Sinopsis Nyonya Bovary (Madame Bovary)

Charles merupakan seorang dokter yang terlahir dari anak seorang dokter pada zaman perang di
Perancis bernama Charles Denis Bartholome dan ibunya bernama Bovary. Ibunya ini kemudian
menjodohkan Bovary dengan seorang janda berumur empatpuluhan tahun yang kaya namun begitu
mengatur Charles bernama Nyonya Dubuc.
Karena hal itulah, Charles sering disebut lelaki yang merana hingga pada akhirnya ia diundang oleh
Bapak Rouault yang menderia sakit di kakinya. Di sanalah Charles bertemu dengan Emma, anak
perempuan yang tak suka bertani tidak seperti ayahnya yang sakit itu.
Sejak pertama, Charles memiliki perasaan yang aneh karena ia tetap berkunjung meski Bapak
Rouault telah sembuh. Charles selalu terpanggil untuk datang  ke rumahnya di Les Bertaux.  Karena
keseringan inilah kemudian istrinya cemburu dan melarangnya untuk pergi ke sana.
Namun tak lama kemudian, Nyonya Dubuc meninggal setelah muntah darah. Charles merasa begitu
kehilangan Dubuc dan membuatnya menjadi murung. Hal itu kemudian yang membuat Bapak
Rouault merasa iba dan menghibur dirinya dengan mengajaknya berlibur di Les Bertaux karena
Emma terkadang menanyai dokter itu. Selama liburan itulah kemudian Charles jatuh hati dengan
Emma, kesedihannya tergantikan dengan datangnya Emma yang kemudian diangkatnya menjadi
istri.
Charles membawa Emma tinggal di Tostes menemani dirinya untuk bertugas sebagai seorang
dokter. Sebagai dokter, Charles termasuk dokter yang disegani sehingga ia termasuk dokter yang
terpandang dan kedudukan sosialnya pun terpandang.
Oleh karena itulah kemudian ia mendapatkan undangan oleh Markis D’andevilliers di Vaubyessar
yang serupa istana. Dalam undangan itu, Emma terkagum-kagum dengan gaya hidup orang kaya
dan terpandang. Ia mengandai-andai Charles demikian. Terlebih saat ia mulai berdansa dengan
seorang Vicomte yang selalu membuatnya teringat-ingat dengan gemerlap hidup yang kaya itu.
Hal itu membuat Emma menjadi begitu murung. Terlebih, pikiran Emma selalu terbayang pada
Vicomte yang tinggal di Paris dan selalu mengangankan tinggal di kota itu. Kemurungan itu dibaca
lain oleh Charles, ia menganggap istrinya itu bosan dengan lingkunganya tersebut sehingga ia
mengambil keputusan untuk pindah ke Yonville saat Emma mulai hamil dan kemudian bertetangga
dengan seorang apoteker bernama Homais yang begitu ramah tamah padanya karena ada maunya.
Di sinilah kemudian Emma bertemu dengan Leon, seorang yang memiliki kebiasaan membaca
roman romantik maupun puisi yang merupakan kebiasaan Emma. Dari sinilah rasa simpatik itu
datang. Leon sendiri merasa hatinya mulai mencintai Emma namun ia malu mengungkapkannya
karena Emma merupakan suami seorang dokter yang disegani. Emma yang menunggu-nunggu
keberanian Leon menjadi kesal dan mulai melupakan hasratnya untuk bersama Leon. Leon sendiri
kemudian memutuskan untuk pergi ke Paris. Di sela itu, putri Emma telah lahir dan diberi nama
Berthe.
Nyonya Bovary atau Emma masih merasa kecewa terhadap Charles dan selalu membandingkannya
dengan Leon yang romantis dengan puisi-puisi yang selalu dibisiki ditelinga Nyonya Bovary. Charles
dianggap tidak mampu memenuhi kebutuhan biologis Nyonya Bovary yang ingin selalu dimanja dan
tak mampu memenuhi keinginannya sehingga Nyonya Bovary merasa Tuan Bovary bukanlah
cintanya.
Kebimbangan  inilah yang ditangkap oleh seorang yang terbuai dengan kecantikan Nyonya Bovary
dan berniat merebut hatinya. Tiada lain dialah Rodolphe, seorang lelaki mata keranjang yang pandai
merayu perempuan. Rodolphe kemudian berhasil meluluhkan pendirian Bovary untuk selingkuh.
Oleh surat cinta dan rayuan yang membuai-buai Nyonya Bovary, akhirnya cinta itu tumbuh untuk
Rodolphe. Di lain sisi, kegagalan suaminya menyembuhkan Hippolyte dari sakit pekoknya yang
membuat kaki itu harus diamputasi menambah kebencian Nyonya Bovary karena tentu membuat
namanya menjadi buruk.
Pada akhirnya ia merencanakan kepergiannya bersama Rodolphe dengan memesan berbagai
perlengkapan yang dibutuhkan dengan berhutang pada Lheureux. Namun pada waktu yang telah
ditentukan Rodolphe malah mengirimnya surat bahwa ia tak akan menganggu keluarganya.
Karena keputusan Rodolphe itu, Nyonya Bovary tak sadarkan diri sehingga harus mengalami
perawatan seiring itu berbagai tagihan datang dan harus dilunasi. Hingga akhirnya, Emma membaik
setelah menghabiskan banyak obat yang telah diberikan oleh Homais.
Dalam sebuah kesempatan di Roeun, Tuan dan Nyonya Bovary bertemu dengan Leon. Leon yang
kini lebih berani menyatakan cintanya secara terang-terangan setelah menemukan kesempatan
untuk berduaan. Mulanya Nyonya Bovary menolaknya karena merasa sudah cukup tua. Namun
rayuan Leon akhirnya membuatnya luluh juga.
Dengan berbagai alasan yang mengelabui Tuan Bovary, Nyonya Bovary selalu melakukan
pertemuan untuk berzinah dengan Leon di sebuah hotel di Reoun. Emma memiliki alasan untuk
pergi ke sana dengan menyatakan bahwa ia mengikuti kursus musik. Karena segala keperluan itu,
Nyonya Bovary membutuhkan uang banyak dan akhirnya meminjam kepada Cheureux.
Karena terbelit banyak hutang dan Nyonya Bovary tak mampu membayarnya, akhirnya rumah dan
seisinya disita. Hal ini dirahasiakan oleh Nyonya Bovary dari Charles. Emma bukan tinggal diam, ia
mencari pertolongan untuk dapat meminjam uang sebanyak tiga ribu france. Namun tak seorangpun
yang mampu menolongnya termasuk Leon dan Rodolphe.
Akhirnya Emma tersiksa dan meminum racun kemudian meninggal dunia. Charles yang ditinggal
Emma begitu sedih. Tak lama kemudian Charles yang selama ini tak tahu bila Nyonya Buvary
selingkuh, akhirnya mengetahui perselingkuhan istrinya itu terhadap Leon dan Rodolphe. Pada
akhirnya Charles meninggal setelah tanpa sengaja disentuh Berthe langsung tersungkur.

