Madame Bovary Essay - 1427 Words

Madame Bovary is a novel by author Gustave Flaubert in which one woman’s provincial bourgeois life becomes an expansive commentary on class, gender, and social roles in nineteenth-century France. Emma Bovary is the novel’s eponymous antiheroine who uses deviant behavior and willful acts of indiscretion to reject a lifestyle imposed upon her by an oppressive patriarchal society. Madame Bovary’s struggle to circumvent and overthrow social roles reflects both a cultural and an existential critique of gender and class boundaries, and her unwillingness to tolerate the banalities of domestic life in a predetermined caste culminates in several distinct means of defiance. Emma Bovary exploits traditional cultural values such as marriage,†¦show more content†¦Her relationship with the wealthy, charming Rodolphe Boulanger is a diversion from tedious country life as well as an intentional subversion of the establishment of marriage and an attempt to undermine her husband’s authority. After her first conjugal transgression, Emma distinctly feels â€Å"the satisfaction of revenge† and â€Å"savoured [sic] it without remorse, without anxiety, without worry† (161). Though her husband Charles is guiltless of cruelty or vice he is representative of a patriarchy that is entirely neglectful of the emotional, psychological, and intellectual needs of women and assertive of its superiority and power. She is expected to fulfill the duties of a simple-minded, submissive, and sexless creature who is devoted to the comfort of her family and upkeep of the home. By pursuing a sexual relationship with Rodolphe, Emma invalidates the authority of the prohibitive government institution over her actions and demands autonomy in the face of a banal provincial life. Material possessions are both a comfort and a preoccupation for Emma Bovary and she is largely defined by her identity as a consumer and her efforts to subvert traditional materialism through excess. Attending a ball at the home of the Marquis de Andervilliers is one of the defining moments in Emma’s life, in which she receives a glimpse into the life of the aristocracy and experiences a fleeting sense ofShow MoreRelatedMadame Bovary Relationship1574 Words   |  7 PagesIn Gustav Flaubert’s novel Madame Bovary, Emily and Charles’ relationship is what the reader follows throughout the entire story. The dynamic of their relationship and their individual characteristics don’t mesh well together, and end in their eventual downfall as a couple and as characters individually. Emma and Charles each show themes of the novel through their characteristics and points of view in their relationship. Emma Bovary has unrealistic ideas about love and wants to have a lux urious lifeRead MoreDisappointment In Madame Bovary1366 Words   |  6 Pagesperson, sometimes in the way of finding someone to fill their void in their empty heart. In Gustave Flaubert’s master novel Madame Bovary, there are multiple encounters with dissatisfaction that creates the theme of disappointment. The two main characters that Flaubert uses to show dissatisfaction through are Emma Bovary, also known as Madame Bovary, and Charles Bovary. Emma Bovary seems to be faced with empty disappointment on every page, while Charles is completely oblivious to Emma’s emotions andRead MoreThe Liberation of Madame Bovary1181 Words   |  5 PagesThe Liberation Madame Bovary Women have always been seen as the inferior gender. When women act out of turn they are considered nontraditional or uncouth. It isn’t until recent where women have stopped worrying about what society thinks of them. The women’s movement in the 1960’s opened the doors for women to get jobs and feel equal and in some ways superior to men. 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Throughout the passage from Madame Bovary, the tones established through detail, imagery and figurative language reveal the character of Charles to the reader. The detail in the beginning of the passage allows the reader to feel a sereneRead MoreAnalysis Of Morality In Madame Bovary1075 Words   |  5 Pagescarnal aspects. (Gustave Flaubert, 2017) Wow! This statement says so much about this writer. As such, we could argue that Flaubert’s main character in Madame Bovary, Emma, was based on one of his prostitutes and describes how he feels about women. Therefore, I am surprised the government bought Flaubert’s answer. After reading Madame Bovary, I understand why the government brought action against the author Gustave Flaubert and charged him with immorality. The entire novel is based on adulteryRead MoreTransgressive Women In Madame Bovary1562 Words   |  7 PagesIn Gustave Flaubert’s, Madame Bovary (1857), the narrator illustrates the apparent sexism that Emma Bovary, the protagonist and antihero of the novel, endures. Although Emma was at many times a victim of her time similar to many other women in Madame Bova ry, such as the elder Madame Bovary and Madame Homais, Emma possesses a quality unlike the other female characters in the novel. Emma Bovary acts as transgressive woman, in that she chooses to defeat the social boundaries that repeatedly constrictedRead MoreCritical Analysis Of Madame Bovary1458 Words   |  6 PagesAllison Witt September 28, 2017 Literature Core Professor O’Har A Fantasy World In Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert shapes Emma, the protagonist, into a woman who deceives herself, through romantic novels, into believing her life is better than it actually is. Emma—like most things in her life—romanticized what marriage would do for her. At the start of her marriage to Charles, she believed marriage would be the means at which she transitioned from a farm girl to a wealthy woman. She believed thatRead MoreMadame Bovary Character Analysis919 Words   |  4 PagesIn the novel, Madame Bovary written by Gustave Flaubert Emma was capable of love, when it comes to Emma she was mainly in love with materialistic products or people who can get her the materials. Emma had a lot of relationships with a lot of different people. First, of course, was with her husband Charles Bovary. But other than him she had two other people who she liked. The first being a friend of both Charles and Emma Bovary. He was the young man they meet when they first moved to Yonville , namedRead MoreMadame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert1146 Words   |  5 Pages In the novel Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, the protagonist, Emma Bovary experiences love and lust within and outside of her marriage. Emma is an innocent, beautiful farmer’s daughter who dreams of the perfect romance and an extravagant, exciting lifestyle. She has preconceived notions about what life as a married woman should be like, and how an ideal husband should act towards her. Emma marries Charles Bovary, a doctor, and they have a daughter. Charles and Emma’s marriage is dissatisfying