Madame Bovary
Ratings199
Average rating3.6
Emma is not a likable protagonist. In fact, as a group we thought that few, if any, of the characters were likable. This book was the first of the ‘realistic' novels, describing the lives of the emerging bourgousie in France. Different translations lead to a slightly different reading experience. My personal choice is Steegmuller.
Madame Bovary deja marca y ello se debe, principalmente, a Emma. El talento de Flaubert para construir uno de los personajes más complejos que he leído -y que por algo es de los personajes más icónicos de la literatura universal- es envidiable. A través de toda la obra, Emma me ha generado los sentimientos más contradictorios, entre ellos ternura, enojo, compasión, pena y rechazo.
Por supuesto que hoy el argumento suena tan trillado como el de una telenovela de las 3 de la tarde, pero en su momento la novela fue tan polémica que hasta le costó a Flaubert un juicio.
En mi opinión, el aspecto más valioso de la obra lo encuentra el lector al analizar cómo el rol de la mujer, es decir lo que la sociedad dictaba que una mujer debía ser/hacer/pensar, acaba por limitar a Emma en todos sus ámbitos: se encontraba encerrada en su matrimonio cuasi forzado frente al cual la única alternativa posible era el exilio (y bien lejano); sus capacidades económicas propias eran nulas; y sus posibilidades de desarrollo intelectual estaban acotadas al piano y los quehaceres del hogar (en repetidas ocasiones le recomiendan a Charles limitar sus lecturas).
La propia Emma reflexiona sobre esto al explicar por qué prefería un hijo varón:
”Un hombre, por lo menos, es libre; puede recorrer los países, atravesar los obstáculos, probar las dichas más lejanas. Pero a una mujer le está continuamente prohibido todo esto. Inerte e inflexible a la vez, tiene contra ella las morbideces de la carne junto a las dependencias de la ley. Su voluntad palpita a todos los vientos como el velo de su sombrero sujeto por un cordón; siempre hay algún deseo que tira, alguna conveniencia que coarta”
“quería morir, pero también quería vivir en París”
It is like American psycho set in 19th century France. Just unnecessary long of conversations that go nowhere, and descriptions that serve no purpose. But instead of being done intentionally it feels like author tried to imitate descriptiveness of russian realism but got focused on wrong things. It is a good premise but could be easily be done in less the 100 pages.
Cheers.
Hated everything about the characters. Wonderful writing, but couldn't stand another selfish second.
You live through Madame Bovary. A yearning for love, and life straight from romance books without opportunity, without an idea of what to do.
The author writes her with all her flaws without any judgement, there are just actions and consequences, cause and effect.
Oh so many thoughts... I'll sum them up in three: not what I had imagined, frustratind ending, bunch of awful human beings as characters.
Re read: Emma, eterna insatisfeita, superficial e leviana. Charles, o homem do campo que jamais deixou de se-lo, talvez um dos autênticos do livro. Leon, o fiel que se questiona. Lheureux, que sobrenome irônico é esse?. Rudolphe, me soa para sempre o epítome do amante sem vergonha. Não gosto nada do livro, mas percebo que os personagens são sólidos no decorrer de todo o tempo, e não é isso que compõe um clássico atemporal?
I confess to being one of those insensitive creatures who are incapable of becoming really emotionally engaged and sympathetic with Emma. I could probably afford to be more understanding or whatever, but ugh, I spent way too much time a) being bored, and b) rolling my eyes at Emma for being such a drama queen. Sorry, I know, I‰ЫЄm a horrible reader and human being, however I will confess that there was some great writing and some really moving parts, even if I can't remember specifically what they were. Also, I think I might have a chronic condition that renders me incapable of appreciating literature translated from the French because I don‰ЫЄt think there are ANY French writers I really love (except for Beckett, who doesn't actually count because he wasn't even French and he often translated his own work). So that's a hypothesis I‰ЫЄll try to disprove one day. Boo to that and boo to me.