Sesungguhnya buku ini dianggap sebagai novel terbaik yang pernah ada. Ada juga yang
menganggapnya sebagai novel yang sempurna. Saya membacanya karena saya didera romantisme
untuk mengumpulkan karya penulis klasik terbaik Prancis: Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, dan
Gustave Flaubert yang kondang itu. Tentu saja harapan saya melambung tinggi akan buku ini. Tapi
ketika membaca sepanjang buku, saya mengerutkan kening, tidak mengerti mengapa buku ini
disebut buku terbaik.

Madame Bovary adalah cerita tentang perselingkuhan seorang wanita. Ditulis oleh Gustave Flaubert
tahun 1856, cerita ini awalnya diterbitkan secara bersambung di sebuah surat kabar. Cerita tentang
perselingkuhan seorang ibu rumah tangga dan penggambaran adegan percintaan yang terlarang
dalam buku ini membuatnya menghadapi tuntutan pengadilan dengan tuduhan ketidaksenonohan
dan tidak bermoral. Flaubert akhirnya bebas dari tuduhan dan bukunya menjadi terkenal di masa itu.

Dalam cerita tersebut, tersebutlah seorang dokter yang biasa-biasa saja bernama Charles Bovary.
Ibunya berharap Bovary sukses, dengan menyekolahkannya menjadi dokter, dan setelah lulus
mencarikan istri yang tepat untuknya. Dia dinikahkan dengan Madame Dubuc, seorang janda
berumur 45 tahun yang tidak menarik tapi berpenghasilan lumayan.

Pada suatu hari Charles Bovary mengobati seorang petani kaya yang retak kaki bernama Monsieur
Rouault. Rouault akhirnya sembuh dan merasa berhutang budi kepada Bovary. Monsieur Rouault
mempunyai anak gadis yang sangat cantik bernama Emma. Karena seringnya Charles mengunjungi
rumah Rouault, istrinya cemburu karena mengira Charles mengejar gadis itu. Charles Bovary adalah
seorang yang polos dan kaku, dia tidak mungkin berani untuk mengkhianati istrinya, meski dia
tertarik kepada Emma. Namun tak berapa lama, istri Charles meninggal.
Charles Bovary terpukul atas kehilangan istrinya. Kenalan-kenalannya berusaha menghiburnya,
terutama Monsieur Rouault. Rouault melihat ketertarikan Charles pada Emma (walaupun selalu
disangkal sendiri), dan akhirnya menawarkan Charles untuk dinikahkan dengan anak gadisnya
tersebut. Charles setuju, dan akhirnya Charles dan Emma menikah. Charles bahagia sekali
mempunyai istri secantik Emma. Emma sendiri, dalam hatinya tidak mengetahui apakah dia benar-
benar mencintai Charles. Dia kerap kesal dengan sikap Charles yang tidak romantis, tidak peka, dan
kikuk. Emma gemar membaca novel-novel. Dia menginginkan romantisme yang ada di novel
tersebut terjadi padanya. Dia ingin merasakan percintaan yang membara, keliling dunia, berpesta
dan bersenang-senang. Namun impian itu pupus setelah dia menikah dengan Charles, dan
kemudian hamil.

Ketika Emma mulai tidak terlihat puas dengan kehidupan mereka, Charles mengajak mereka pindah
ke kota yang lebih besar, yaitu Yonville, dekat kota besar Normandia, Rouen. Charles pikir Emma
akan semakin gembira karena dia selalu bermimpi tinggal di kota besar yang ramai dan serba ada.
Di Yonville juga akhirnya Emma melahirkan seorang anak perempuan.

Di kota baru itu mereka berteman dengan pemuka-pemuka masyarakat. Salah satunya adalah Leon
Dupuis, seorang pemuda yang bekerja pada notaris kota. Leon menjadi berteman dengan Emma,
karena ternyata mereka sama-sama memiliki kesamaan pengetahuan, minat bacaan, dan
memainkan musik. Karena pertemanan menjadi dekat, mereka akhirnya jatuh hati, tapi tidak berani
untuk saling mengungkapkan. Merasa bersalah dan tersiksa atas rindunya kepada Emma, Leon
pindah ke Paris untuk melanjutkan sekolah hukum. Emma dalam hati menangisi kepergian Leon dan
menyesali kenapa dia tidak pernah memadu cinta dengannya. Sementara Charles tidak menyadari
hubungan emosional antara kedua orang ini.

Sepeninggal Leon, Emma kembali merasa tidak puas akan kehidupan rumah tangganya yang datar.
Suatu saat, Charles mengenalkannya dengan Rodolphe Boulanger, seorang juragan pertanian dan
tuan tanah yang mata keranjang. Rodolphe terpesona dengan kecantikan Emma, akhirnya
memutuskan untuk mengejar Emma dengan cara apapun, meskipun dia sudah banyak memiliki
wanita simpanan.

