Essay on "Madame Bovary Charles Love for Emma and How it Leads to Ruining"

Essay 5 pages (1264 words) Sources: 1 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Madame Bovary

Charles Bovary and his fictional life are a trite example of the old saying, "love is blind." His life and deeds, relationship with Emma and failure on multiple counts to be aware of her transgressions and those against his family lead to his complete social, emotional and financial destruction. His blindness may be an innate character flaw, which is characterized by his obliviousness when it comes to choosing friends and associates but it is his blindness in his relationship with Emma that sows the seeds of his ultimate self-destruction. His blindness goes so far as to create a legacy of ruin, carried even by his daughter, who uncharacteristic of any desire of a father is left penniless and at the mercy of relatives when Charles succumbs to his own folly and dies, indebted by his own blindness and the frivolity and contempt of his late wife Emma. Even in death Emma exercises her power over him, and her resentment for his inability to provide her with the exciting life she had dreamed of as a child, through literature.

The work as a whole demonstrates a few key points associated with the period in which it was based and written, one that a simple man (seeking to achieve only the best he can) should not entangle himself with a woman who wants much more (due to fantasies associated with reading (188) and two that being blind to love is dangerous and should therefore be avoided. It was this very didactic that let Charles' life turn to ruin as time went by.

Though initially Charles is dubbed as a loyal and good man, his ignorance to Emma's disloyal behavior as well as the unfortunate manner in which he is coerced into doing and not seeing things that he should builds a case for the reader to dislike him and therefore presume that his end will not be good. So, as the narrative progresses simultaneously with Charles' life and love for Emma the reader likes him less and his life becomes worthy of less and less. Finally spiraling out of control and ending in his own death, presumably of a broken heart after finally coming to terms with how blind he had been regarding Emma. The most consequential occurrence in Charles' life, his utter failure at surgical intervention on a clubbed foot, that results in amputation for the patient by another doctor, is in fact highly motivated by Emma's greed and hope for greater than Charles could ever provide. Knowing that Bovary, being of relatively sound mind and knowing his own limitations as a doctor would never agree to perform such a surgery Homais first went to Emma, convinced her of the sure success of the plot so she, as expected would convince Charles, with her womanly ways to accept the challenge. If anyone wished to contrive to convince Charles of anything, they knew how to reach him, through his devotion to Emma.

Homais] had recently read an article praising a new method of curing clubfoot, and...'After all'-- he said to Emma -- what's there to lose? And look at what's to be gained,... "Almost certain success, cure and improved appearance for the patient, swift fame for the surgioun. Why shouldn't it be your husband, for example...(Homais lowered his voice and looked around) "what's to stop me from sending a little article about it to the newspaper?...."..Emma was convinced: Charles had a good chance of succeeding:,...and what a satisfaction it would be for her to have persuaded him to take a step that would enhance his reputation and add to his fortune! She was eager to have something more solid than love to lean on. Urged on by the apothecary and Emma, Charles agreed to go through with it.

Flaubert 169-170)

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