How Does Flaubert Present The Moods Of Emma In Madame Bovary

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Prompt- How does Flaubert use imagery, to portray the moods of Emma in ‘Madame Bovary’? In ‘Madame Bovary’ Flaubert portrays Emma, a convent-educated farm girl who appears willing to do anything to get off her father’s farm and in order to do some marries a man named Charles and very quickly she gets fed up of Charles boring personality and seeks an affair to fulfil her romantic fantasies. Emma, despite having a child, has affairs with 2 men (Leon and Rodolphe) and spends vast amount of Charles’ money buying her lovers gifts. This leads to the imminent downfall of Emma, who took her family in to extreme debt and she commits suicide after realizing this, after learning of Emma’s affairs and disgraceful actions Charles does, too. To begin …show more content…

31) This suggests that Emma is constantly deep in thought about her fantasies and evokes the feeling that Emma’s head is consistently full of fantasies and ideals, we are made to believe that Emma’s mode is inconsistent and changes often. Secondly, Leon is portrayed to have similar fantasies and delusions as Emma does, “Emma went on: "And what kind of music do you prefer?" "Oh, German music, the kind that makes you dream." This shows that Charles has similar romantic longings as Emma and gives the effect that he has very similar personal (and romantic) fantasies to Emma, I am made to believe that Léon has very personality to Emma and this is why they eventually end up having an affair. Furthermore, Emma is portrayed to process her thoughts through music, “The elusive thoughts that came back into her mind were quickly dispersed by the overwhelming flow of the music.” This suggests that Emma is once again deep in thought and gives the effect that Emma feels music a lot more than the average listener, in my opinion it’s almost as though Emma feels a part of the …show more content…

For me, it’s almost as though her appearance impacts those around her with a quite staggering strength! Emma’s change in personality, is portrayed through comparison with her appearance and repetition, “When she saw herself in the mirror she was amazed by the way her face looked. Never before had her eyes been so big, so dark, so deep.” This suggests that Emma’s affairs have completely changed her body and physical appearance and evokes the feeling that her body has been possessed and it’s almost as if it has been transformed her. In my opinion, this completely emphasizes Emma’s changed personality Moreover, Emma’s downfall is portrayed downfall is portrayed through the use of her drastic change in clothing and fashion, “Emma, once so well-groomed and refined, now went for days without putting on a dress, wore gray cotton stockings and used cheap tallow

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