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.