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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
This is the first and probably the last review I’d ever leave on here (cause boy do I suck at these) but Madame Bovary turned out to be a very special book for me and I wanted to leave her a little something. More specifically to her main character.
I agree with what most of the reviews say. Emma is a very flawed woman. She is whiny, annoying, melodramatic, lying, a little insane to be honest, ungrateful and selfish cheater who does not even love her own kid. Not once did she think about the consequences of her own actions or how they’d affect anyone else. She’d use everyone and everything to get her way. She is absolutely insufferable and yet somehow that is the only ever female character I’ve been able to relate to this much.
Because the thing that was most important to me, after forgiving all of Emma’s wrong choices and wrongdoings and the fact she hurt people, is that I saw a young woman who was desperate, most of all, for love. But not just simple, quiet love like taking care of a home and having a nice meal with her good and (very) boring husband at the end of a long day. Emma wanted something like the romance stories she’d heard and read about growing up in a monastery, a love story with knights on white horses, honourable ladies chased by (not so) honourable men, adventure and drama and someone to be obsessed with her and love her beyond measure. She did everything in her very little power to change the tragic trajectory of her life and get the things she wanted but she never did. In fact, every effort she put in made things way worse. What if she was just grateful for having such a good man beside her and a home and didn’t want to experience so much more? What if she didn’t continue chasing all those things she wanted and was just satisfied for a moment with everything she already had? But she wasn’t like that, she could never be satisfied no matter how far she got. She preferred to go through all of that and more and to lie to herself too that maybe things could be a bit different rather than accept her fate.
I think Emma made a lot of mistakes and she was all those things I’ve read other people say. But I think her biggest mistake was that deep down she was just a very big dreamer. With hopes for a passionate, insane love, a life of beauty and grandeur and a sense of wonder that I think even the most cynical of people reading this book (especially us women) would agree they’ve hoped for at least once in their lives. It is unfortunate and I felt more sad for her above anything else because the odds were against her from the very beginning. I think even though she was born at a time where a lot of women’s lives were not what they wished it to be, some women did get lucky enough to get their dream love story but Emma was not one of them.
And, besides, what is the difference between her and every other woman with such dreams and aspirations? It’s the fact that Emma did try to do something about them and boy, did she suffer the consequences. How dare she want something beautiful and grand for herself, that pathetic excuse for a woman. How arrogant and greedy of her. (I hope if anyone ever reads this review they get the sarcasm.)
I love this book and I agree that (part) of the moral of the story is “don’t lie”, “don’t cheat” but this is a bit of an obvious thing if I have to be honest. I will never know for sure but I think Gustave Flaubert understood women (or maybe just women like me) and his reasons to write this book went a bit deeper than “thou shall not lie” and “thou shall not cheat”; I don’t know, he just doesn’t seem to me like the religious type. I like to think if he ever got to meet Oscar Wilde they would’ve been great friends. :)
I agree with what most of the reviews say. Emma is a very flawed woman. She is whiny, annoying, melodramatic, lying, a little insane to be honest, ungrateful and selfish cheater who does not even love her own kid. Not once did she think about the consequences of her own actions or how they’d affect anyone else. She’d use everyone and everything to get her way. She is absolutely insufferable and yet somehow that is the only ever female character I’ve been able to relate to this much.
Because the thing that was most important to me, after forgiving all of Emma’s wrong choices and wrongdoings and the fact she hurt people, is that I saw a young woman who was desperate, most of all, for love. But not just simple, quiet love like taking care of a home and having a nice meal with her good and (very) boring husband at the end of a long day. Emma wanted something like the romance stories she’d heard and read about growing up in a monastery, a love story with knights on white horses, honourable ladies chased by (not so) honourable men, adventure and drama and someone to be obsessed with her and love her beyond measure. She did everything in her very little power to change the tragic trajectory of her life and get the things she wanted but she never did. In fact, every effort she put in made things way worse. What if she was just grateful for having such a good man beside her and a home and didn’t want to experience so much more? What if she didn’t continue chasing all those things she wanted and was just satisfied for a moment with everything she already had? But she wasn’t like that, she could never be satisfied no matter how far she got. She preferred to go through all of that and more and to lie to herself too that maybe things could be a bit different rather than accept her fate.
I think Emma made a lot of mistakes and she was all those things I’ve read other people say. But I think her biggest mistake was that deep down she was just a very big dreamer. With hopes for a passionate, insane love, a life of beauty and grandeur and a sense of wonder that I think even the most cynical of people reading this book (especially us women) would agree they’ve hoped for at least once in their lives. It is unfortunate and I felt more sad for her above anything else because the odds were against her from the very beginning. I think even though she was born at a time where a lot of women’s lives were not what they wished it to be, some women did get lucky enough to get their dream love story but Emma was not one of them.
And, besides, what is the difference between her and every other woman with such dreams and aspirations? It’s the fact that Emma did try to do something about them and boy, did she suffer the consequences. How dare she want something beautiful and grand for herself, that pathetic excuse for a woman. How arrogant and greedy of her. (I hope if anyone ever reads this review they get the sarcasm.)
