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.