Rodolphe merayu dan memaksa Emma dengan gigih. Awalnya Emma menolaknya karena tidak
punya hati terhadap Rodolphe. Tapi Rodolphe sungguh licin, akhirnya Emma bertekuk lutut
kepadanya. Mereka menjalin cinta dan semakin bergelora tiap hari. Setiap ada waktu luang, mereka
luangkan untuk bertemu dan bercinta di tempat yang sudah disepakati sebelumnya. Lama-kelamaan
hubungan cinta mereka semakin terang-terangan, namun Charles tetap tidak menyadari. Dia masih
menganggap Rodolphe pria terhormat dimatanya, dan menyanjung tinggi istrinya lebih dari siapapun.
Emma memberikan semuanya untuk Rodolphe. Dia jatuh cinta dalam sekali kepada Rodolphe,
namun Rodolphe tidak berminat untuk serius. Emma berhutang banyak barang untuk diberikan
kepada Rodolphe sebagai tanda cinta, tentunya tanpa sepengetahuan suaminya. Emma juga
merencanakan mereka berdua untuk melarikan diri dari kota itu dan pergi ke Paris. Takut akan
keseriusan Emma, Rodolphe justru melarikan diri sendirian, memutuskan cintanya dengan Emma
melalui sepucuk surat.
Emma Bovary sangat terpukul karena diputuskan cintanya yang menggebu-gebu. Dia menjadi
depresi dan jatuh sakit. Suaminya cemas setengah mati akan keadaan istrinya. Emma mencoba
bunuh diri, tetapi gagal. Bagaimanapun, suaminya tetap merawat dia sampai sembuh dan normal
kembali. Suatu saat, untuk menghibur istrinya yang depresi, Charles membawanya ke kota Rouen
untuk menonton opera. Emma menyukai opera, akan tetapi ada hal yang lebih disukainya disitu:
mereka bertemu dengan Leon Dupuis, yang telah selesai sekolah dan bekerja di Rouen. Leon ingin
mereka tinggal sehari lagi di kota itu, tapi san dokter mengeluh tidak bisa karena kesibukannya.
Akhirnya Charles mengusulkan Emma untuk tinggal di Rouen sehari lagi, ditemani Leon yang sudah
dianggap teman baik mereka, sementara dia sendiri pulang ke Yonville. Leon bersuka cita dalam hati
mendengar hal ini.

Sepeninggal Charles di Rouen, Emma berniat untuk benar-benar tidak memulai perselingkuhan lagi.
Dia memutuskan untuk menolak cinta Leon apabila dia berani menyatakannya. Ternyata Leon
membawanya ke taksi kereta yang tertutup keliling kota, dan disana Emma sekali lagi takluk oleh
cinta Leon. Mereka bercinta tanpa bisa dihindari di dalam kereta taksi tersebut, berkeliling kota.
Perselingkuhan Emma Bovary kembali dimulai, dan sekali lagi Charles Bovary tidak menyadari sama
sekali.

Emma menjadi lebih sering pergi ke kota Rouen dengan alasan untuk mengambil kursus piano.
Charles heran, mengapa kursus piano sampai sejauh itu. Toh dia tetap merelakan, bahkan
membiayai kursus bohong itu. Leon dan Emma selalu menyewa kamar hotel yang sama di Rouen.
Semakin lama, kehidupan percintaan mereka semakin liar. Leon bahkan mulai mengabaikan
pekerjaannya hanya untuk bertemu Emma. Emma juga berhutang semakin banyak kepada rentenir,
karena hubungan jarak jauh untuk bersenang-senang itu memerlukan biaya yang banyak. Dia
memakai uang hasil kerja suaminya dari para pasiennya, dan tetap dia berhutang tanpa
sepengetahuan suami. Emma bahkan menggadaikan rumah warisan ayah Charles tanpa
sepengetahuannya. Tanpa memikirkan bagaimana harus membayar, Emma semakin dalam terbelit
hutang. Sampai pada suatu saat, pihak penjamin berniat untuk menyita rumah dan semua hartanya
dan suaminya. Charles bingung dengan kedatangan sang juru sita. Emma panik. Dia meminta tolong
Leon untuk mencarikan pinjaman, tetapi gagal. Dia bahkan meminta Leon untuk mengambil uang
kantornya, tapi Leon menolak.

Emma berusaha menegosiasi ulang utangnya kepada sang lintah darat dengan cara merayunya.
Tetapi ternyata sang rentenir lebih suka uang daripada rayuannya. Emma minta tolong kepada
notaris Yonville, tapi Emma menolak waktu sang notaris "menggerayangi" Emma. Kemudian Emma
kembali mencari Rodolphe, kekasih lamanya. Rodolphe menolak membantunya meskipun Emma
memohon-mohon.

Akhirnya Emma bunuh diri dengan meminum racun. Charles Bovary yang panik berusaha sekuat
tenaga untuk menyelamatkan istrinya, tapi gagal. Emma tersenyum kepada Charles dan
menghembuskan napas terakhir. Sepeninggal istrinya, Charles patah hati. Dia sangat menyayangi
istrinya yang cantik, cerdas, dan aktif. Dia sangat mengagumi istrinya. Charles sering duduk sendiri
di lantai atas rumahnya, tempat Emma biasa menyendiri. Disana dia menemukan surat-surat cinta
Rodolphe dan Leon kepada Emma. Charles makin patah hati dan sering menyendiri, mengabaikan
praktek kedokterannya. Akhirnya kesehatannya mulai menurun, dan dia meninggal dunia,
meninggalkan anaknya yang hidup sengsara sebagai yatim piatu.

Sesungguhnya Madame Bovary adalah roman metropolitan dalam arti sebenarnya, yang ditulis lebih
dari seabad yang lalu. Masa itu adalah masa beralihnya kekuasaan dari para bangsawan yang
bebas dan hedonis ke kaum borjuis kelas menengah yang munafik, penghotbah moral, tapi korup.
Tokoh-tokoh yang ada di kota Yonville menggambarkan hal itu: Emma sendiri, Rodolphe, Leon, sang
rentenir, sang apoteker, sang notaris, dan lain-lain. Temanya sendiri adalah perselingkuhan seorang
ibu rumah tangga pada abad tersebut. Anda bayangkan, betapa karya ini sangat menggegerkan
dunia. Sebuah karya yang berani blak-blakan menyinggung banyak orang konservatif. Tetapi di
masa sekarang, seperti saya membacanya, tidak terasa gregetnya saking sudah biasanya.