I love this book and I agree that (part) of the moral of the story is “don’t lie”, “don’t cheat” but this is a bit of an obvious thing if I have to be honest. I will never know for sure but I think Gustave Flaubert understood women (or maybe just women like me) and his reasons to write this book went a bit deeper than “thou shall not lie” and “thou shall not cheat”; I don’t know, he just doesn’t seem to me like the religious type. I like to think if he ever got to meet Oscar Wilde they would’ve been great friends. :)
This felt like an attempt at Anna Karenina but less effective.
Basically, Emma is bored with her husband/life and has affairs. A horny classic.
Basically, Emma is bored with her husband/life and has affairs. A horny classic.
I started this novel as research for my costume design MFA thesis, and the descriptions of clothes are gorgeous as expected, but I ended up just reading it for fun because the characters and story were so compelling. This had been on my list for awhile because I have a special place in my heart for banned books, and now I heartily recommend it.
C’est la deuxième fois que je lis ce livre. Lecture imposée au lycée, j’avais dit à l’époque être passée à côté du message. Aujourd’hui, il est bien plus clair mais je reste imperméable à ce réquisitoire contre la société bourgeoise et la médiocrité satisfaite ; cela est dû au style d’écriture de Flaubert, que j’ai tendance à trouver lassant.
Charles Bovary ne semble pas être un mauvais époux. Le problème est qu’il laisse sa femme seule à la maison constamment et que celle-ci s’ennuie terriblement. Il ne fait pas ça par manque d’amour - on le voit bien puisqu’il est présent lorsqu’elle est malade et devient impotente, mais aussi suite à son décès - ou de considération, seulement pour conférer assez d’argent et de statut pour contenter les besoins de sa femme. Celle-ci, ancienne paysanne, découvre la vie bourgeoise et se confère un statut de femme importante, qu’elle doit prouver par son apparence et ses possessions.
Faute d’amis ou d’occupations, elle ne sait plus quoi faire. Elle lit beaucoup et rêve à une vie romantique semblable à ses lectures. Elle se rend victime d'une disproportion entre l'idée qu'elle se fait de la vie et la vie elle-même, prend des amants et fini par se retrouver piégée entre amours brisés et nombreuses dettes.
Charles Bovary ne semble pas être un mauvais époux. Le problème est qu’il laisse sa femme seule à la maison constamment et que celle-ci s’ennuie terriblement. Il ne fait pas ça par manque d’amour - on le voit bien puisqu’il est présent lorsqu’elle est malade et devient impotente, mais aussi suite à son décès - ou de considération, seulement pour conférer assez d’argent et de statut pour contenter les besoins de sa femme. Celle-ci, ancienne paysanne, découvre la vie bourgeoise et se confère un statut de femme importante, qu’elle doit prouver par son apparence et ses possessions.
Faute d’amis ou d’occupations, elle ne sait plus quoi faire. Elle lit beaucoup et rêve à une vie romantique semblable à ses lectures. Elle se rend victime d'une disproportion entre l'idée qu'elle se fait de la vie et la vie elle-même, prend des amants et fini par se retrouver piégée entre amours brisés et nombreuses dettes.
Madame Bovary, quase em tom de zombaria, critica a sociedade burguesa de forma inexorável, mostrando uma protagonista que, ao mesmo tempo em que despreza a superficialidade da sua própria classe social, também se deleita descaradamente na colcha de pecados capitais por ela oferecida. Coisa que a maioria dos membros desta malta procurava manter nas sombras.
Resenha completa, de Douglas Pereira, no blog:
http://www.cafeinaliteraria.com.br/2015/04/09/madame-bovary-de-gustave-flaubert/
Resenha completa, de Douglas Pereira, no blog:
http://www.cafeinaliteraria.com.br/2015/04/09/madame-bovary-de-gustave-flaubert/
I can only imagine the uproar this book caused when it came out. Although her ways of coping with her marital dissatisfaction were morally questionable, I still found myself hoping for a happy outcome for her. Her actions definitely need to be read in the context of the times when there were not a lot of options available to women.
Well that was depressing - but also a breath of fresh air. Flaubert told it like it was (people are never satisfied, usually in debt, and never really get a happy ending), so in a lot of ways made it more relatable to readers. Writing in this time period can be a bit dry with all the detail and tangents, but the writing in "Madame Bovary" flows beautifully enough to hypnotize the reader.
Another 'classic' promising doom and gloom to women who dare live outside of societal expectations.
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Gelezen in Nederlandse vertaling. Fantastisch boek, maar wat een onsympathieke vrouw is die Emma Bovary. Ik kan in haar karakter weinig positiefs zien.
Al snel was me duidelijk dat Flaubert een misantroop geweest moet zijn. En dat het hoogst onwaarschijnlijk is dat ie ooit gehuwd is geweest.
Al snel was me duidelijk dat Flaubert een misantroop geweest moet zijn. En dat het hoogst onwaarschijnlijk is dat ie ooit gehuwd is geweest.