1. Charlatan: one making usually showy pretenses to knowledge or ability; fraud, faker. -Merriam-Webster Online
"A beautiful voice, complete self-possession, more temperament than intelligence and more bombast than true lyricism - thus was constituted this admirable charlatan, in whose nature there was a blend of hairdresser and toreador." -Page 216
2. In chapters fourteen and fifteen, Emma slowly becomes better. Charles is presented with Emma's great debts but due to his concern for her health he pays them as well as he can and doesn't think anything of them. Emma becomes fervently religious again, entertains neighbors and puts on a great show of happiness. Homais suggests that Charles takes Emma to the theater in Rouen, and while they're there Emma and Charles see Leon. The three of them go to a café, much to Charles's dismay, before the show is over. Emma's feelings for Leon rush back and Charles urges Emma to stay in Rouen to see the rest of the opera while he goes back to Yonville.
3. I love that Emma switches back and forth between "romance" and religion so furiously. It begins in her time spent in the convent, followed by her leaving and pursuing Charles. After she marries Charles and decides she is bored by him, she tries to become a pious, faithful wife anyway. She then meets Leon and developes passionate feelings toward him. When she decides this is wrong, she switches back to religion, throwing herself into becoming the perfect wife and Christian. She then has an affair with Rodolphe, but when it ends she once again becomes an avid Catholic. However, now she has seen Leon again, and I'm willing to bet that she'll become "holy" again. It strikes me as amusing that she can do this without any moral implications. If she was truly a religious woman at all she would feel guilty, but she seems to feel no remorse for her actions. It seems that whichever whim suits her at the moment is the one she follows, whether it be one of innocence and faith or one of adultery and lust.
4. My first question is whether Flaubert intentionally makes Emma seem ridiculous at times. I can only assume he realized how silly she comes across, and he seems like an intelligent writer, so I think that he sometimes purposefully pokes fun at her with the things she does.
A second question is whether Emma will continue her cycle of romance and religion through the end of the book, and what will stop it. Will she end as a pious woman or will she be found out in her cheating ways? Whichever it is will dramatically change the ending of the novel. She will either end up a saint or a condemned woman.
My third question regarding this section has to do with Leon. I wonder if he will finally man up and make a move on Emma, if they will continue to skirt awkwardly around their "love", or if they will discontinue contact completely. I'm very interested to see where the book goes next and can't wait to continue reading!
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