Tapi saya mempunyai pendapat sendiri mengenai bagaimana seharusnya sebuah karya sastra.
Menurut saya, sebuah karya sastra yang baik harusnya tidak ahistoris, dia harus berkaitan dengan
suatu masa dalam suatu entitas sosial. Dia memotret realitas sosial dan hubungannya dengan
karakter. Bila saya membaca sebuah novel tentang si A yang mencintai si B, tapi si B mencintai si C,
kemudian si A menghajar si C dan seterusnya, novel itu menjadi ahistoris bila tidak ada kaitan
dengan realitas sosial tertentu dalam masa tertentu. Cerita itu menjadi dongeng sambil lalu, tanpa
ada keterkaitan sosial dan emosional dengan apapun, dan akan terlupakan beberapa saat
kemudian. Coba tengok misalkan buku Love In The Time Cholera, sebuah kisah percintaan yang
menggambarkan keseluruhan realitas historis, yang membuatnya bermakna sangat dalam. Atau
bahkan Bumi Manusia, mengenai kisah cinta antara Minke dan Annelies. Begitu pula Madame
Bovary, yang secara tersirat menggambarkan kepribadian dan moralitas yang berkarat pada masa
itu. Buku ini adalah sebuah potret, dan ini berharga. Buku ini menohok para pembacanya dulu, untuk
itulah buku ini menjadi lebih berharga.

Flaubert bukan seorang feminis, bahkan konon dia terkena sipilis karena petualangan seksnya yang
liar. Tapi karena membicarakan "bagian hitam" dari seorang wanita, maka buku ini (tak perlu
disengaja) menjadi bahan diskusi feminisme. Flaubert menulis buku ini dengan sangat meyakinkan
seolah dia adalah perempuan. Ternyata, perempuan juga kadang memiliki kecenderungan poligami,
sama dengan laki-laki. Mereka membutuhkan keluarga yang normal, aman dan stabil, tapi siapa
bilang mereka tidak menginginkan petualangan percintaan yang berapi-api sepanjang hidupnya?
Saya mohon maaf, saya tidak bisa berbicara mewakili semua wanita. Saya hanya berusaha mewakili
Emma Bovary. Manusia tidak seperti Mimi dan Mintuna yang cepat sekali dipuaskan. Manusia selalu
memiliki keinginan lebih dan lebih banyak lagi, baik keinginan akan cinta, harta, kekuasaan, atau
sekedar pengakuan eksistensi.

Meskipun begitu, nature dan konsekuensi yang diterima perempuan dalam hasrat poligami sangat
berbeda dengan laki-laki. Laki-laki bisa melakukan poligami tanpa rasa bersalah, masyarakat masih
memakluminya, bahkan dapat melakukan beberapa hubungan cinta sekaligus tanpa ikatan, tanpa
emosi, bahkan tanpa cinta. Perempuan cenderung menyerahkan semua emosinya ke hubungan
percintaannya yang terlarang, dan mematikan rasionya. Wanita berselingkuh dengan menyerahkan
seluruh hatinya, sedangkan pria bisa berselingkuh hanya untuk bersenang-senang. Memang dua-
duanya bisa berakhir tragis, tapi permakluman laki-laki yang selingkuh lebih besar daripada bila
perempuan yang melakukannya.

Dalam sebuah buku lain yang juga sedang saya baca, saya menemukan kutipan Virginia Woolf yang
menulis, "Seluruh hidup seorang perempuan jatuh dalam bayangan sebuah pedang." Maksudnya, di
satu sisi pedang adalah ketentuan, tradisi dalam masyarakat, dan perintah-perintah, dimana semua
"benar". Tapi di sisi yang berseberangan dari pedang itu, adalah gagasan gila seorang perempuan
untuk memilih hidup yang tidak mengikuti ketentuan. Di sisi ini, menurut Woolf, mungkin perempuan
mendapatkan kehidupan yang menarik, tapi jalan ini beresiko bagi seorang perempuan untuk
kehilangan segalanya.

Madame Bovary is set in a rural community in the middle of the nineteenth-century and is
preoccupied with the effect of provincial life on its characters. Emma Bovary appears to suffer an
escalating ennui, brought about by her leisurely rural existence and her marriage to Charles, a dull
country doctor. The appeal of Madame Bovary lies partially in its scrupulous examination of the
northern French regional life and its relationship between high literary style and low provincial
subject.

Madame Bovary could be casually viewed as a romance, mainly due to Emma's two affairs, although
a closer examination would uncover its central anti-romantic sentiment and borderline nihilism, not to
mention its frequent use of irony. Flaubert's novel could be regarded as chronicling the fatal
consequences of a loveless marriage.

Flaubert was concerned with portraying his narrative as objectively as possible. Madame Bovary is
widely hailed as playing a key role in promoting a modern form of impersonal narration. With his
famous 'strength of style' and legendary perfectionism, Flaubert rendered the domestic life of the
middle classes with an obsessively clinical precision, thick with realist detail - the choice of 'le mot
juste' ('the right word') was imperative to his narrative method. He believed in combining the rhythm
of poetry with the dispassionate clarity of science. Consequently he was considered the High Priest
of a 'new realism' which was concerned with the accurate depiction of the minutiae of every day life;
an achievement which would have far-reaching effects upon both the theory and the practice of the
novel in Europe.

It is arguable that the narrative trajectory in Madame Bovary is the meticulous documenting of events
that lead towards the heroine's death. Emma appears to be trapped in a narrowly feminine existence,
something she at first escapes from through reading. It is apparent that Emma's avid reading is
implicated in her suicide. Emma replaces herself with the fictional heroines she wishes to join, thus
committing a sort of existential suicide.

Many images of death occur throughout Flaubert's novel, such as Emma's earlier suicide attempt,
her self-indulgence through the ruinous purchase of luxury items and various deathlike descriptions
of her after her lovers Leon and Rudolphe have left.

Irony is one of the devices Flaubert utilizes in depicting Emma's suicide. His use of irony works by
juxtaposition and repetition, and it is the former of these which is evident during the heroine's death.
Throughout the novel Emma is portrayed as conceiving her death as romantic, yet with his
characteristic irony, Flaubert depicts the effects of his protagonist's poisoning by arsenic in the most
brutally realist terms: "Soon she was vomiting blood. Her lips were drawn tighter. Her limbs were
rigid, her body covered in brown patches" (3.8; p.298). However as with several other scenes in the
novel, Emma is immersed in a kind of religious ecstasy, evident in her reaction to the priest at her
death bed: "The priest arose and took the crucifix ... pressing her lips to the body of the Man-God,
she laid upon him with all her ebbing strength the greatest loving kiss she had ever given" (3.8;
p.303). There is an inextricable linking of marriage, eroticism and death that pervades the novel,
most pointedly evinced near the end when Charles buries Emma in her wedding dress.

