pages read until chapter 4 of part 3-sandra

The part I read this time was pretty big so a lot of things happened, giving many things to comment on. For starters, Emma finally has her affair. After an enormous build up, she finally caves in to the temptations of adultery. I was disappointed with her choice in men; I would've rather read about her with Leon then Rodolphe for the mere fact that he was sincerely in love with Emma. The only reason Emma wants to do these immoral things is because she is so desperate; desperate for true love and passion and everything else she read about in novels. She isn't just bored of her husband; she has strong desires for more in her life then the mediocrity that includes her husband who she sees as an obstacle in the way to happiness. I wanted her dreams realised and think Leon would have actually been able to give her all the things she wanted. Rodolphe just uses her but because of her desperation, Emma doesn't realise how insincere he is. She is blinded with illusions of passion and desire and clings on to this tiny opportunity of getting her dreams and thus fails to see how it really is only an illusion. Emma might be considered naive for not being able to see what is really going on but I just feel bad for her. She puts so many "eggs" in Rodolpho's basket just because she is so extremely dissatisfied with what she has, which is a proper husband and daughter. And because of this attachment to her illusion, Rodolpho starts to find her annoying and doesn't want to be with her anymore, causing her to completely fall apart and consider suicide.
Then something changed for me. When she leaves for Paris to deal with her debts together with Leon and has an affair with him too, my sympathy for her just disappeared. The fact that she cheats on her husband again after she should have realized that affairs do not lead to anything from her previous disappointment is just immoral. It went too far for me.
I noticed that Emma's affair and financial status are in the same situation. The more present the affair, and immorality of this affair is, the more she buys, the more debts are created. Also when she has to solve her debts, she ends up having another affair with Leon.

nic chapters XIV-VIII

After Emma ended the affair with Rodolphe and began to see Leon again, the contrasts between both her lover became obvious and really stood out to me in this reading. While Rodolphe had total control of the situation and what he was doing with Emma, it is not difficult to see that Leon has no other intentions, and that his callowness is shown again and again through the form in which he is desperate to see Emma all the time, leaving his work and friends behind to constantly go after a woman who actually doesn’t know what she’s doing either. If in the affair with Rodolphe she had no control and “responsibilities”, here she is the one who is running the show. However, just as her former affair, Emma’s passion becomes obsessive, and even Leon can’t deal with her demands. Her hysterical moment after they cannot be together because Leon had to see Homais underlines her insanity and the decadent state she has whirl pooled into, and at that point she is already so full of debts that it seems like she can’t go down any deeper. The seemingly decent wife of the doctor has already been corrupted and at the rate that she is going, there seems to be no turning back.
When Emma is riding the carriage to Rouen a very peculiar (and I believe symbolic) character has joined the novel. It is the blind beggar who sings songs of innocence and animals while he is actually in a pitiful state. His situation reflects a lot of Emma’s condition, for as I stated earlier she may have appeared to be innocent and helpless in the past, but just as the beggars disease, all her morality has been eaten up by the terrible disease that is her desperation for the life she can’t have and the men she can’t have either.

nic pgs 130-200

pgs 130-200

As the part in which Emma cheats on Charles and the way in which the affair is conducted arrives, I can finally see why the author of “O Primo Basílio” was accused of plagiarizing “Madame Bovary”. In both novels, the men who are having affairs are interested in the women solely for the sexual pleasure, which makes the cheating spouses look innocent and helpless even though what they are doing is completely wrong, something that I almost ignore considering that I can foreshadow that they will have tragically heartbreaking deceptions when it is revealed that there is no true love or great escape. Emma isn’t aware that Rodolphe is using her, and this only makes her situation more pathetical considering that she is suffering so much because of his letter (which will probably be discovered by Charles), and the fact that the affair has been called off.
While I don’t think Emma should have been able to maintain the affair, I find Charles even weaker for not having stopped it or investigated considering that everyone, including his mother, knew about it and told him so. He is way too forgiving, and goes through too much trouble for Emma by having to pay for all her doctor bill’s and expenses with gifts that are actually for her lover. Even though Emma has a point in being mad at Charles for his roughness and lack of excitement, she has been just as naïve as him as far as her affair went, which shows that she isn’t that much better than him as she thought she was – which means that he should find out and punish her, finally becoming the man she has wanted him to be for so long exactly when its no longer convenient for her.
**I have sensed a lot of irony in these last chapters, which is creates some comic relief and makes Emma’s situation with Rodolphe even more pathetic, especially when he is telling her about his love and the man at the fair is talking about manure.

