The Menace Of Materialism In Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary

A main factor in the storyline is the way the writer portrays society's attitude to poverty in the 18th century. The poor people were treated tremendously different to higher classed people. A lot of people were even living on the streets. For example, "He picked his way through the hordes of homeless

In his novel Hugo addresses the need for social reform and change in the crumbling and corrupt streets of French society. He specifically emphasizes improvement in education, the justice system, and the attitude of society towards women, and their political impact on French culture. Hugo does this particularly through Fantine, a woman who resorts to prostitution after being dismissed from her job as a factory worker; in addition to the existence of her illegitimate daughter, Cosette, her blemished reputation disables her from working in another reputable place. Because of Fantine’s shortage of an education and of society’s negative view of women abused by noble men, she is representative of the social injustices against women during this time. She’s illustrative of the gulf in France’s hierarchical system. Her condemnation to a life as a prostitute after being used by an aristocratic man highlights the social shortcomings present in the nobility’s attitude towards the lower classes, which continued to suffer. The misfortune that falls on Jean Valjean, an innocent man who only stole bread to help his dying sister, also represents the crookedness of France’s justice system. Valjean is likened to a habitual criminal and thrown in jail for nineteen years, an absurd sentence for only a loaf of bread. What’s worse is that he’s

In the modern Paris, society is divided into different classes of people, different jobs, and different features of modern life. The Belly of Paris, written by, Émile Zola is about a man named Florent who was wrongly put in prison from Louis-Napoleon’s coup-d’etat. He escapes from prison and returns from the countryside to find an unrecognizable Paris. The Belly of Paris describes the class differences in the 1870s - there is the bourgeoisie, which is defined as the middle class, typically with reference to its perceived materialistic values or conventional attitudes; the capitalist class who own most of society's wealth and means of production contrasted with the lower working class. By portraying and describing characters as the food

A main factor in the storyline is the way the writer portrays society's attitude to poverty in the 18th century. The poor people were treated tremendously different to higher classed people. A lot of people were even living on the streets. For example, "He picked his way through the hordes of homeless

Set in the Victorian era of the 1800’s Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert exemplifies society’s views on the established gender roles of this time. Flaubert utilizes Emma Bovary’s masculinity to accentuate Emma’s desire for control. Her desire for control extends from the social pressure of the period, revealing her envy towards men. Flaubert undoubtedly depicts Emma’s characteristics to have a masculine undertone and throughout the novel her femininity deviates as her priority shifts. Emma’s lack of femininity translates to her relationships by maneuvering an interchanging role of a girlfriend or boyfriend.

In the novel Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert establishes the theme of displacement. Through the use of syntax and diction Flaubert emphasizes the emptiness and desire to escape her reality even though Emma is surrounded by loved ones. Flaubert discusses this theme in the following quote, “The whitish light of the window-panes was softly wavering. The pieces of furniture seemed more frozen in their places, about to lose themselves in the shadow as in an ocean of darkness. The fire was out, the clock went on ticking, and Emma vaguely wondered at this calm of all things while within herself there was such a tumult” (Flaubert 88).

In Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, it is difficult to know what to think of Monsieur Binet and his lathe. His constant devotion to such an unrewarding pursuit would seem to act as the bourgeois backdrop to Emma Bovary’s quest for eternal passion and excitement, a polar opposite with which Emma can stand in sharp contrast. However, it turns out that Binet and his lathe have more in common with Emma and her rampant desires than what would first appear obvious. Binet’s lathe still serves as a background with which to compare Emma’s quest for love and riches, but instead of acting as a complete antithesis to everything she does, the lathe is meant to be subtly different

Flaubert use of “they” and “them,” further separates Emma from the festivities of the upper class. Additionally, as Emma is preparing for the ball, she is striving to appear as “extravagant” as possible. She “did her hair according to the directions of the hairdresser, and put on the barege dress” (Flaubert, 42-44) Thus, Flaubert emphasizes that Emma’s is unable to prepare for the ball without “directions” implying that she is not able to be a part of the upper-class events without guidance. Therefore, her only connection to the upper class at the ball are her clothes. Also, Flaubert further separates Emma and Charles from the rest of the guest, by having them arrive in a “dog-cart” (Flaubert, 41). Hence, Flaubert advocates that no matter how much the middle class aspires to be a part of the upper-class—through material items—they will never have the means to do so. Flaubert further emphasizes the separation between Emma and the rest of the guests when he writes: “Emma was listening to a conversation full of words she did not understand” (Flaubert, 45). Flaubert is highlighting how out of place Emma is, yet how aloof Emma remains. She is still “listening” even though she doesn’t understand what they are saying. Overall, Flaubert utilizes perspective in order to highlight Emma’s aspirations to be a part of the upper class, through her appearance and material items. Ultimately, Flaubert is critiquing the French middle-class in that

In his novel, Les Miserables, Victor Hugo identifies the principle social evils of French society through the actions and qualities of his characters. By depicting each of his characters’ struggles through destitute and oppressed measures, Hugo is able to identify the social errors of 19th century France. The fact that characters such as Valjean, Javert, Fantine, and Cosette, attempt to rise above poverty and redeem themselves indicate that such inequalities did, and still do, exist to this day. Through the use of feminist ideals and the criminal injustice system, Hugo attacks the principle social evils that each of his characters face in Les Miserables.

Gustave’s Flaubert Madame Bouvary and Theodor Fontane No Way Back are two classic books that have a variety of connections. To begin with the context will be discussed with a close reference to plot and characterisation in general. Following the techniques and themes will be critically analysed and discussed what a comparison of these two passages will tell us about the novels as a whole.

Madame Bovary is a novel by author Gustave Flaubert in which one woman’s provincial bourgeois life becomes an expansive commentary on class, gender, and social roles in nineteenth-century France. Emma Bovary is the novel’s eponymous antiheroine who uses deviant behavior and willful acts of indiscretion to reject a lifestyle imposed upon her by an oppressive patriarchal society. Madame Bovary’s struggle to circumvent and overthrow social roles reflects both a cultural and an existential critique of gender and class boundaries, and her unwillingness to tolerate the banalities of domestic life in a predetermined caste culminates in several distinct means of defiance. Emma Bovary exploits traditional cultural values such as marriage,

    Often in literature, a character is found that is quite memorable. Never was this more true than in Flaubert's Madame Bovary. To some, Emma Bovary's action at the end of the novel was drastic and unnecessary; others believed her death to be the end of the natural progression of the story. However, Emma's decision to commit suicide was relatively simple, yet came as a last resort. She had exhausted all the other options she felt were available, and in the end made her plan based on finances, lost love, and the sheer boredom of her life.

(Flaubert 78), she begins her little quest to find the right man through a binge

In the 18th century, European society put an emphasis on social standing; each social class was expected to act differently, thus affecting the way one would get treated and the amount of opportunities available to them. In Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, food imagery and the way each character acts towards food reveals the distinctions between the various social classes and, more importantly, the mediocrity of the French bourgeoisie. However, Flaubert chooses not to focus on all of the social classes, but solely on the characteristics and mannerisms surrounding the middle and the high classes. Revolving the novel around middle-classed characters who represent the middle class, Flaubert criticizes the bourgeoisie through their desire to escape

Les Miserables is a characteristic romantic work in both theme and form. In theme the novel assaults the traditional social structure, glorifies freedom of thought and spirit, and makes a hero of the average individual. In this novel the several characters were portrayed as heros. It follows the lives and interactions of several French