Madame Bovary Destiny - 1062 Words

Madame Bovary: Destiny Destiny: the seemingly inevitable succession of events.1 Is this definition true, or do we, as people in real life or characters in novels, control our own destiny? Gustave Flauberts Madame Bovary exemplifies how we hold destiny in our own hands, molding it with the actions we take and the choices we make. Flaubert uses Emma Bovary, the main character of his novel, to demonstrate this. Throughout her life, Emma makes many decisions, each one of them affecting her fate and by analyzing these decisions one could see from the beginning that Emma is destined to suffer. However, one can also pinpoint such decisions making events as her marriage, her daughters birth, her adulterous relationship with Leon and†¦show more content†¦Her affair with Leon is the cause of many of her later problems, such as her debt, her sickness, her depression and her eventual death. Death. This brings us to the final fork in the road of Emmas life. She chooses to take the Arsenic as she feels overwhelmed and sees this as the best solution for all he r problems. Why does she take the Arsenic when she is still young and still has her entire life ahead of her? One could argue that she saw no way out and she saw death as the only answer. But is this not selfish when there is a little girl that she must raise and nurture and a husband who needs her? Emma tries to hid away from her husband and make herself think that he does not love her, only to realize how deep his love really is when it is too late - And in his eyes she saw a love such as she had never seen before. (p.274) Considering the aforementioned reasons, one can only conclude that Emma controlled her destiny, as we all do to a great extent. There is no guiding hand that told Emma to go ahead and marry Charles, have his baby, cheat on him with Leon and then kill herself. She did all this for selfish reasons, to fulfill her own fantasies and needs. She never once stopped to think about her actions and how they would impact others. It is true, we all think about ourselves, but only to an extent. People usually stop to think about what they will do, and they are aware of the impact theirShow MoreRelatedEssay on A Comparison of Gustave Flaubert and Madame Bovary1432 Words   |  6 PagesA Comparison of Gustave Flaubert and Madame Bovary    We would like to think that everything in life is capable, or beyond the brink of reaching perfection.   It would be an absolute dream to look upon each day with a positive outlook.   We try to establish our lives to the point where this perfection may come true at times, although, it most likely never lasts. Theres no real perfect life by definition, but instead, the desire and uncontrollable longing to reach thisRead More Emma’s Path to Destruction in Madame Bovary Essay2099 Words   |  9 PagesEmma’s Path to Destruction in Madame Bovary  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   In his song, Instant Karma!, John Lennon shouts an ominous warning to his listeners: Instant karmas gonna get you / gonna knock you right in the head / better get yourself together, darlin / pretty soon your gonna be dead... The subject of his scorn may have been socially conservative Americans bent on the abolition of social progressives, but clearly anyone can gleam a bit of wisdom from such blunt counsel. Even Gustav Flauberts eponymousRead MoreMadame Bovary and Techniques in Fiction Essay3472 Words   |  14 Pages1. Conceptions: The Origin of a Story Gustave Flaubert in all probability got the idea for Madame Bovary when he and Louise Colet became lovers, in which the novel was written at the time of the affair. When Flaubert and his mistress first started to have the affair, they wrote love letters to each other as any other lover would. The letters that Flaubert would write were similar to the journals the authors use to help stimulate ideas for their novel. (TIF, 10) Flaubert in all wanted toRead More Flauberts Madame Bovary and Leo Tolstoys Anna Karenina Essay3834 Words   |  16 PagesFlauberts Madame Bovary and Leo Tolstoys Anna Karenina Gustave Flaubert wrote in Madame Bovary that â€Å"someone’s death always causes a kind of stupefaction; so difficult it is to grasp this advent of nothingness and to resign ourselves to the fact that it has actually taken place† (258). Greater still is the stupefaction when the death is suicide, when the advent of nothing has been self-initiated. For the reader of both Flaubert’s Madame Bovary and Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, the literaryRead MoreComparing and Contrasting Anna Karenina and Madam Bovary7118 Words   |  29 PagesAnna Karenina and Madame Bovary are two novels written in two different languages, around the same time period (late 1800s). Though they belong to two separate countries and are separated in history by a margin of about twenty five years, their socio political setting, and situational complexities are quite similar. ‘Madam Bovary’ takes us on a journey through the life of the extremely complex character of Emma Bovary, who has adulterous affairs and lives beyond her means in order to escape theRead MoreEssay on Lacanian Desire: Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary2231 Words   |  9 PagesIntroduction Madame Bovary is Gustave Flaubert’s first novel and is considered his masterpiece. It has been studied from various angles by the critics. Some study it as a realistic novel of the nineteenth century rooted in its social milieu. There are other critics who have studied it as a satire of romantic sensibility. It is simply assumed that Emma Bovary, the protagonist, embodied naive dreams and empty clichà © that author wishes to ridicule, as excesses and mannerisms of romanticism. She is seenRead MoreEssay Emma: The Character2155 Words   |  9 Pagesyourself (Austen 84). Like many, her egocentric attitude leads her to denial of the mistake and conclusion that she should not help, it was foolish . . . to take so active a part in bringing any two people together (Austen 88). Her own matrimonial destiny also suffers. At the beginning of the novel, Emma openly believes marriage to be for others and not for herself: Pray do not make any more matches, says Mr. Woodhouse. Emma replies, I promise to make none for myself, papa. Although, as the plotRead MoreEssay about Happy Endings True Love8166 Words   |  33 Pagesoffered by Hollywood romances (particularly Leo McCareys An Affair To Remember [TCF, USA, 1957], which is featured heavily within the film) that she decides to take a chance and live her life entirely by its philosophy that signs, magic and destiny are necessary and expected components of successful romantic relationships. The control that Hollywood has over her is perhaps clearest in a scene in which Annie is writing a letter to Sam while she, and her best friend Becky, are watching An AffairRead MoreANALIZ TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS28843 Words   |  116 PagesIn some novels this five-stage structure is repeated in many of the individua l chapters, while the novel as a whole builds on a series of increasing conflicts and crises. Such a structure is found both in such classics of fiction as Flaubert’s â€Å"Madame Bovary† and in the adventure thrillers of Alistar MacLean. EXPOSITION: The exposition is the beginning section in which the author provides the necessary background information, sets the scene, establishes the situation, and dates the action. It mayRead MoreMetz Film Language a Semiotics of the Cinema PDF100902 Words   |  316 Pagesone expects to meet in the street the hero of some scrupulously realistic contemporary novel. Realism affects the organization of the 22 PHENOMENOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO FILM contents, not narration as a status. On one level of perception, Emma Bovary is no less imaginary than Cinderella s fairy godmother. We must, however, go one step further, for, along with realistic stories (which nobody believes have really occurred), there are also real stories: accounts of historical occurrences (the assassination