The Death Of Ivan Ilych

Sigmund Freud was a well known psychologist whose theories have founded the understanding of the human psyche. Freud’s theory of personality is one of his most known theories. It details that there are three segments of consciousness. The id is desire, immorality and is what drives us to do wrong. The superego exists to counteract and overpower the id, as it is morality, commonly known as our conscious. The ego exists to balance out both extremes and devises a solution to sate each segment. Then there are the defense mechanisms, repression, denial, projection, displacement, regression and sublimation. These are employed by the ego to keep the balance between the id and the superego and to protect the psyche, especially in traumatic times. Last, the Oedipus complex which Freud believed, only exists in children from the ages of 3-5, when they become attracted to

Emma gains her provincial ideals early on in her life. When she receives news at the convent that her mother has died, she weeps for several days as a show of how sad she is (or should be). When her father comes to see if she is okay, she is “...inwardly pleased to feel that she had so quickly attained that rare ideal of a pale, languid existence, beyond the reach of mediocre spirits...she was finally surprised to discover that she felt quite tranquil again and that she had no more sadness in her heart than wrinkles in her forehead.” (Flaubert, 38). Flaubert paints her as a maiden who is obsessed with how romantic she looks to other people at all times of the day in all situations. Even when her own mother dies, she puts on a show to make sure

Flaubert depicts Emma as having subtle masculine characteristics emphasizing her masculinity not only mentally but physically as well. In some cases, Flaubert uses irony to characterize Emma’s masculine features. “Yet her hand was not beautiful, perhaps not white enough, and a little hard at the knuckles; besides, it was too long, with no soft inflections in the outlines” (Flaubert 28) the narrator describes Emma as lacking the soft subtle femininity that high-class women have. The contrast of her beauty lessens her femininity in this case making her appear more tusk and masculine. Emma’s femininity gets challenged on the pivotal day of the Victorian women’s life. When the narrator describes her on her wedding day, “Emma's dress, too long, trailed a little on the ground; from time to time she stopped to pull it up, and then delicately, with her gloved hands, she picked off the coarse grass and the thistledown” (Flaubert 18-19). On her wedding day, Emma’s description walking down the aisle diffidently wearing a dirty unfitted dress metaphorically portrays Emma

The death of Ivan Ilych is novella by Leo Tolstoy that examines the life of a very miserable man,Ivan Ilych.

According to C.Joybell C, “The unhappiest people in this world are those who care the most about what other people think” (Goodreads). I can see this in my life and also in Leo Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich. The main character Ivan Ilyich is dying from and unknown disease and while suffering finds himself reflecting on his life choices. Ivan consistently questions himself in the text, such as in his statement “What if my life has all been wrong?” (775). He struggles with the idea that his life might have been a waste and that he really did not get to live. Ivan has always made decisions based off of society’s rules and not his own. In fact, he directly quotes this in the text,” It occurred to him that his scarcely perceptible attempts to struggle against what was considered good by the most highly placed people, those scarcely noticeable impulses which he had immediately suppressed, might have been the real thing, and all the rest false” (776). Ivan Ilyich was never a man who thought for himself or let alone went off impulse. He always thought about what people around him would do or think about his decisions.

For the first time, Emma actually feels slightly guilty for her actions, and takes responsibility for them for the first time. The incident on its own was quite interesting since it is almost as if Miss Bates is honored by being picked on by someone of Emma’s status, as if it makes her more noticeable, or popular. It does not even occur to Emma that she may hurt someone’s feelings when she does not internalize what she is going to say before forcing her thought and opinions on other people; not until Mr. Knightley brings it to her attention, and even then she brushes it off her shoulder. “Emma recollected, blushed, was sorry, but tried to laugh it off.” (Page 299) The correspondences between Mr. Knightley and Emma continue on until the point is made that Emma was very wrong, and out of line. Eventually it dawns on Emma that she should she does mistreat people and this is the turning point of her attitude.

According to Webster dictionary destiny means, “a predetermined course of events often held to be an irresistible power or agency,” such a simple definition for a word that holds so much weight (Webster). Anyone who thinks of the word destiny feels some form of intimidation because knowing that we are destined to do something great or small can be overwhelming. In most frictional writing the characters have a predetermined destiny they need to fulfill from Katniss Everdeen stopping the Hunger Games to Odysseus going back home and reclaim his thrown. The Death of Ivan Ilych is no exception and Gerasim, himself had a destiny he couldn’t avoid.

In Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, Emma Bovary is confined to an unhappy life as a result of the society she dwelled in. Social status was imperative during the time period; the more money one had, the higher up they in class. Throughout the novel it mentioned about Bourgeois ways because of Charles and Emma. They are put into that social class because of how much money they possess as well as expend. The story revolves around Emma buying and selling luxurious items either to give them to her lovers of her numerous liaisons or to pay for her debt. Knowing what type of person Emma is, she possibly would never be happy with whoever she settled with, but she did not chose to marry Charles. Her father had decided her future with Charles because during the time, parents had the authority of choosing their children’s spouses. Similar to Hedda

The passage above is describing the impact that Rodolphe is having on Emma. This passage shows that Emma is clearly thinking so far ahead not thinking clearly about the decisions that she is making. Because of this passage above, it is almost as if she is convincing herself that leaving with Rodolphe is the right choice. Emma knows that staying with Charles and taking care of their family is what the ideal family is supposed to be. Back in this time divorce and leaving their family was not common. The way that people look upon her is incredibly important in her eyes. On the other hand, Emma is still married. She is willing to drop everything she has built with her family and just leave. Emma does not know what love really is and how to deal

According to Jacques Ranciere, Emma’s death was a verdict made by Gustave Flaubert because she was unable to distinguish the practical-mindedness and sentimentality of art, which was the lifestyle she had chosen to live. “Art means distinction to her, it means a certain lifestyle. Art has to permeate all the aspects of existence” (Ranciere 238-239). Emma had sought after the church and religion throughout this novel in seeking spiritual enlightenment. However, the self-integration of religious art and literature in Emma’s life had caused her to condone the benefits she could have received of religion and of the church. “With a mind that was practical in pursuit of its enthusiasms, that had loved the church for its flowers, music for the words of its sentimental songs, and literature for its power to stir the emotions, she rebelled against the mysteries of faith” (Flaubert 36). Emma was unable to discern that her sentimental view on religious arts substituted her spirituality; the inability to separately define the two elements resulted in her downfall and death.

Flaubert reveals Emma's foolishness through her awe at wide open settings. Emma regards open space as opportunity, as modeled by her affair with Rodolphe. On a trip to Rodolphe's home, Emma "soon found herself in the middle of the field, walking with rapid steps, without looking behind her" (115). Flaubert expresses both Emma's carelessness in her affair, as well as her naive pursuit of romance with Rodolphe. Emma fantasizes about wide open settings due to her high, and inaccurate, expectations of others.

Emma aligns with 1800s literature and represents the culture it was written rather than opposing social norms. This novel is in tune with nineteenth-century literature’s embedded perception and portrayal of marriage and gender roles, including the pervasive pressure of domesticity in women. While the themes of this century – this novel’s leitmotifs in particular – oppose modern cultural and social values, they are representative of the romance period of literature and express the cultural and social values of the 1800s. I purchased this book in eleventh grade so that I could expand my collection of Jane Austen novels since she is one of my favorite authors.

In Gustave Flaubert’s novel, Madame Bovary, Emma Bovary is unknowingly a slave to her desires. Emma is so infatuated with the thought of falling in love that it causes her to experience many problems in every aspect of her life. For example, Emma is married to Charles Bovary, however, she is not particularly in love with him. Most people get married because they are in love with each other and want to spend the rest of their lives together. Nevertheless, the thought of spending the

This also shows the conflict of how Flaubert never allows Emma to be in a grasping distance of her desired satisfaction. She is continually always so close to her longing desire, but can never quite grab it. The reader gets one of the first glimpses at her disappointment several weeks after the Vaubyessard Ball, still dreaming about the magical night she had. “From the beginning of July she counted on her fingers how many weeks remained before October, thinking that the Marquis d’Andervilliers would perhaps give another ball at Vaubyessard. But September passed by without one letter or visit. After the distress of this disappointment, her heart once more remained empty”(79). That night at the ball gave Emma a feeling like no other of how love should feel and look like. It seems like from that point on, she has a concrete idea of what love is. “With the ball still humming in her ears, she was trying to stay awake in order to prolong the illusion of this luxurious life”(79). This longing to back to such an “illusion” shows that Emma is continually being pulled away from Charles and toward something she can 't attain. She continues to drift away from Charles a greater amount once she begins her affair with Rodolphe. All was going well with Rodolphe until, of course, Emma lost interest, along with Rodolphe losing his love for her and only

This image and atmosphere of mundane imperfection is a far cry from what Emma expects after reading the romantic novels she smuggled in at the convent. From those foppish texts she gathers the impression that ladies such as she should be “lolling on carriages” or “dreaming on sofas,” or perhaps embracing some dashing “young man in a short cloak” (Flaubert 32). Yet such is not the reality in which she lives.