It is interesting as well as illuminating to take into account a little of the history of Madame Bovary.
Flaubert's novel took five years to complete due to its author's perfectionism. Madame Bovary
encountered difficulties getting published due to its challenging content, such as adultery and graphic
depiction of suicide. The publisher took exception to the author's highly individual renderings of such
phenomena, demanding that cuts were made. However Flaubert was writing in an age when
novelists were acquiring a self-awareness of their craft, and various theories were being propounded
as to how the novel as an art form should develop; a field in which Flaubert in particular exerted great
influence.

In Gustave Flaubert's controversial novel Madame Bovary, the title character is viewed by most
critics as a sinful, despicable, self-serving human being.  I, however, ascertain that although her
behavior was far from chaste or ladylike, nevertheless, she was truly a victim and, indeed, desrving
of the reader's sympathy.  Those who have the insight to step back and view Madame Bovary
through a different light will see that she was an "incomplete" soul full of suffering. The intent of her
actions was never to hurt others, but to try and find some form of peace for herself.  

She is an individual who is experiencing an emptiness-a void within herself-and is grappling at

anything to make herself fell "whole".  In the era of which the book was written, as people were often
judged mainly by their actions, it is easy to see, at first glance, why she would be interpreted as such
a villain.  However, as we read this novel in the 21st century, we are now able to extend our
understanding beyond external observations and look beyond one's actions to determine what issues
may lay beneath the surface.  With this insight, we see that in reality an individual such as Madame
Bovary is, in truth, a victim.

In this novel, it is obvious that Madame Bovary (Emma) is continually on an endless pursuit to seek
love from others.  She has such a strong need to find validation in others because she is lacking in
self-esteem and love for herself.  Therefore, she is left with (for lack of a better word) a "void".  It is
that indescribable feeling that many of us have one time or another of an "emptiness"- that
"something" is missing.  However, what that something is eludes her, sending her on a futile search
to find something, anything, to fill this hole within her.  

The presence of this appears many times in the novel.  We see this when Flaubert writes "In her
yearnings, she confused the sensualities of luxury with the joys of the heart..." (1).   this confirms the
yearning or emptiness that dwells within her and, like the alcoholic who tries to fill his soul with drink,
she mistakenly tries to find happiness and love mainly in men and luxury.  In modern day, we've all
seen the talks shows featuring promiscuous teens "looking for love in all the wrong places", trying to
fulfill their need for love and self-worth through a string of men.  

Or we could possibly equate this to the stories we hear of twins separated at birth, only to remain
with a feeling of incompleteness and emptiness that follows them throughout their life, both unable to
put words to or find cause for their "chronic emptiness".  Similarly, there was an element that Emma
lacked.  Her "missing piece" was the self worth and love, from herself and others, that is at the root of
a human's most basic emotional needs.

There are yet many more passages that support this idea throughout the novel.  One such passage
is that which addresses the issue of Emma's marriage: "Before she had married she thought she was
in love.  But the happiness that should have resulted did not come: she must have deceived
herself..." (2).  From this we see another one of her failed attempts to fill her void and find love.  And
yet, to the dismay of the critic who likes to crucify her, she states that she did indeed try to love her
husband.  She even tried making a valiant effort to cure her emptiness in other ways.  "...she became
excessively charitable.  She would sew clothes for the poor, send wood to women in labor and, one
day, Charles (came home to find)...three tramps sitting at the kitchen table and drinking soup." (3) 
Yet, none of these seemed to be the magic cure and as her needs and emptiness grew stronger, so
did Emma's vulnerability.  
This made it that much easier for her to be seduced by the pseudo-sentiment of Rodolphe,
exclaiming that in his soul she was "...a Madonna on a pedestal, exalted, secure and
 immaculate" (4) adding "But I need you to survive" (5).  These words were exactly what she needed
to hear to mend that hole insider her, devoid of self worth, at least temporarily.  And yet, despite her
passion with Rodolphe, it still was not  him that she yearned for, as much as the way he made her
feel that she desired so desperately.  For Rudolphe would not provide her with her so needed "quick
emotional fix".  She would only mourn until another gentleman became available to provide her with
this "service".  

This truly came to light as she was involved in a romantic moment with Rodolphe and her thoughts
wondered to sme of those men before him.  "She seemed to still be turning to that waltz in the
viscount's arms...Leon was not far off...and yet she did not stop being aware of Rodolphe's head
besider her...(as)...the sweetness of this sensation mingled with her old desires...and they were
tossed around...settling on her soul" (6).  This further reconfirms that the men were not part of a
selfish scheme, but a means to an end in her desperate hunt for a feeling of completion and peace.

Taking our analysis a step further, clear when accompanying Emma's emptiness, also lies an
incredible enduring sadness.  Whether one was a precipitate to the other, or whether they are both
perhaps different hues of the same emotion is unclear.  Yet, what is relevant is that this sadness
exists.  We see this in many places, such as when she asks Rodolphe "But does one ever find
happiness?" (7)  Or, when after a wonderul night she asks of him again "then why am I so sad? Is it
the fear of the unknown?..." (8)  

Taking all this into consideration and using the knowledge and awareness we have today, I find it not
hard to arrive at the conclusion that Emma was actually suffering from depression.  Therefore, her
actions were not the ruthless manipulations of a villain, but the acting out of a victim trying as best as
she can to get by with this undiagnosed disease...a disease which even today is under or
misdiagnosed as "there are no fevers, no rashes, no blood test to send people scurrying in concern"
(9).
As we look at some of the features of depression, we see that Emma's behavior is consisten with
such symptoms: persistent melancholic mood, loss of enjoyment in certain activities, changes in
sleep, changes in appetite, lack of self-esteem, irritability, atention deficit, mood swings, slowing of all
functions, and lastly, suicidal thoughts (10).  At different points throughout the novel, she experiences
each one of these.  Her mood swings and indifferenece are very evident in relation to how she treats
her child.  The child, not overly attended to by Emma, is mentioned minimally throughout the book. 
But, then, in a severe change of mood, she rushes to Berthe crying "I love you so much my darling
child, so much!" (11)   Even the maid was "...quite amazed at this excess of affection" (12).  

