Reviews tagging 'Death'

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

23 reviews

tiiiger35's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Emma - Madame Bovary, is a complex woman, trapped in a life & a marriage she hates. She’s a dreamer, an idealist, a romantic who yearns for overzealous passions. She’s also naive, selfish, greedy, hateful & dishonest. 

Her husband, Charles, in comparison, adores her. She can commit no wrongs in his eyes, he’s eternally faithful, loving & loyal to her. He’s also completely blind to her wretchedness toward him & her unhappiness within their marriage. 

In context, women in the 19th century had so little autonomy & even less opportunities. I emphathised with Emma on that level. It’s clear she was a tortured soul, who was doomed to a life of unfulfillment & misery. She seemed to suffer from chronic depressions & mood disorders that weren’t understood back then. Driven by a desire to find a love so intense, that even her daughter was pushed aside. Yet, right under her nose, unwanted, were the 2 people who loved her endlessly. 

Cruelly, a part of me felt irritated Emma escaped the long term repercussions of her salacious & egocentric actions. Instead, Berthe was left alone in the world, destitute & unloved.

It’s one that will stick with me, but it’s a  sad story with a tragic ending. It must have been a scandalous read for its time filled with debauchery, infidelities, lust & betrayal. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Death, Grief, Infidelity, and Suicide

roxyunderscored's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Suicide, and Infidelity

Moderate: Sexual content and Medical content

Minor: Death of parent

alinas_library's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.5

J’étais surprise de l’actualité de quelques caractères et actions. Rodolphe est un « fuckboy » typique et Emma est super « delusional » et rêve de l’amour profonde comme dans ses romans. C’était très amusant pour moi. Quand-même, quelques remarques seront problématiques dans le contexte moderne. 
« Madame Bovary » est parfois persistant, mais c’est très clair, pourquoi on considère ce roman comme un classique. La langage est très poétique et magistrale, la critique de la société, qui était un scandale pendant cette époque, est claire et ironique. 
Un livre bien compréhensible même pour les apprenants du français, comme moi (à l’aide des traducteurs ;)).

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death, and Mental illness

Moderate: Medical content

michela_ognibeni's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Suicide

Minor: Racial slurs and Bullying

lillianfc's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Death

Moderate: Child abuse

adelekittey's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death, and Mental illness

ezulc's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Infidelity

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical trauma, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

illys's review against another edition

sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Suicide, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, and Death

glorgona's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Classism, Infidelity, Vomit, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Blood

m4rtt4's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

There's something magnetic about Emma Bovary — I can't say that I liked her, yet still I couldn't help rooting for her no matter what she did. Considering when this novel was written, she sure is an exceptional female protagonist, the OG Material Girl and even practices the gaslight-gatekeep-girlboss agenda, but if only her decisions had solely been based on her twisted mind and not on her "female fragility"!! I hated how so many of her traits were just explained by her sex, as if being a woman automatically makes one weak, stupid and gullible — I despise you, historical misogynists. 

since Emma was such an exceptional heroine, I expected her to do something brave like run away or get a divorce, but nah.. it fucking sucks that the only acceptable plotlines for historical heroines are all related to marriage — if it's a happy one, then they live happily ever after, and if it's an unhappy one (like Emma's), the woman must die.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Death, Suicide, Misogyny, Sexism, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Ableism and Classism