Sandra's 3rd comment

For this comment I shall refrain from defending Emily and her wishes for a more exciting and fancier life. Even though I still think she is far from immoral for her fantasies, Larissa’s comments on her did make me change my mind slightly. I don’t think she has to be grateful for Charles and what he gives her because he is sort of doing the same as she is. He fell in love with Emma because she was such a marvelous woman; someone better then he had been with before. She was educated and skilled and I think he fell in love with the idea of greatness in this women. He also wanted more then he previously had, he just doesn’t act on this up to the extent that Emma does. I do however, agree with the fact that she should not be as materialistic and as condescending towards her current situation as she is. She becomes a desperate woman and when she realizes that her dreams will not come true, she neglects the house and always shows her disappointment and that is not fair to Charles and not healthy for her. She takes her fantasies too far.
After discussing “A Doll’s House”, I realized that the roles between Charles and Emma are not “normal” for those times. In their relationship, Emma seems to be in charge. When, in the previously read part, she acts up and shows her ennui with life by not caring about the house nor Charles anymore , Charles just lets this happen. She decides what their life looks like and is clearly in control a lot more then her husband. Unlike with Nora and Thorvald that keep up the appearance of a perfect family and play manipulative games between each other, neither Emma nor Charles seem to be extremely worried about the image they are portraying to the world. A similarity between the novel and the play are the wives though. Both Nora and Emma really want to be living the higher class life. I have a question about Yonville-l’Abbay and the immense description of this town though. In the beginning of the pages I read, there is a three page long description of the new town that Emily, Charles and Berthe will live in. This cannot be there just to create a reality for the reader because nobody needs details like “The church is across the street, twenty feet farther down, on one side of the square” to image a simple town. In other novels like “The Great Gatsby”, these type of descriptions are usually symbolic like with the 2 page long descriptions of Gatsby’s house or parties. Since Emma is such an omnipresent character and her needs are all over the pages of this book, I figured that maybe this new town is symbolic for her situation. In the part of the description that talks about the location of the town, it could fit with what I am thinking. On the east side of the river, there are wide plains with gold colored grain fields as far as the eye can see and on the other part there is just farmland. The farmland can represent Emma’s current living style, which is farml-like, and the “gold colored” grain fields can represent the type of lifestyle she wants to lead.

Nic pgs 90-130

Blog entry number 3 pgs 91-130
Before I begin discussing what I have read this week, id like to express my personal opinion regarding Emma and what she has been up to throughout the novel. I believe that even though one must respect her for aspiring greatness and luxury, it is way more than what Charles can proportion, and cannot simply ignore her husband and mistreat her child because she is unhappy. Neither can be blamed for her fantasies with a fancy and exciting life, and even though she doesn’t realize it now, her comfortable situation is much better than what it would have been if she stayed in church, with her father or any other man who hadn’t become as successful and economically providing as Charles has.
As far as Leon goes, Emma would do the same thing she did with Charles with him – the beginning of the relationship could have been wonderful and exciting, but it would all evolve into the boring routine most couples inevitably end up in, and as we can see, Leon wouldn’t be able to cope with a routine either, considering he left for Paris on the grounds of Yonville being too boring.
Even though I’m still enjoying the book, the story seemed to have stopped at one point and became very boring, with detailed descriptions and repetition – which made it quite difficult for me to read for a long time without becoming distracted. But as I went on the plot did regain strength and now I am actually looking forward to find out when Emma will lose it.

Sandra’s 2nd comment pages 65-85

As I hoped for Emma’s romantic desires to come true in the next few chapters, I was happy to see that this did happen; even if it was only for a little while. Her great desires of romance and glamour came true when her and Charles got invited to the Château of Marquis d’andervilliers and attended a ball. For me, it was really interesting to read about Emma getting a taste of her of her dream world and then waking up to the cold reality of her life on the farm and her husband, the doctor. The descriptions of Madame Bovary in the wonderful chateau make it clear how much she desires this lifestyle and feels she belongs in that world. In this place, she sees pomegranates and pineapples, drinks iced champagne and has dinner with meat, lobsters and truffles. She waltzes all night long with men while Charles leans against a wall watching some games. Only Emma belongs here, Charles is satisfied with his educated wife and his life on the farm and I get the feeling that she sort of resents him for this; for not providing her with the excitement she desperately needs or even for settling with a mediocre life and that would explain the growing irritation with her husband.