In another instance, Charles' observation of her symptoms comes to light: "What frighened him most
was Emma's state of prostration, she didn't speak, appeared not to hear...or to even suffer" 913). 
Even little details throughout, that at first glance seem to hold little significance, will at second glance
support this premise.  One of these is her inability (earlier in the story) to focus on or complete a
single book.  would this not be exactly the type of attention devicit that accompanies depression?

Not only is there the disease of depression, itself, but there are different types of this disease. 
Endogenous depression is "seen as biologically based because its occurrence is presumably linked
to inner cuases rather than external changes" (14).  This seems to be the strain which Emma is
afflicted with.  It has been a lifelong companion of hers, with no particular precipitating factor.  This is
evident as she couldn't help thinking to herself  "...what was making her so unhappy?  Where was the
extraordinary calamity that overwhelmed her?" (15)   And, once again, after she is reunited with
Leon, whe reflected again that "nonetheless, she was not happy, had never been happy.  Why then
was life so inadequate?" (16)

In the end, as we know, Emma chose to take her own life.  Although the moral majority, including the
church, may see this as the ultimate act of selfishness, a female writer, also suffering from
depression wrote this on the topic: "Suicide is an end to the pain, the agony of despair, the slow slide
into disaster, so private, but as devastating as any other  'act of God'" (17)   It was therefore very
befitting that her mauseoleum epitat referred to her as "a spirit carrying an extinguished torch" (18). 
Her existence could not have been summed up better.
In closing, I came across a literary criticism in which the author, Gustave Flaubert, expresses that he,
himself, is in some ways represented by Madame Bovary.  Unfortunately, he has not cornered the
market, as I, too, have lived through many of her experiences.  During this time, my primary
motivations (much as I believe Emma's to be) were not to be hurtful or deceitful, but like Emma's. 
Through proper diagnosis, counseling, and thorough self examination, I have come to terms with my
issues of self-esteem and depression, to become a content and "whole" person of and within
myself.  

I am now an individual no longer in need of outside validation, but only that which I find within my
own being and within my own heart.  Had Madame Bovary lived in an age of knowledge and
understanding of these behaviors and feelings, as we do today, she too may have overcome her
emotional and mental obstacles to reach the level of achievement that I have.  The fact that she not
only suffered from these feelings and consequential behaviors, but that she had to suffer them in an
era of ignorance and intolerance, only further confirms that she is not only a victim...but a victim two-
fold.

CHARACTERS In Gustave Flaubert's "Madame Bovary," the author uses several different scenarios
of enclosed spaces, both physically and metaphorically, to show the anguish that their characters are
feeling. The strongest three representations are: the introduction of Charles Bovary to his new
school, the weeks before Madam Bovary commits suicide, and the weeks before Charles Bovary's
death. Each situation uses solitude to show the powerful emotion that the character is feeling at the
time.

In the opening scene of the story, Flaubert writes of Charles Bovary's first day at his new school. The
character is shown as alone and possibly frightened by his new environment, in which he knows no
one and is unfamiliar with the particular workings of the class. One specific example is the description
of the class ritual of throwing hats onto the floor when entering the class room. Charles Bovary
doesn't know the custom, thereby singling him out among his new classmates (1089). Later the
teacher singles him out once again when Charles is required to stand and give his name. The
character is shy and scared; forcing the teacher to ask for his name repeatedly until Charles screams
it out, causing the rest of the class to laugh at his humiliation. Charles' later wife, Madam Bovary, is
not happy with her marriage and slowly delves into the world of adultery. She uses her husband's
good name to try and advance her image by purchasing things of great material wealth on lend notes
issued in that name. Over time the lend notes pile up and force Madam Bovary to attempt anything
she can to pay them without her husband knowing. After a long deliberation, in which many solutions
are attempted and denied, Madam Bovary is forced to kill herself in order to escape the problem.
While the notion of suicide is more romantic than realistic, the overall message of the passage is
clear, in real life things do not always turn out to be the way people want them. By leaving Madam
Bovary alone and bereft of hope, Flaubert uses her anguish to show the unhappiness that often is felt
by people in the real world. The final act of singularity is seen in the death of Madam Bovary, who
dies alone in her bed, her husband forgotten and discarded nearby, with nothing but pain to keep her
company until her death.

The death of Charles Bovary at the end of the story is the direct example of a person alone in their
anguish, with no reasonable way out. After the long, agonizing death of his wife, Charles Bovary
discovers the records of her various acts of adultery, but with no real friends and estranged from his
mother, Bovary has no one to consol him. This is a realistic ending to the story, because in normal
life people do not often recover from such an incident, as they may be shown to in more romantic
types of art or writing.

In a whole, Gustave Flaubert's "Madame Bovary" shows several different examples of a realistic
character alone and in anguish. Using the introduction of Charles Bovary, the death of Madame
Bovary, and the death of Charles Bovary, Flaubert shows three characters, at separate times, alone
with their problems and alone with their sorrow, with no real hope of escaping it before destiny
allows.

The ROLE OF WOMEN

In the novel Madame Bovary, by Gustave Flaubert, there is a portrayal of the status of women and
the way they were treated during the time period in which it was written. Flaubert used his writing to
display the lack of power that females had and their hardships through the character of Emma
Bovary, following from her childhood to adulthood. The only power that Emma learns that she has is
her body, which is all women of this time really had. Whether they chose to use it or not was up to
their discretion.

As a child growing up, Emma is forced to live in a convent, not being given much of a choice. It
seems that the only way she could really live was through reading romance novels and creating an
alternative idea of how life really should be. This damages her sense of reality because one she is an
adult; Emma is unable to separate fiction from reality. She spends her whole life searching for
perfection in love, when there really is no such thing, and being a woman during a time where
females did not have significant impact in everyday life.

Emma's husband, Charles, contributes to her powerlessness by not being everything she needs.
Although he has the potential and ability to become a successful and wealthy doctor, he is lazy and
will not push himself to gain a higher financial status. Although Charles truly is in love with Emma,
she still feels like he is not providing for her needs and desires. Due to her husband and their son,
she is unable to get away from their country town of Yonville and feels like a prisoner in her life.
Being that Emma is not receiving all that she thinks she needs and deserves from her husband, she
takes it upon herself to look elsewhere for a man that could possibly fulfill her needs. However,
neither of her lovers will be able to commit to her to give Emma the ideal life. Rodolphe has the
financial power the she desires but instead leaves her. When Emma meets Leon, she finally feels like
she has found someone who is similar to her and shares her wants and desires. They both want to
live in the city and dream of better lives, but since Leon is a man he can actually go after what he
wants while Emma is forced yet again to stay in the country with her husband and son.