Fiquei bem disappointed but not surprised com a morte dela cpmo punição por ter traído o marido
Eu sei que não foi o ponto que o autor queria trazer, mas tudo o que aconteceu com Emma foi culpa dos costumes da sociedade, do plano que a mulher já nascia fadada a seguir, ser uma boa esposa, uma boa mãe e tal
It is from realism so it may be boring sometimes but I can also apreciate how beautiful it is. Some things (how it talks about common things such as love, how the caracters are...) makes it beautiful. And the end is just heart breacking.
(i read the thorpe translation but it wont let me specify)
god forbid anyone be whimsical or perhaps even a bit quirked up
sobran como 400 paginas, y d lo poco entretenido q hay dura tan poco q frustra
One thing I really like about being in a Great Books book club is that I read books that I would likely otherwise never get around to; in addition I have an opportunity to discuss the book and get other readers' points of view in a way you don't get from reading reviews and critical analysis of the work. Maybe I would have gotten to “Madame Bovary” sooner than “The Orestaia,” but it helps to get a push now and again.
With that said, I missed the meeting due to my Spring volunteer activity of preparing taxes for low to middle income and senior taxpayers on Saturday mornings (the two weeks following this meeting were a yoga retreat out of the country, so three weeks off from taxes seemed egregious).
So, my thoughts are clouded by being on a retreat, meditating daily, eating delicious vegetarian food, and the sound of the Pacific ocean (and local roosters and goats) surrounding me.
For whatever reason, I expected Gustave Flaubert's writing to be more stuck up, but that may because I knew very little about him or “Madame Bovary” before reading the book. Flaubert's descriptions of the countryside and daily life were some of my favorite parts of the book. At some points, I even enjoyed Madame Bovary's description of the daily life of a bourgeoisie woman who is so bored with everything that she must destroy it all. Madame Bovary was quite a spoiled little thing and, I learned after completing the novel, that Flaubert intended the book as a satire about the bourgeoisie, which put a lot in perspective. Emma is very stupid, but, I must confess that I know a few people who are similar (although, aren't dead). Emma always wants what she doesn't have, which is a little bit Scarlett O'Haraish, but Emma never works for what she wants and gets is, whereas dear Scarlett was a ruthless businesswoman and good at marrying into money.
Overall, I enjoyed the book and might have liked it more in early high school, although I was probably more judgemental about Emma while on the yoga retreat (when I'm supposed to not be judging!!) than I might have been in another context.
Below are the discussion questions another member of my Great Books book club pulled together for our February 24, 2018 meeting:
1. Why do you think Flaubert faced legal injunctions when he tried to publish this book? He faced an obscenity trial when it was first printed as a magazine series in 1856.
2. Which characters did you find most/least sympathetic and why? Which did you find admirable, amusing, villainous? (Or just plain stupid.) Is Emma believable as a real woman?
3. How does the point of view in the novel affect your impressions of the characters? Is there a particular example of viewpoint that you found striking? Who is narrating the book? Where is he getting his information?
4. How would you describe the tone of the book? Does it change at any point? (Humorous, satirical, tragic?).
5. How are gender issues relevant to the novel? Does the author himself evidence misogyninistic traits? Flaubert was quoted as saying “Emma Bovary, c'est moi” (“Emma Bovary is me”). Does the writer show affinity for her? How might a female writer have told this same story? Are Emma's problems gender-specific?
6. What IS Emma's problem, anyway?! What does Emma want? Who's to blame for her discontent? Is she the Holden Caulfield of 1827? What other heroine does she remind us of?
7. What was Emma's education like? She is described as a star student. She entered a convent at 13 and her mother died while she was there. How did this shape her personality? If Emma is “corrupted” by reading romance novels, what is Flaubert suggesting about himself as a novelist?
8. How is Flaubert's theme of tedium and repetition enhanced by the beauty of his writing style?
An example would be Emma being seduced by Rodolphe against a backdrop of droning speeches at the Agricultural Fair. Can you think of other literary devices Flaubert employs? Did you enjoy them?
9. How does socio-economic class figure in the novel? How would a Marxist analyze the book?
What does the Blind Man signify, other than a need for universal health care? Did the characters have power to forge their own destinies?
10. How would you classify the genre of the novel? Keep in mind that the era is post-Enlightenment, pre-Freud.