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/lit/ - Literature

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10289383 No.10289383 [Reply] [Original]

What should Emma Bovary have done differently? If Charles stopped her reading novels would that have prevented the tragedy? Should she have forced herself to play wife and mother, as she did temporarily, and tried to seek happiness there? Should she have even got married at all? I finished re-reading it just now and while I know what her problem was I'm struggling to think what the solution would be.

>> No.10289508

>>10289383
Bump

>> No.10289638

>>10289383
Should've seek happiness inside herself, not in the superficial things.

>> No.10289672

>>10289383
I think Flaubert was trying to portray a more general problem with the times and the middle-class rather than with single individuals. I'm not saying you can't blame Emma for her actions, but in a way she was a victim of her time. As you said, she tried to be a good housewife, but simply could not find happiness in her situation.

>> No.10289716
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10289716

>>10289383

I made a thread about this a few months ago. I think all the answers lay in one paragraph: the description of Dr. Larivière and of the way he his and the way he interacts with Homais. Homais being the personification of what is wrong in Emma. It's no 'solution' though, as there aren't any -- merely a guideline as to how to act given the set of conditions Emma is in. I think Flaubert does put forth this character with that in mind, however I don't think he holds Larivière's to be the good life; don't forget this is a rewriting Don Quixote. Emma must die.

>> No.10289731

>>10289716
Please do elaborate. I liked the awe everyone had for Lariviere, Flaubert telling us all his students dressed like him and adopted his habits to try and share in his greatness. But with Homais, doesn't he just eat his breakfast, make a little joke at his expense, and then leave?

>> No.10289796

take responsibility and act like an adult >>10289638

when you are a grown woman with a husband and a daughter you have a duty to them, if you want to be self-indulgent don't form bonds and responsibilities with others

>> No.10289798
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10289798

>>10289731
The point as I see it is that during most of the scene of the breakfast Larivière is virtually absent: the narrator doesn't mention him and he doesn't talk. What is showed is Homais who is what is bad in Emma - the hubris with the lack of substance (that is talent or virtue) - acting like the pedant he is. There is no need for Larivière to move an inch - the mere presence of substance (which in Lariviere takes the form of professional talent and human virtue) is contrast enough. Indeed this lack of movement and presence of substance is the antithesis of Emma, who is worthless but moves. (Well Emma is not entirely worthless as she does display remorse at times, and more profoundly because she has Quixote's illness. Homais is.)


This is a very strong instance of 'show, don't tell'.

>> No.10289812
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10289812

>>10289796
You're being unwise. That's not how 19th century French society worked, especially for women

>>10289672
I'm not sure about that. Isn't Emma special?

>> No.10289855

>>10289812
>Isn't Emma special?
She's an extreme of what Flaubert found to be the flaws of the middle-class, but other than that, I don't think so. That's just my take on it though.

>> No.10289883

>>10289383
She lives up to her fantasies three times in the novel:

one, the religious ecstasies she experiences as a child, then after rodolphe dumps her, and finally on her deathbed;
two, the affair with rodolphe, which is a lie and meaningless really (Leon doesn't count and is something of a let-down);
three, the dance with the Marquis (which again is highly stylised, only one aspect of that life and therefore meaningless too).

In an answer to your question, she should have disciplined herself. Aside from lazily losing herself in books she starts all those projects- painting, sewing, philosophy, horse riding- and gives them up because she lacks self discipline. She should have focused on finding joy in her duties as a mother and wife, essentially what >>10289638 said.