman. At the head of the table, alone among the ladies, an old man sat hunched over his filled plate, wearing his napkin around his neck like a child 2001-02-09T13:00:00-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Madame-Bovary-vs_-The-Awakening-2853.aspx Madame Bovary <center><b><i>For Lack of a Better Man</i></b></center> Gustave Flaubert presents one extreme side of human life many would very much rather think does not exist. He presents a tale of sensual symbolism within the life of Charles Bovary. Madame Bovary is the story of Emma Bovary, but within the scope of symbolic meaning, the make-up of Charles is addressed. It is representative of deep sadness and a despondent outlook on life whose many symbols are, at times, as deeply embedded in the story line as a thorn in a callous heel. The elements making up the very person of Charles Bovary remain excruciatingly evident, haunting his every move. Symbolic of his yearning for inner fulfillment, Charles Bovary presents to be a man in search of an unknown sensual satisfaction. It is no wonder, with the detailed writing the French government attempted to censor Flaubert when Madame Bovary was published in 1856. Although the vast majority of theorems penned revolve about the life of Emma, the character of Charles requires examining. In the opening scenes, Charles Bovary is seen entering a favorite “dive” of escape, an escape from the realities of life. The cafés he frequented appear as “dirty public rooms” (Flaubert 834) housing his passion for the game of dominoes. His obsession and pleasure from this simple entertainment are exposed as Flaubert describes Charles entrance into the den of dominoes. “[His esteem] was beginning to see life, the sweetness of stolen pleasures; and when he entered, he put his hand on the door handle with a joy almost sensual” (Flaubert 834). What, other than a profound uneasiness within his personal life, could bring about so explicit a pleasure from the entering to a dark, dank room? Charles’ life as a student of medicine is one of avoidance. His lack of sincerity and devotion is shown via the “mother hen” role, which his mother took in excusing his inadequacies. His insincerity and hypocrisy is indicative of one with no foresight. He lives now, exists now, and thinks now, not of what is to come, but of what is now. The author explains how he grew passive toward his presumed goal: medicine. In the beginning, he would miss one lecture in a day. Then, the next day, he would miss all lectures. Eventually, because of his inner thirst for self-satisfaction, he would become idle to the point he would give up work altogether (Flaubert 834). Charles is a 2000-05-17T14:00:00-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Madame-Bovary-1969.aspx Madame Bovary: Windows Windows frequently appear in the novel Madame Bovary. Emma is constantly peering out of windows. Windows are a symbol of hope and dreams, and also escape. A window is a device that allows light to shine in, and Emma would use the time she sat in front of the window thinking about her lovers, her favourite thing to do. Emma would also imagine other things. "Sometimes in the afternoon a man’s head would appear at the living room window: bronzed face, black sideburns and a slow, gentle gleaming open 1999-12-28T13:00:00-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Madame-Bovary-Windows-1537.aspx Madame Bovary The novel Madame Bovary was written by Gustave Flaubert in 1856. Flaubert was born in 1821, in Rouen, France. His father, being a doctor, caused him to be very familiar with the horrible sights of the hospital, which he in turn uses in his writings. In this novel, Charles Bovary, an undereducated doctor of medicine has two wives in his life. The first, Madame Dubuc, died. Emma Rouault, his second wife, after many affairs commits suicide. The doom of Charles and Emma's marriage is described by an elaborate connection of symbolic relations. The relationships of the shutter's sealing bang, Emma's long dress that keeps her from happiness, the plaster priest that conveys the actions of the couple, the restless greyhound, and Emma burning her wedding bouquet are all images of eternal doom to the couple's marriage. Charles Bovary first met Emma Rouault when he was on a medical call to fix her father's broken leg. Not long after his arrival Emma catches his interest. Her actions satisfy his hearts need for a young, fresh mind and body. The old widow that he is currently married to dies of chagrin. Charles is sadden by this but his mind stays on Emma. After frequent visits to her farm, even after her father's leg was healed, Charles gives a thought about if he would like to marry Emma but he is uncertain. Her father sees Charles' interest in his daughter and takes it upon himself to engage the two. He waits until Charles is departing and then confronts him about the engagement. As expected Charles accepts the marriage and the father runs to the house to receive Emma's acceptance. This was to be shown by the opening of a shutter door. "Suddenly he heard a sound from the house: the shutter had slammed against the wall; the catch was still quivering" (Flaubert 21). The sound that the shutter makes is the beginning of an end. The bang seals the never-ending doom of the couple's marriage (Turnell 101). Emma's wedding is a special occasion. It is held in the far off pasture of their farm. After all the guests arrive the wedding procession proceeds to the pasture. As they walk "...she stopped to raise it [her dress], and daintily, with her gloved hands, to pick off the wild grasses and prickly thistles" (Flaubert 23). Her dress is symbolic of the obstacles to her happiness. She is 1999-06-06T14:00:00-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Madame-Bovary-712.aspx Madame Bovary: The Tragic Love Triangle of Yonville Gustave Flubert's masterpiece, Madame Bovary, was first published in 1857. The novel shocked many of its readers and caused a chain reaction that spread through all of France and ultimately called for the prosecution of the author. Since that time however, Madame Bovary, has been recognized by literature critics as being the model for the present literary period, being the realistic novel period. It is now considered a novel of great worth and one which contains an important and moving plot. In addition, it provides a standard against which to compare the works of writers to follow. It is nearly impossible to truly understand modern European and American fiction without reading, Madame Bovary. Charles Bovary, the only son of a middle-class family, became a doctor and set up his practice in a rural village. He then married a women who was quite older then himself. He was unhappily married to her saying that "Her dresses barely hung on her bony frame", This coming right before her death. Upon his wife's death, Charles married an attractive young women named Emma Roualt, the daughter of one of his patients. Emma married Charles with overwhelming expectations. She thought marriage would be filled with three things, "bliss, passion, and ecstasy". Emma had a character that was 1) dissatisfied 2) adulterous and 3) free spending. For a while she was excited and pleased by her marriage, but overwhelmed by her new life, she quickly became dissatisfied. As a result of her dissatisfaction she became mentally ill. For the sake of her health the Bovary's moved to a new town, Yonville, where their daughter was born. Emma's unhappiness continued, and she began to have romantic feelings toward Leon, a young law clerk. After Leon left the town in order to attend law school. Emma's boredom and frustration became more intense after Leon left. She began to forget her role as a wife and mother. Charles tried many times to please but none of his efforts were successful, and she did not value or understand Charles' love for her. Finally Emma had an adulterous affair with Rodolphe, a local land owner. Upon realizing Emma's intentions of an affair with him he states that he is "Gasping for love", and this wins her heart over. Rodolphe then leaves for a period of six weeks and Emma then becomes seriously ill again. After her recovery, Rodolphe returns and the only explanation 1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Madame-Bovary-The-Tragic-Love-Triangle-of-Yonville-64.aspx