Examples Of Felicite In A Simple Heart

Felicite in A Simple Heart is a great example of a strong woman during a time of great oppression. Felicite is much more independent than other women of their time. Felicite was always willing to go out of her way to help someone. The women are also both oppressed, causing them desire the life of freedom. Both women also traveled or learned on their own. It could even be said that they are essentially the same character in a different story.

Felicite is a woman willing to go out of her way to help others. Aside from her ability to be a very skillful maid, she helped the madam and her children from the bull with her complex knowledge of the way bulls act. Without a doubt, Felcite's knowledge to walk away instead of running and also to throw

dirt in the bulls eyes, saved the families life that day. The family originally wanted to run away from the bull but it was Felicite's instinct to walk rather than run and her blinding of the bull that saved the family from dying.

During this time of women's oppression, many women did not have the ability to even read or write.

Women were oppressed so greatly that they were often told that they couldn't leave the home without the accompaniment of a man at her side. Felicite shows that she is educated well and has life experience with animals by being able to distract and blind the bull, 1"She is brave but she also knows what she is doing". Without this advanced knowledge of animals, the family would surely have died that day. If there was any other woman with the family besides Felicite to protect them, there is a great chance that they wouldn't have

survived.

This is a great example of how Felicite has a rather exceptional collection of knowledge. Her knowledge of things far surpasses that of a normal servant to the noble class of the time. This sophistication that she carries sets her apart from other people of the time because she knew things that perhaps even the public didn't know. In order for someone to stand out, they have to be different and Felicite has a unique personality that is grounded in knowledge of people far beyond her years.

4Felicite was also much more independent religiously speaking! Felicite was said to have her own ideas about religion in that she did whatever she found interesting in the religion, but not wholeheartedly claiming the religion as her own. Her home is a great example of this... (insert citation from text describing home with religious statues and the bird.) With a home full of conflicting religious symbols, only someone with a sophisticated perspective would be able to live in accordance with multiple religious figures. She viewed Lou Lou to be someone worthy of her worship. This is what causes the seemingly great conflicts within the practice of worshiping multiple Gods, 4 "Felicite is nevertheless increasingly able to find a sort of fulfillment through her imagination."

2Other women of the time were certainly forced into following the religious practice that their husbands followed. Generally, men and women in France at the time practiced Christianity as a majority. While Felicite did study Christianity, she wasn't very much into the smaller details of the religion. Obviously, Felicite has a view of religion that is far more complex than other women of the time and ,2 "
Felicite possesses a keen moral sense and is not without skills that earn our admiration." . She felt compelled to keep a bird alongside her, even after they have both died! The bird Lou Lou gives Felicite a positive and calming attitude, much like a religious symbol would do!

3Felicite gives the bird Lou Lou the qualities of a religious figure.

As a statue, she would worship the bird as if it were just as much of a God as anything alive today. It becomes clear that this bird is much more fascinating to Felicite than any other because she uses it as her own symbol of enlightenment and transcendence, 3"The beauty of this bird... persuades Félicité that the catalog of loss and suffering that she has endured in her life is not without higher purpose".Felicite even has a vision of the bird while she is on her death bed waiting to be taken away by God as if the bird was the God represented in Catholicism, the other religion she studied.

Felicite is clearly an example of a very proactive and independently minded woman of the time. She possessed the ability to help her Madam and her children to safety while in the dangerous presence of a bull by walking and blinding the bull. Having the knowledge to take these actions to ensure safety was not greatly common amongst women of that time. She also had her own way of thinking when it came to religion. She would worship her bird, Lou Lou, just as much as she worship Mary while practicing Catholicism. These are all traits of a very strong and independently minded woman of the

time.

While many other women of the time were locked at home, Felicite is an example of an exceptional woman of her time. Many women of the time were punished or even tortured when they showed any signs of independence of spirit! Other ways that women were oppressed was that they were often encouraged to become pregnant to create the next generation of the working class. At the same time, these women were supposed to support the current working class along with the men. Felicite was part of the working class system and became one of the most highly valued servants at the time. Felicite took the opportunity to work and used it fully to become a very skilled worker!