Emma and Hedda‘s Downfall, Foreshadowed

Gustave Flaubert is famed for his obsession with perfecting his craft. In Madame Bovary, he hints at the downfall and death of Emma through figurative language. Emma thinks that she is in love with Charles before their marriage, but then, “felt that she must have been mistaken… since the happiness which should have resulted from this love had not come to her,” (Flaubert 29). Her unhappiness in this marriage foreshadows bad outcomes of these conflicts. Emma believes that, “love… ought to come… like a storm. It did not occur to her that rain forms puddles on a flat roof when the drainpipes are clogged,” (Flaubert 87). This use of figurative language has a nega

Characterization foreshadows the downfalls of these two women. Flaubert, characterizing Emma Bovary by her behavior, effectively implies her destruction. She falls ill after Léon leaves for Paris. She often has, “dizzy spells… [and] spat blood,” (Flaubert 109). She also experiences ailment once Rodolphe leaves her. Everything that reminded Emma of Rodolphe makes her sick. When Charles tells her to sit down on the garden bench, the one that she and Rodolphe used to sit on, she, “has a dizzy spell… and her illness begins again,” (Flaubert 181). These run-ins with malady means that she has a weak state of being. Throughout the book, she falls in and out of periods of ill health because of the heartache she experiences with Rodolphe and Léon.

Another image that Flaubert uses to hint at Emma’s downfall is the gaudy attire of hers. She embellishes her body with jewelry and expensive garments purchased from Lheureux. She often looks like a, “courtesan awaiting a visit from a prince” with the way she dresses (Flaubert 162). She dresses modestly around Charles, fancier with Rodolphe, and fanciest when she is with Léon, with, “roses from Yonville in her bosom,” (Flaubert 244). The cultural setting is important to note here. The women of Europe during the book‘s time, like any other place in the world, were expected to be quiet, obedient, and the complete opposite of what the image Emma Bovary displays. Her attire grows increasingly ostentatious and expensive. The more costly Emma’s apparel is, then the more money she owes. And with that, she falls deeper and deeper until she ends her sorrows with the arsenic.

Anton Chekhov’s statement holds true for “Hedda Gabler.” In this case, Chekhov’s symbolic “gun” is literal. There are pistols at the end of the first act. Ibsen foreshadows Hedda’s death by using this image. In the first scene, she is seen playing with these pist

Some topics in this essay:
Monsieur Homais, Madame Bovary, Aunt Julia‘s, Gabler” Chekhov’s, Aunt Rina‘s, Emma Bovary, Aunt Rina, Emma Rodolphe, Rodolphe Léon, Flaubert Ibsen, figurative language, “hedda gabler”, emma bovary, madame bovary, female character emma, female character, character emma, rodolphe léon, death hedda, foreshadows hedda’s, hedda’s death, foreshadows hedda’s death, figurative language foreshadow,