Flaubert's "Madame Bovary" - Week One

     In comparison to the previous readings/viewings of love, Madame Bovary turns the attention to the precepts to love, "desire." It is often found in Literature that the desire of a woman is to live the life as she sees herself living, not necessarily as she is living. There is a need to break free from societal constraints and impose the feministic plight of freedom. The persona of Emma is characterized through the desire to be...free. To get what she wants but knows she can not have. I inquire, why can't she have it?

     Emma's upbringing can be viewed as less than desirable. She lived as society wanted her to live, the simple peasant life, staying in her place. However, she lived another life in her novels, in music, in poetry. She had long dreamed of falling in love, having material items, being free to express her inner longings and ultimately having them fulfilled. The joining together of herself and Charles is sort of a rags to riches tale, although, it is not enough to satisfy what she really wants. In the beginning, Charles was Emma's "way of escape", but to what? We find that Emma wants so much more as the plot progresses to the scene at the ball. Emma was instantly captivated by the  "good life." Overtaken by the fancy clothes, adoring men, high class food, wonderful music, Emma's desire took ignition and later taking shape and form. Charles was no longer her fix. She had to have more; she had to be satisfied. She had to have... Leon?

     I wish to end here because I am looking forward to what will be discussed in class but I must pose this question: What can man say about desire that it is nothing more than a pursuit to become who we perceive we are not and a chance to have what doesn't really exist? But what if our desire has substance? What if the object is obtainable? Can we say that it is no longer desire or an endeavor? Are we foolish to embark on the endeavor of wanting? Somewhere inside of us we must know that what we want either has potential to be obtained or it is what's needed to keep us from the insanity of what life can sometimes offer.