"You feed upon the dead, Lestiboudois!" the parish priest finally said to him one day.
This morbid remark made him ponder; it bothered him for some time. But he still continues to farm his crop and maintains coolly that his vegetables come up without cultivation.".
In this selection, Flaubert mocks both the Church and the people of France. Lestiboudois is here made representative of the typical Church servant and the common French peasant. As a church servant he is insensitive and almost sacrilegious, farming in a graveyard. As a peasant he shows tenacity and obtuseness claiming his "vegetables come up without cultivation." Though many would claim this extract to be about social criticism, it is really quite humorous. Flaubert merely presents the faults that plague his society in a humorous manner. Madame Bovary is filled with countless such witticisms passages thick with irony.
Another manner in which Flaubert establishes humor is through his main characters. Homais, the pharmacist, is a constant source of amusement. Babbling on and on he is often quite contradictory in his professed beliefs. A character reminiscent of Polonious from Hamlet, he is out to serve none but himself. However, his fierce struggle to appear a servant of the people is part of what makes him funny. Flaubert first describes him comically as a man wearing "green leather slippers, with a gold-tasseled velvet cap on his head," as he tries to console the Widow Lefrancois. Homais is continually humiliated in the eyes of the reader as Flaubert chronicles, throughout the novel, his constant effort to influence people through his obsequiousness. .
Emma and Charles Bovary are also amusing. Charles" seemingly supernatural obtuseness cuts quite a comic figure and leads him to many humorous dealings. Flaubert constantly toys with the character of Emma as well. Seeming to glean great pleasure from his writing, Flaubert, it would appear, must derive the greatest amusement from writing about Emma.
A Critical Analysis of the Character "Madame Bovary- Of the Novel Madame Bovary By Gustave Flaubert The character of Madame Bovary consists of many different components. ... Madame Bovary's grows discontent. ... Madame Bovary grows shame of her husband. ... Madame Bovary rebels. ... Madame Bovary grows hard to please. ...
In the nineteenth century, Gustav Flaubert was brought to trial for his novel, "Madame Bovary." ... This view fails to observe Madame Bovary for its artistic intention and purpose. ... Henry James praises Madame Bovary for its perfection, claiming that it "both excites and defies judgment. ... Madame Bovary reveals a picture of a woman who is miserable in the boredom of her mundane everyday life, and turns to adultery. ... In Flaubert's "Madame Bovary," there is no moral of the story. ...
DENIZ SOKE TASK 3 Think about the title of Madame Bovary. ... One of the first questions that spring to mind when thinking about Madame Bovary as a title is; who is Madame Bovary? ... For instance, the novel could be about the older Madame Bovary; the mother. ... The actual word `Madame` brings a certain air of mystery to the title; much more sophisticated than `Emma Bovary` would be. ... The full title of the novel is actually Madame Bovary Moeurs de province which translates as Madame Bovary provincial manners . ...
In Madame Bovary, Emma has a certain romantic aspect similar to Flaubert that is a longing for things to be perfect. ... Flaubert is quoted as having said "Madame Bovary c"est moi", "I am Madame Bovary", meaning that he, himself was possessed the same romantic traits as Emma. ... Madame Bovary is written in the tradition of combining a realistic portrayal of society with a formalistic desire to create a new way of life in much the same way Degas and Manet attempted to paint the mediocrity of modern life without becoming vulgar themselves. ... A combination of naturalism and aestheticism, Ma...
Flaubert's Use of Irony in Madame Bovary Madame Bovary is the story of a young peasant woman who grew up in a convent, marries a dull man and commits adultery. ... In Madame Bovary Flaubert's use of irony is exceptionally vivid. Flaubert's use of irony contributes to the character development of Madame Bovary and other characters in the novel. ... Gustave Flaubert once said, "Madame Bovary c"est moi" ("Madame Bovary is me"). ... Now when I hear the quote, "Madame Bovary c"est moi" I will have a better understanding of what he meant. ...
One way that Flaubert asserts Realist values in Madame Bovary is through Charles Bovary's character. ... Flaubert's use of details in Madame Bovary is consistent with the characteristics of Realism. In addition, Flaubert shows Realist values in Madame Bovary through his style of writing. ... Flaubert uses themes such as corruption and prostitution in Madame Bovary. ... In Madame Bovary, Flaubert opposes Romantic values in many different ways. ...
A Response to Symbolic Elements in Madame Bovary According to author Francis Steegmuller, symbolic things are those which have an objective and limited function, but which can be interpreted to embody a wider more profound meaning in regard to things around them. Gustave Flaubert makes extensive use of symbolism in his 1857 novel, Madame Bovary. ... Perhaps, another significant and symbolic facet of this initial introduction of Charles is his name, Bovary, which means bovine. ... One of the most dramatic uses of symbolism in Madame Bovary was the blind beggar whom Emma encounters several ti...
A central theme in Flaubert's novel, Madame Bovary, is that of reality versus illusion. In this story, Emma Bovary attemptstoescape the mundane of normal life to fulfill her fantasies. ... Thus, through the course of her life, Madame Bovary changes from a woman content with her marriage to a women who rebels against the conventions of her society to a women whose life is so chaotic to the point that she commits suicide. Indeed, Madame Bovary's life is like a mirror that reflects upon her early childhood. Emma Bovary found pleasure in the things around her that quenched her boredom wh...
A central theme in Flaubert's novel, Madame Bovary, is that of reality versus illusion. In this story, Emma Bovary attempts to escape the mundane of normal life to fulfill her fantasies. ... Thus, through the course of her life, Madame Bovary changes from a woman content with her marriage to a women who rebels against the conventions of her society to a women whose life is so chaotic to the point that she commits suicide. Indeed, Madame Bovary's life is like a mirror that reflects upon her early childhood. Emma Bovary found pleasure in the things around her that quenched her boredom ...