Madame Bovary Emmas Relationships with Herself Essay Example For Students

Madame Bovary Emmas Relationships with Herself Essay and OthersMadame Bovary: The Tragedy of Emma Bovarys Relationships with Herself and OthersMadame Bovary is a narrative which compels the reader to keep turning the pages once he has begun reading. There are no screaming car chases, no resourceful detectives, no horrifying surprises, and no terrifying secrets to capture the readers attention and rivet him to the page: There is only a tragic, well-written, delightfully descriptive narrative about a woman who was raised in the convent, her life, her scandalous conduct, and her untimely death. The narrative is compelling in its concentration on the relationships between the characters in the novel. The tragedies of the novel are based on these relationships, especially the relationship of Emma to herself, to the men in her life, and to the peripheral characters in her life such as her daughter, Berthe, Monsieur Lheureux, the proprietor of the local dry-goods store, and Justin, the pharmacists assistant. One of the tragedies of Emma Bovarys relationship with herself was that she never really understood herself. Emma did not realize that the yearning she had for an exciting lover who would romance her amidst the trappings of luxury was engendered by her reading of silly, sentimental stories while she was growing up. Because Emma was raised in a convent and had little exposure to life beyond the convent or her home farm, she had unrealistic expectations of ife- expectations garnered from the foolish books she read. Emma seemed to believe that her perception of how life should be was the correct one and that people like her husband who never seemed to want anything more were boobies. Emma never really understood herself enough to know that she was shallow, deceitful, sensuous, lustful, and totally corrupted by her desires. Emmas whole focus in life was pleasing herself; yet, she never really knew who she was. Another tragedy in Emmas relationship with herself was that she was never really honest with herself. Emma knew she was being untruthful and adulterous to her husband, but she never acknowledged or understood that she was dishonest with herself. Emma never held an inner dialog or indulged in any self-reflection other than that of thinking of ways to satisfy her carnal longings. All of Emmas thoughts were turned toward sensual satisfaction instead of self- reflection. Emma never acknowledged her lack of maternal feelings for her daughter, Berthe. Berthe was only a peripheral character in Emmas life-she very seldom even thought of the child. Emma never acknowledged what she was doing when she kept borrowing money from Monsieur Lheureux, the proprietor of the local dry-goods store, and Emma never once thought about what would happen to Justin if it were found he had allowed her to take the arsenic which killed her. Emma was never honest enough with herself to acknowledge that she never thought about anyone or anything except her own passionate longings. Emmas lack of self-reflection caused her to react in an animal-like manner to life: she lived by a gut reaction to her longings, satisfying them in whatever dishonest way she could, never stopping to consider the consequences of her actions. The tragedy of her actions is that Emma, if she had had any self-reflection, if she had once tried to think things out, if she had once tried to really communicate with her husband on a level other than frustration with his unperceptive personality, if she had ever been honest with herself or had conceded that her whole life was based on pleasing herself and abusing everyone else in her life, if she had just once, thought of anyone other than herself-Emma would have had a chance at redemption, a chance to mature, a chance to become the wife that Charles thought he had married. Another tragedy in Emmas relationship with herself was her lack of imagination or empathy. Emma could not imagine how other people felt about life and could not conceive of the notion of walking a mile in someones mocassins. Emma could not perceive how she appeared to her lovers (jealous and obsessive), she could not empathize with her lonely, neglected daughter, she could not imagine what Monsieur Lheureux might do if she could not pay him back, she could not understand Justins simple-minded admiration for her, and most of all, Emma could not imagine how ordinary people could ever think that they were truly experiencing life, because her definition of life included noting commonplace or ordinary and only included exaggerated ideas of riches and romance. Emma had no empathy for anyone and lived her life based on her own lustful hunger, constantly seeking ways to satisfy her voracious desires. I'm a Digital Dependant Essay;BLOCK QUOTE; But as her pen flew over the paper she was aware of the presence of another man, a phantom embodying her most ardent memories, the most beautiful things she had read and her strongest desires. In the end he became so real and accessible that she tingled with excitement, unable though she was to picture him clearly, so hidden was he, godlike, under his manifold attributes. He dwelt in that enchanted realm where silken ladders swing from balconies moon-bright and flower-scented. She felt him near her: he was comingcoming to ravish her entirely in a kiss. And the next moment she would drop back to earth, shattered; for these rapturous love-dreams drained her more than the greatest orgies. (1080) ;END BLOCK QUOTE;Another tragedy in Emmas life was her relationship to the peripheral people in her life. Emma had no maternal relationship with her daughter, Berthe, but continually left the child to her own devices under the marginal care of a nurse . Emma despised her mother-in-law, who only wanted to help Emma to make Charles happy. Emma could have learned from her if she had even given one thought to the elder Madame Bovary. Emma thought Justins admiration simple-minded but useful and never tried to help him think of her in the proper manner, but abused his devotion to her by using him as a tool to help her achieve her own goals. Emma never thought about Monsieur Lheureux other than to use him to satisfy her yearning for material things. Emma never tried to develop a relationship with Lheureux but treated him as a tool to achieve her aims.; therefore, it was easy for Lheureux to threaten her and demand her moneyas no relationship existed, he did not care if he ruined her. The final tragedy in Emmas life was her lack of a relationship with God. Although she was raised in a convent, Emma had never really known God. Overcome by her own desires, she raced through life seeking ways to satisfy her immoderate hungers, never once giving a thought to eternal matters. Carnal, sensuous, wanton, intemperate, deceitful, unheeding-Emma needed God in her life. The irrevocable tragic act of suicide, the horror of her suffering, the terror of approaching death finally brought Emma face to face with God. Her capitulation to God, aided by the priest, was perhaps honest, but it was too late to do her, her daughter, or her husband any good. The priest stood up and took the crucifix; she stretched out her head like someone thirsting; and pressing her lips to the body of the God-Man, she imprinted on it, with every ounce of her failing strength, the most passionate love-kiss she had ever given (1103). Emma died her face serene. Emma was finally at peacethrough with all the betrayals, the infamies, the countless fierce desires that had racked her (1099). As a direct result of the disastrous relationships in her life, Emma left behind a legacy that continued to rob people of their happiness. Charles found out about Emmas adulterous behavior when clearing out her papers. The blow was too much for him. Soon after the triple tragedies of suddenly losing all his possessions, losing his wife, and losing the perfect image he had of her, Charles died. Little Berthe, now an orphan, was sent to the cotton mill to earn a living. If Emma had developed the relationship with her husband, her daughter, and God that she should have developed, the tragedies of Madame Bovary could have been averted. Emma would have lived, Charles would have lived, they would have kept their money, and Berthe would have been raised in a fine home, accepted in society as a doctors daughter, and perhaps would have found love of her own as a woman. Madame Bovary continues to be a mesmerizing tale of a womans tragic relationships-perhaps because many readers see in Emma so me of their own faults. The reader of Madame Bovary cannot help but be shaken by the anguished drama of Emmas life. Emmas woeful ghost lingers after the last pages of the book have been turned-a bleak warning that relationships are made to be nourished, not abused.