Desire in Madame Bovary
Uploaded by lonewolf88 on Oct 26, 2011
This literature essays discusses the various ways in which desire manifests itself in Flaubert’s classic novel Desire in Madame Bovary
I Introduction
It is particularly fitting to discuss desire with regard to Flaubert’s novel, because Madame Bovary is a cautionary tale of what can happen when desire is unchecked. There are many kinds of desire in the story: the desire of women for men and men for women; the desire for position; the desire for a life modeled on fairy tales.
This paper examines the ways in which desire is presented in the novel.
II Discussion
As I said, there are many different kinds of desire portrayed in the novel. There is the desire of Charles Bovary for the beautiful girl who will become his wife; and there is Emma’s initial desire for Charles. There is her desire for Raoul and for Leon, and theirs for her. There is Lheureux’s desire for power, and above all there is Emma’s desire for a romantic existence such as she read about in books. This is perhaps the most important example of all, because it informs the entire novel. Everything that happens can be seen as a direct result of Emma Bovary’s need for fantasy.
Early in the novel, we learn that Emma was educated in a convent, and spent hours there reading the great romance novels of the time. She adored Sir Walter Scott, and she “got enthusiastic about historical things, forever dreaming of coffers, guardrooms and minstrels. She would have loved to dwell in some old manor, like those chatelaines with the long bodices who, beneath the trefoil window with its Gothic arch, spent their days with their elbow on the parapet and their chin in their hand, gazing far away into the distance for the coming of a cavalier with a white plume in his hat, galloping on a black charger.” (Flaubert, PG). Indeed, this is how she sees herself, as a woman of leisure waiting for her knight to save her from a life of mediocrity. It’s very important to realize that Emma, to a large extent, lives in a completely unreal world; her fantasies and desires are more important to her than anything else, and when the real world finally does come crashing in on her, she cannot bear it. This element of the fantastic is the keynote of her character: ...