Emma, like many women of time, really only had two choices, since she didn't have much power.
She could either stay loyal to her husband and remain unsatisfied with her marriage, or instead be
promiscuous and have lovers on the side. Being unfaithful to her husband and the use of her body
was the only sense of power that Emma had. Men of the time had power over everything, leaving the
women with nothing but to be at their service or arm candy, depending on their financial status. With
that said, Emma begins to sell herself out to men in order to receive money in order to pay off her
debts by performing sexual acts.

Her struggle for power even comes to head with her decision to commit suicide. Even with death,
Emma feels as though she has to use her body in order to leave the world. She uses her love and
body with another man, by the name of Justin, in order to get to gain access to a cupboard where
arsenic is kept. Through her power of sexuality, she is able to manipulate Justin's mind in order to get
what she wants.

For this time period, the way a woman's life was determined was through what she was born into and
whom she married. If Emma were to have never married Charles, and instead married someone
such as Rodolphe, she would have lived the life of luxury and wealth that she desired. At least for the
women of the upper class, they did have some sense of power, which was financial superiority and
access to the finer things in life. They were no different for the lower class in the way that he had no
opinion and their intelligence was no acknowledged. For those women who did not live the luxurious
life, they had no sense of power at all. Their only job was to take care of the house and family while
the husband provided. Women like Emma, who desired so much and had so little would sell their
bodies just so they could feel like a dominant force for once. Much of the world has changed since
the time period of the novel. In more civilized and modern countries, women have become a more
powerful, independent and influential force. Women now have the opportunity and ability to build
themselves up from having nothing to having everything through education and equal opportunity
employment. However, in other areas of the world, women are still in the same position as Emma
Bovary, where dreams of the perfect life are so close, yet so far away.

Illusion Reality

The Bovarys have been teetering

Emma spends money on the edge of bankruptcy
extravagantly, as if it’s unlimited. because of Emma’s uncontrolled
expenditures.

Emma believes that adultery will She fails to recognize that upon
free her from the confines of her each new conquest, she is once
marriage. again bored and unfulfilled.

Emma believes the poison she After taking the poison, Emma
takes to end her life will not falls severely ill and suffers great
cause her great pain. She pain.
expects to swoon and die
gracefully, as characters do in
her novels.

Charles is content, believing he Charles is blind to Emma’s

and Emma are happily married. adultery.

The bourgeoisie, or French From Flaubert’s description, it

middle class, appear to have seems this society has no
everything. spiritual or emotional depth.

Homais is awarded the Legion of Flaubert depicts Homais as a

 Honor and is seen as a great simpering, self-important
man. deceiver.

adultery
Definition: A sexual romance between a married person and someone other than the person’s
wife or husband.
Context: Charles Bovary only found out about his wife’s adultery when he discovered Emma’s
love letters.
bourgeois
Definition: Relating to the social middle class marked by a concern for material interests and
respectability and a tendency toward mediocrity.
Context: Emma Bovary was not satisfied to be a member of the bourgeois class but instead
would have preferred to be a member of the aristocracy.
duplicitous
Definition: The belying of one’s true intentions by deceptive words or actions.
Context: Emma’s duplicitous nature was never more evident than when she lied about taking
music lessons.
infidelity
Definition: Marital unfaithfulness or an act of unfaithfulness.
Context: Charles Bovary always thought Emma was faithful to him; he was never aware of his
wife’s infidelity.
romanticism
Definition: A literary, artistic, and philosophical movement originating in the 18th century,
characterized by an emphasis on the imagination and emotions.
Context: Flaubert’s novel Madame Bovary is a classic example of romanticism in literature.

Exploring Irony
Irony is a literary device characterized by a deliberate contrast between what is expected to
happen to a character and the actual outcome. Flaubert’s use of irony contributes to the character
development of Madame Bovary and other characters in the novel, and it also adds a bitter twist
to the novel’s tragic ending. Ask students to reread Emma Bovary’s death scene and find one
quotation that is an example of irony. Have students explain what is happening in the passage
they have chosen and why they consider it to be an example of irony. Students should share their
examples in a class discussion and consider what insights these little ironies give us into the
characters. For example, a student may choose the following quote from Emma’s death scene. It
is from book 3, chapter 8, where Emma first begins to feel the effects of the poison she has
taken, while Charles is at her bedside:
“God!” she cried. “It’s horrible!” He flung himself on his knees beside her bed.
“Speak to me! What did you eat? Answer, for heaven’s sake!” And in his eyes she
read a love such as she had never known.
The passage is ironic because Emma, and perhaps the reader, had not realized that her husband
was capable of such feeling. Emma has spent the novel searching for love, only to realize on her
deathbed that her husband, for all his faults, always loved her.

Fantasy Versus RealityThere are several divisions and blurred lines with fantasy and reality in ,
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. Most people experience moments of either wanting more than
their circumstances permit or wanting different circumstances altogether. One hardly needs to look
further than popular cultural adages such as “The grass is always greener on the other side of the
fence” to understand just how pervasive this sentiment is. The near universality of this feeling makes
it a recurrent theme in literature. This kind of persistent desire afflicts Emma, the main character in
the novel, Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, to such an extent that it keeps her in a permanent
state of dissatisfaction, and to such a degree that it eventually causes her to commit suicide. In ,
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert because Emma never develops the kind of coping skills that
would allow her to adapt to her reality and maintain a healthy fantasy life, she instead develops a
pathological approach to escaping her conditions. Her attempts fail, however, and she is unable to
attain her fantasy; yet, she is also unable to live with her reality. This makes death the only viable
option for her at the end of , Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert.

Emma’s dissatisfaction with marriage in Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert begins almost
immediately after crossing the threshold of Monsieur Bovary’s door. Having read what love should be
in romantic novels, Emma is disillusioned by the reality of an intimate relationship. In one of the
important quotes from , Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert Emma says, “‘[B]liss’, ‘passion’, and
‘intoxication’” [were]…words which she had thought so fine when she read them in books” (30), but
the same states of feeling elude her. She attaches these feelings to experiences that simply are not
realistic for her and her husband’s financial means. Even from this early point it is clear that Emma is
both setting herself up for failure or for heartbreak because it seems certain that the illusory world
she has constructed is not sustainable. In , Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert Emma recalls
reading of passionate adventures to far-flung places, and believes that had she and Charles enjoyed
a proper honeymoon, she might have felt better (35). This is one of the first, but certainly not one of
the last, fits of fantasy that she will develop and nurture to the point that it obscures her ability to both
perceive and accept her actual circumstances.