On one hand, I hope that everything Emma wants, she will get. That would be a very fairytale-like end of the story and it is good to read about people’s deepest wishes being realized because that gives hope for a readers hopes and dreams. Even though this would be nice, I do not expect that to happen. Not for this type of novel. This book is supposed to portray the reality of normal people and living a life of great wealth is only cut out for a tiny part of the population. Normal people don’t just end up with lobster for dinner everyday. I think that the fact that Emma wishes for these things makes the story more realistic though. Many, many people that aren’t completely happy with their life wish for a sudden fortune or a miracle that will make their lives all they ever hoped for. Readers then and now and everywhere in the world can relate to these hopes, making this novel timeless and global.

Even though I didn’t read as much as I did last time due to time restrains, I am still enjoying this book a lot and I’m sure I will read much more next time. I thought about the comment on my last blog entry that said that I should try to back up the possible symbol with in-text proof but I haven’t been able to do that.

Nicole Minatel - blog entry 2

Blog entry number 2 (01/04/07) – pgs 74-90

The chapters I have read this week continue to show that the book is an interesting story that grasps my attention. What stood out most for me was, however, the great difference in the party and the “farm” life Emma lived. It was really clear how the author described the ball as something pompous, exciting and glamorous, while the life she must go back to is boring and repetitive. Even though both lifestyles are very different, the form in which they are shown also varies, for the description of the party reminded me very much of the romantic idealism in which everything was perfect, all the ladies looked beautiful, the music was fantastic, etc, while her original life was a barely worth living, depressive existence. Even though the description of the party may seem subjective and only valid from Emma’s point of view, I believe it is really getting across the misconception women had (and still have) that their life is the worst and that everybody else’s is so much better.

The character Emma shows this perfectly with the way people’s values can change, through her fascination with Paris, the parties and the clothing. The girl who before was a loving daughter and passionate sister is becoming something she is not due to the wealthy lifestyle led by the baron and viscount, and she has become obsessed with hearing from them and being a part in their life, not unlike many girls (and boys) today.

As for Charles, I can do nothing but Pity what will presumably become of him. He is everything Emma hates in him, but this is not his fault and there is definitely nothing he can do to please a wife who no longer sees his good side. He will probably end up making big mistakes due to his misunderstanding in what Emma wants and why she isn’t pleased with him anymore, and as anticipated in the introduction, Emma will suffer the consequences of his wrath. I guess I’ll have to wait and see.

Larissa Fernandez's comment on pgs. 59 - 130

At this point of the novel, the reader begins to get a better image of what Emma is actually like. She is shown as materialistic when she laments the fact that they are not spending their honeymoon in a higher class place. She rejects the true love of Charles and seems a lot more passionate about going to the Marquis d’Andervilliers’ ball. In fact, at the ball she looks down on Charles for his unsophisticated manners, and is clearly embarrassed of being his wife. She is so clueless that she regards a simple dance with the viscount as an exciting romantic happening. This shows her desperation, which results from her extreme boredom, and eventually leads to her being physically ill and having to move to another town. At the town, while Charles and Monsieur Homais discuss important subjects like medicine, Emma is lucky and finds Leon, with whom she can discuss trivial and silly things. Her boredom comes to an end, and she is hopeful once again that her life will have some excitement. She is involved in a dilemma, though, between being a good housewife and mother to her baby Berthe, or following her desires and succumbing to her passions with Leon. Her dropping Berthe is symbolic because it foreshadows what path Emma will follow: probably, adultery. Meeting the man who can loan her money is also foreshadowing that maybe at some later point at the novel Emma may need help to fix something she did wrong. I think that the only thing that stopped her from doing something already is the fact that Leon has to travel.

Comment by Sandra on pages 27-65

I'll start off by saying that I am really enjoying Madame Bovary. It is easy to read and the interesting characters make it a 'page turner'. I think that there is more of a focus on characters and character development in this book then on plot and spectacle. The plot is basically Charles growing up, refusing to go school, still ending up as a docter, getting married and loosing his wife, and then getting married again. Not really out of the ordinary. However, characters such as Charles and his wives for example are intriguing. After reading, I remember more clearly Charles feelings described for Emma then what he was spending his time doing when he decided to drop out off school. There is a focus on characters' feelings and that makes it interesting to read for me. I also like it because it is so realistic; feelings and events are not idealized or romanticized. It even goes to the point that when the books talks about Emma’s idea’s about romance and passion it creates this huge contrast to her reality, making reality seem harsh and cold. I am really looking forward to reading more about what’s going to happen between Emma and the recently introduced Marquis d’andervilliers. I’m hoping that some of Emma’s dream from the convent days will come true because no matter how much I enjoy the realistic aspect of this novel, I wouldn’t mind a little romance for one of the Madame Bovary’s. In the beginning, I thought that Charles mother, the strong female of the family, would be Madame Bovary but now with the other female characters I reconsidered that option.
Another thing I noticed, perhaps a very small detail, was one paragraph on page 64. “In the avenue between the trees a green light filtered by the foliage lit up the moss that was gently crackling under her feet.” Here, Emma sees a green light while walking trough the forrest and it reminded me of the scene in The Great Gatsby where Gatsby himself sees a green light while staring in the direction of Daisy’s house. This made me wonder about possible symbolism in this book, since green is very symbolic in the Great Gatsby, and symbolism in Romantic novels. I haven’t noticed any symbolism yet but I would like to know what you, Larissa and Nicole, think about this topic.

