Emma Bovary - searching for oranges on apple trees? :: essays research papers

To state that Emma Bovary, the heroine of Flauberts epic Madame Bovary, looks for oranges on apple trees and refuses to eat apples is a gross over-simplification. Emma would be no happier with oranges than she would be with apples. In fact, if her taste in fruit is anything like her taste in men, she would probably insist on a fruit with all of her desired qualities - perhaps a cross amid the consistency of an apple, the fibre of an orange, the vitamins of a blackcurrant and the taste of a strawberry. In saying this, however, the statement is entirely accurate in that Emma is searching for the misemploy things in the wrong places and is bitterly disappointed in not finding them as she desires.To analyse Emma Bovary is a difficult assignment, due to the very complex and often contradictory temperament of her character, and the many opposing critical theories that have been written since her death over 150 years ago. Flauberts determination to remain outside of his book and to ask the role of a manipulator of marionettes adds to this sense of mystery surrounding Emma Bovary, who is essentially a confused young woman, trapped in a stifling friendship who tries so desperately to be something she is not. She is a woman so fixated on creating the heart she dreams of that she eventually self-destructs, a broken and dejected victim.Before discussing in level the various elements of her personality, it is necessary to highlight the social position she is involuntarily placed in. This will in turn give rise to, and in many cases commentary for, the way in which she responds to various events in her life, and therein revealing her true colours.Emma is born a woman in France during the early 19th Century, and as such(prenominal) is doomed from the start to be a victim of the misogynistic bourgeoisie. As was the case for all women at the time, Emma was completely reliant on Charles to provide the quality of life she desired and indeed her very identity as she was not in a position that she could exercise such control herself. In marrying Charles, she ceased to exist as Mademoiselle Emma Rouault, and simply became Madame Charles Bovary, the doctors wife. Emma realised that she had blown her only chance to pursue the life she felt she deserved. Pourquoi, mon Dieu me suis-je marie?