Madame Bovary 2 Essay Research Paper Madame

Madame Bovary 2 Essay, Research Paper

Madame Bovary

Gustave Flaubert is one of the most respected authors in

European Literature. His work is especially known for the novel

Madame Bovary. This paper will analyze the life and work of Flaubert,

with a particular emphasis on the conflicting roles of 19th century

women in the novel Madame Bovary.

Biography

Gustave Flaubert was born on December 12, 1821, in Rouen, France and died on May 8, 1880. He was the fourth child of a well-known and respected doctor who was the head of the hospital in that city. Flaubert gained much knowledge of scientific techniques and ideas early on, while he and his family lived in a house on hospital grounds. He attended a secondary school in Rouen, and in 1841 he was l sent to Paris to study law in France, against his will. While in Paris, Flaubert made many new friends in the literary circle, which stimulated his talent for writing.

In 1844, Flaubert was struck with a then strange illness, that was later assumed to be related to epilepsy, which was a much feared, mysterious illness considered to be a connected to a divine curse.(1)

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For health reasons, he gladly retired to his family’s home in Le

Croisset, France. He happily took the opportunity to give up law and dedicate most of his time to his writing.(2)

Flaubert was frequently characterized by his sullen attitude and pessimism, which had been caused by his illness. He possessed deep hatred and contempt for middle-class society, feelings that originated from his childhood experiences. He was often bitter and unhappy because of the great conflict that existed between his unattainable dreams and the realities of his life. His conflict between his fantasies and the reality of the world around him is seen through the theme found in Madame Bovary (1856).

Flaubert became one of the most influential European writers of the 19th century. He has enriched the world with many famous novels such as, Salammbo (1862), Sentimental Education (1869), and The Temptation of Saint Anthony (1874). “Not even his death could not diminish the impact of his work and its influence on French letters throughout the rest of the nineteenth and all of the teith centuries.” (3

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Outline

I. Introduction

II. Biography

A. Flaubert’s Life

B. Flaubert’s Influence

C. Flaubert’s Works

III. Analysis: Conflicting Roles of Women

A. Emma as daughter

B. Emma as wife

C. Emma as mother

D. Emma as mistress

IV. Conclusion

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, tells the story of an idealistic woman who tries to live out her life as though her life was placed in a romance novel. Emma Bovary is first seen as the daughter of a widowed farmer, who spent most of her life isolated in her father’s farm and later in the convent school. Due to the lack of any real influences and the isolation of her life, Emma initiates a thriving passion for romance novels. From the time Emma lived in the convent school, she longed for her life to be as dramatic and exciting as in the novels. Critic Mrs. Harold Sandwith describes her as a girl,

who prayed with such fervour around the nuns at her convent school, who had grieved so extravagantly for the loss of her mother, trying to at an early age even, to introduce some dramatic element into the monotony of her life.(4)

As Emma matured her views on romance seemed to broaden, she dreamed of her perfect lover and her perfect life. She hoped to achieve the same type of passion and excitement in her life, as that of the heroine in her novels had.

Emma met Charles Bovary when her father broke his leg. She helped him in little tasks, and later engaged him in pleasing

conversation. Charles grew fond of Emma and made continuous trips to her father’s farm. Emma fell in love with Charles because she

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believed that he would give her all that she ever wanted, all the passion and intensity that she always dreamed of. She saw Charles as an opportunity to escape the mediocrity of her father’s farm, and start a new life full of fulfillment.

Soon after their grand wedding, Emma found that married life wasn’t as exciting and fulfilling as she had read in her books. She was stuck in the same mediocrity as she was when she lived with her father. Though her actions were in strive, she desperately tried to instill some kind of poetic influence in her husband. She quickly grew bored with Charles and saw him as an unimaginative, ordinary man who never sought any kind of excitement, and was content with his mediocre life. Emma found herself feeling emotionally smothered in a dull marriage of which she saw no escape.

An irony found in the novel is how the roles of dominate and dominated is reversed, as critic Mario Vargas Llosa states

In her (Emma’s) marital relations, the male-female roles are very soon reversed; Emma becomes the dominate personality and Charles the dominated.(5)

It is seen that Emma takes the role of what she sees can fulfill her at that moment, it being emotional or financial. She slowly starts to take charge of all the money matters concerning Charles practice and the

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household, she then grad

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