Emma’s disappointment in , Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert is compounded by what she

perceives to be a boredom that is innate to country living (35). It is also exacerbated when she
becomes a mother, which, like marriage, does not meet her romance-novel induced expectations.
Unfortunately, her free time allows her to think far too much about the shortcomings of everyone and
everything around her. She considers each person and each circumstance of her life from the
perspective of “If only”; in other words, if only the person were more worldly, or if only she lived in the
city, life would somehow be better and she would feel more satisfied. She fantasizes at length,
“wondering whether, if things had turned out differently, she might not have met a different man. She
tried to imagine what all those things which had never happened might have been like” (39). Such
thoughts, of course, take on a life of their own when they become as obsessive as they are for Emma
in , Madame Bovary. The inadequacies of the people and conditions of Emma’s life are her primary
focus initially; however, over the course of the novel she begins to shift her attention towards an
action plan that she believes will make her life better. The move from thought to action is set in
motion after the Bovary’s visit to the home of the Marquis, where her fantasy of the “luxurious life”
(48) is affirmed; people could—and did!—live as she hoped she could.

Before she exercises her own agency, though, she expects to be rescued from her boring existence,
another fantasy. She gives up any activities that had once brought her pleasure, including piano
playing and reading (56). When she breaks through this passive phase of despair, she enters a new
period, in which she has decided she will no longer settle for less than what she wants. She does not
take other people’s feelings into account, nor do her actions reflect responsible, mature behavior.
Instead, the fantasies that Emma plays out are destructive and maladaptive. Rather than find a way
to accept and cope with her real life, Emma tries to invent a life that is clearly unsustainable. She
violates her vows of marriage by pursuing other men, who themselves are discontent with their lots in
life and have devised different strategies for attaining what they want. She accumulates
insurmountable debt by purchasing unnecessary trinkets that she cannot afford without borrowing
money. This transition from idle fantasy to dangerous action sets Emma up for her tragic end.
Emma’s suicide at the end of Madame Bovary is, from a narrative perspective, inevitable. Given that
she has been unable to adapt in a healthy manner to her own life, her only choice is to escape, first
into fantasy and wishful thinking, and then into action that fails to bring her the luxurious, satisfying
life that she had envisioned. While fantasies can serve healthy, and even necessary functions, Emma
has become the victim of her own unattainable wishes. By committing suicide at the end of Madame
Bovary, Emma also fails to learn the lesson that becomes so obvious to the reader: although we may
wish, at times, for a different life, our only viable option is to accept the life we have, to make the best
we can of it, and to enjoy the true pleasures that it does offer, even when those pleasures may not be
the ones we anticipated.

Themes :

Failures of the Bourgeoisie

Emma was not satisfied with the French bourgeoisie world and this is largely responsible for her
disappointments. Emma yearns for a more sophisticated and refined taste than her social class
provides.. This dissatisfaction imitates an increasing historical and social trend during the latter part
of the nineteenth century. During the time Gustave Flaubert was writing this novel, “bourgeois” was a
term referring to the middle class: the people who lacked the ancestry and independent wealth of the
nobility, but at the same time whose professions did not consist of having to perform manual labor to
make a living. Their preferences were described as gaudily materialistic. Without discrimination, they
indulged within their means. This Madam Bovary theme demonstrates how potentially harmful and
ridiculous the trappings and attitudes that the bourgeoisie possessed can be.

During pharmacist Homais' long and pretentious speeches, the author ridicules the conceit and
hypocrisy of the bourgeois class to faith, learning, and knowledge in how powerful technologies are
they do not fully understand. Homais was depicted as funny, but he was dangerous. He pushes
Charles to experiment with a new medical procedure which results in his patient developing
gangrene and then losing his leg. Homais causes further damage when Emma is poisoned and he
tries to treat her. Later, he attempts to boast by creating an antidote after analyzing the poison. After
all of this, Homais is told by another doctor that Emma could have been easily saved if he would
have just put his finger down her throat.

Powerlessness of Women

The author takes several opportunities to demonstrate the struggles and challenges women faced
during this time. Emma hopes her baby will be a boy because she believes that “a woman is always
hampered”. Throughout this novel, readers will see how the men in Emmas life, including Charles,
have the power to change her life in both good and bad ways. She herself does not have this power.
Charles' incompetence keeps him from moving ahead to a higher social level that could possibly
make Emma happier and satisfy her desires for the finer things in life. His laziness keeps him from
being a better doctor. Because of this, Emma is trapped in a country town with little money. Rodolphe
is a wealthy man with much financial power and able to take Emma from her current life into one she
strongly desires, but he leaves her. Being a woman, she is not capable of leaving on her own. Leon
initially seems to share Emmas' feelings about being dissatisfied with country life. Both Leon and
Emma want to flee to bigger and better things. However, since Leon is a man, he is able to actually
flee to the city to fulfill his dream, while Emma has to remain in Yonville, chained to her child and her
husband.

Ultimately, Madam Bovary's moral structure forces Emma to take responsibility for her actions. She
simply cannot blame all that is wrong in her life on the men she surrounds herself with. Emma chose
to cheat on Charles and this choice results in him being fatally wounded in the end. However,
Emmas' only two choices were to remain faithful to Charles regardless of how dull their marriage was
or commit adultery. Emma chose adultery because it gave her the chance to fully have power and
control over her own destiny. The men during this time had property and wealth, but as a woman,
Emma only had her body to influence others, a form of power she can only use in secret where the
price is shame and deception.

When Emma desperately begged men for money so that she could pay off debts, the men would give
her the money, but only in exchange for sexual favors. She eventually tries tries to convince
Rodolphe to pay her debts in exchange for her being his lover. Her suicide was even made possible
through her using her physical charms, which were aimed at Justin, who permits Emma to get into
the cupboard where the arsenic is. For Emma to even take her own life, she had to use her sexual
power in order to convince Justin that if he truly loves her, he will give her what she wants.