Larissa Fernandez - Pages read: Introduction - pg. 59

Even though the introduction was a tremendous spoiler, it was very informative and provided in depth analysis of characters like Emma and Charles. These are the two main characters that have appeared by now in the novel. Besides them, Monsieur Rouault, Monsieur and Madame Bovary, and the widow have been cited. Already in the beginning there is a preview of Charles personality – in school he was the shy, mocked boy. I can predict that these experiences will have great influence on his personality as a grown man further on in the book. Already I can see how fragile and naïve he is when he accepts to marry the widow – she is ugly and uninteresting, but he is the prime candidate amongst all the others, and this is his chance of getting married to a woman. It is as if he believes that he has no other choice besides marrying her, or else he would continue being that awkward and rejected person. His life is boring until he has the chance to practice medicine and to meet Emma. Once again his weakness is shown as he is very glad that Monsieur Rouault’s fracture is a simple one – Charles probably could not handle a more complicated case, probably due to his lack of confidence. It appears to me that he finds strength in Emma and is relieved when the widow dies. He is confident when he marries his new wife, and absolutely loves her. He begins to live for her; thinking of her at every moment. I can predict that this will probably lead to some type of downfall for him. Maybe, this can even come to reflect on and weaken his personality even more. I predict this because the novel has started to show us how Emma is bored by her new life. Perhaps she was entertained by some occasional, adventurous flirting, but married life does not bring her any bliss. Already we can see what type of woman she is and what this may lead to further in the novel. I don’t mean to say that she is a promiscuous woman, but somewhat adventurous. This is justified in the book so far by all the romances she read while in the convent. So far, the book has the predictable realism characteristic: the portrayal of woman in the “real,” not romanticized way. Clearly, Emma is not the typical romantic woman that would be idealized as perfect and discrete. Emma’s feelings are true and explicit, and this will probably reflect on her actions later on in the novel. So far I am enjoying the book; it flows quickly and the diction is simple. I believe the story will become more interesting because these were only the introductory pages. I decided not to comment on the introduction itself because I would not like to ruin the story for others as it was ruined for me.

Nicole Minatel - 1st blog entry

Blog entry number 1 (25/03/07) – pgs 27-70. Even though I have only read the first few chapters and would be unable to analyze Madame Bovary in its entirety, I am quite secure in saying that I like the form in which the story is written so far, for it not only flows quite rapidly but the plot has been interesting and the diction is very understandable.
I have been able to make three distinct connections of this book compared to other books or movies we have seen in other classes this semester, these being:
1. The classroom and schoolboys described in chapter I with those in the movie La lengua de las mariposas. Both show the difficulty young boys have in adapting to a new environment.
2. The Portuguese novel O primo Basílio, a book by Eça de Queirós that was inspired by the story of Madame Bovary. It is very interesting to observe both female protagonists in the story, for the Portuguese Luísa is a naïve and silly rich girl who does nothing the entire day and is dazzled by the charm of her cousin, while Emma thus far has been shown as a strong character who walks in a complete different directions from the form in which she is supposed to behave, as shown in a very interesting quote on page 56, “She needed to derive immediate gratification from things and rejected as useless everything that did not supply this satisfaction. Her temperament was more sentimental than artistic. She sought emotions and not landscapes.”
3. The movie Germinal, inspired in the book by Emile Zola. This movie doesn’t have that much of a plot similarity with the novel, but the setting gives me a pretty nice image of how the farm area in which the story takes place looks like, and I can picture the farm and town with much more clarity.These connections are important not only because they show how global the book is, but also because they provide me the help in picturing what is taking place, which I find very important in order to become interested in the story and to truly understand what is going on. I hope that the story continues to evolve in this rhythm, for that would make it more and more enjoyable for me.