2 Madame Bovary, Ch 6-9

1. Breviary: a book of the prayers, hymns, psalms, and readings for the canonical hours. -Merriam-Webster Online

Page 80: "Under the spruce trees near the hedge the sculptured curé in the three-cornered hat reading his breviary had lost his right foot, and the plaster on his face peeling off from the frost had left white patches."


2. In chapters 6-9 of Madame Bovary, the personality of Emma is explored in great depth. Chapter 6 focuses on her life at the convent, where she developed her romantic and often overdone personality. She spent much of her time reading passionate novels and when her mother died she took pleasure in engulfing herself in grief. She moved home to the country where she quickly became bored. When she met Charles, Emma momentarily believed that she had finally found her "love", but she changed her mind after the wedding when she began to find him boring. Although Charles is crazy about her, he cannot provide the whirlwind romance she was expecting. A patient of Charles's, the Marquis d’Andervilliers, invites the Bovarys to a ball at his chateau, and Emma is thrilled with the great wealth and extravagance she sees displayed there. Emma dances with a viscount and decides that she was meant to live a life of affluence. Because of this, when she arrives back home with Charles she sinks into a depression that greatly concerns her husband.


3. Although this section made me pity Emma, it also made me angry at her. Her naivety and arrogance shine and her disregard for her husband becomes apparent. I feel that, once again, a major theme in this section is love, or lack of. Emma believed she loved her husband; she was ecstatic with their relationship until after the wedding. However, after married, she decided he wasn't good enough for her. The monotony of the life he provided was not full of the excitement she had come to expect from the novels she read. Charles absolutely worshipped his wife, but he did not do so in a way passionate enough for her. It became clear that Emma had not felt love for Charles; she had felt lust. It's ironic that Madame and Monsieur Bovary ended up in this situation, because Madame and Monsieur Bovary seniors had been in the reverse. As I quoted in my last entry, on page 30 it says that, "His wife loved him madly at first; she showed her love with a thousand gestures of servility, which estranged him even further from her." Charles Bovary, son of Madame and Monsieur Bovary seniors, was devoted to his wife. However, the more he tried to pull her near to him, the more she tried to push herself away. I think this makes a tremendous statement about "love", or the temporary nature of it. Also, Emma's expectations for love are entirely unrealistic. She put too much value on the fantasies she read and not enough on reality. This is demonstrated while Emma is at the ball. She feels like Cinderella, a commoner in a palace. However, unlike Cinderella, Emma is not grateful for her opportunity. She decides that this life of luxury is the life she deserves, and because of this she completely detaches herself from her husband and her life. When she returns to her home not only does she not love Charles, she despises him. She hates the life he has given her and the "love" she is lacking. She sulks around, daydreaming about her escape, but this just shows how little she knows about love. Emma believes she is looking for love, but really she's looking for lust. Page 76 says that, "In her yearnings she confused the sensualities of luxury with the joys of the heart, the elegance of convention with delicacy of sentiment." Instead of seeing the man in front of her who loves her deeply but mildly, she wants a man who will sweep her off her feet. Not only does this not happen in real life, but it is, in my opinion, not a characteristic of love. Love is when two people are so connected they view the needs of the other as more important than the needs of themselves. Love is not steamy trips to exotic places and secret meetings of desire. It's not Emma's fault that she views love this way - it's the way she was taught through her reading. However, I think this section makes a big point of her callowness and also seems to mock common perceptions of love. When Emma throws her bridal bouquet into the fire she demonstrates her immaturity and it is at this point I began to stop pitying her and start disliking her.


4. The first question I have regarding this section is whether Emma will find the viscount again. I get the impression Emma will at some point have an affair, and I find myself wondering if it will be with this mysterious man.

I also find myself wondering about Félicité, Emma's maid. Emma treats Félicité despicably and with a very snobbish demeanor. I wonder if Charles sees this, and if he does, why he has not done anything about it. This is not the behavior of the Emma he married, and I wonder why he has not stepped in. Granted, he has servilitude problems when it comes to women, but he is a grown man who should be able to consult his wife about her crude behavior.

My third question revolves around the ball. On page 70 there is a paragraph where, "The gentleman kneeled down, and as he reached out, Emma saw the young woman's hand throw something white, folded into a triangle, into his hat." I assumed that this white object was a piece of paper, presumably a calling card, but now I'm not so sure. What was the object thrown into his hat, and what was the purpose? It seems very strange to me to throw one's contact information into a person of interest's hat, but maybe I'm missing something.