Flaubert's Madame Bovary
A theme throughout Flaubert's Madame Bovary is escape versus confinement. In the novel Emma Bovary attempts again and again to escape the ordinariness of her life by reading novels, having affairs, day dreaming, moving from town to town, and buying luxuries items. It is Emma's early education described for an entire chapter by Flaubert that awakens in Emma a struggle against what she perceives as confinement. Emma's education at the convent is perhaps the most significant development of the dichotomy in the novel between confinement and escape. The convent is Emma's earliest confinement, and it is the few solicitations from the outside world that intrigue Emma, the books smuggled in to the convent or the sound of a far away cab rolling along boulevards. The chapter mirrors the structure of the book it starts as we see a satisfied women content with her confinement and conformity at the convent. At first far from being boredom the convent, she enjoyed the company of the nuns, who, to amuse her, would take her into the chapel by way of a long corridor leading from the dining hall. She played very little during the recreation period and knew her catechism well. (Flaubert 30.)Footnote1 The chapter is also filled with images o
Nora secessions are very deliberate and thought out. She knows what society expects of her and continues to do what she feels is right despite them. Her secessions are used by Ibsen to show faults of society. In the first secession Ibsen illustrates that despite Nora doing the right thing it is deemed wrong and not allowed by society because she is a woman. While the forgery can be considered wrong, Ibsen is critical of the fact that Nora is forced to forge. Ibsen is also critical of society's expectations of a marriage. He illustrates this by showing how Nora is forced to play a role than be herself and the eventual deterioration of the marriage. Throughout the play Nora is looked down upon and treated as a possession by her husband. She is something to please him and used for show. He is looked upon as the provider and the decision-maker. Society would have deemed it a perfect marriage. Ibsen is critical of the fact that a marriage lacked love and understanding, as shown by Torvald becoming angry with Nora for taking the loan and saving him, would be consider as perfect. As the chapter progresses and Emma continues dreaming while in the convent the images she conjures up are of exotic and foreign lands. No longer are the images of precise people or event but instead they become more fuzzy and chaotic. The escape technique that she used to conjure up images of heroines in castles seems to lead inevitably to chaos and disintegration.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Emma Bovary, Nora Nora, Charles Leon, Giaours Turkish, Emma Bovary's, Bovary Emma, Ibsen Nora's, Madame Bovary, Doll's House's, Mother Superior, society's expectations, ibsen critical, secession society, madame bovary, education convent significant, broke law, chaos disintegration, emma's education, decision leave, chapter progresses, nora's secession, nora's secession society, brakes society's expectations,
Approximate Word count = 1188
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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