An Analysis of Homais as an Instrument of Satire in Flaubert's, Madame Bovary
An analysis of Homais as an instrument of satire
In Flaubert's satiric novel, the story's apothecary is used to convey Flaubert's views of the bourgeois. As a vehicle for Flaubert's satire, Homais is portrayed as opportunistic and self-serving, attributes that Flaubert associated with the middle class. Homais' obsession with social mobility leads him to commit despicable acts. His character and values are also detestable. He is self-serving, hypocritical, opportunistic, egotistical, and crooked. All these negative characteristics are used by Flaubert to represent and satirize specific aspects of middle class society. More specific issues that are addressed include Homais' superficial knowledge, religious hypocrisy, and pretentiousness. Furthermore, his status as a secondary character suggests his significance to the satire. If Emma is meant to portray the feminine aspect of the bourgeois then Homais is undoubtedly meant to represent the masculine aspect. Flaubert wanted to ridicule and criticize the bourgeois class. By including Homais, Flaubert is able to satirize all the negative aspects of middle class society within a single novel.
In adolescence and throughout much of his life, Gustave Flaubert regarded the bourgeois existence as an "immense, indistinct, unmitigated state of mindlessness" (Wall 29-31). He vented his contempt for the bourgeois in many of his works. In his Dictionary of Received Ideas he proclaims: "Each bourgeois phrase, each bourgeois feeling, each bourgeois opinion is touched by the hilarious dismaying suspicion of fakery. Solemnly and energetically proclaiming their clichés to each other, perhaps the bourgeois are indeed simply machines. They are stuck, like busy automata, in their perpetual false consciousness" (Wall 29-31).
In Madam Bovary, Gustave Flaubert uses Homais as one of the central figures of his satire. Homais, Yonville's apothecary and the Bovarys' neighbor, is used as a vehicle to ridicule the values and principles of the
In Flaubert's satiric novel, the story's apothecary is used to convey Flaubert's views of the bourgeois. As a vehicle for Flaubert's satire, Homais is portrayed as opportunistic and self-serving, attributes that Flaubert associated with the middle class. Homais' obsession with social mobility leads him to commit despicable acts. His character and values are also detestable. He is self-serving, hypocritical, opportunistic, egotistical, and crooked. All these negative characteristics are used by Flaubert to represent and satirize specific aspects of middle class society. More specific issues that are addressed include Homais' superficial knowledge, religious hypocrisy, and pretentiousness. Furthermore, his status as a secondary character suggests his significance to the satire. If Emma is meant to portray the feminine aspect of the bourgeois then Homais is undoubtedly meant to represent the masculine aspect. Flaubert wanted to ridicule and criticize the bourgeois class. By including Homais, Flaubert is able to satirize all the negative aspects of middle class society within a single novel.
In adolescence and throughout much of his life, Gustave Flaubert regarded the bourgeois existence as an "immense, indistinct, unmitigated state of mindlessness" (Wall 29-31). He vented his contempt for the bourgeois in many of his works. In his Dictionary of Received Ideas he proclaims: "Each bourgeois phrase, each bourgeois feeling, each bourgeois opinion is touched by the hilarious dismaying suspicion of fakery. Solemnly and energetically proclaiming their clichés to each other, perhaps the bourgeois are indeed simply machines. They are stuck, like busy automata, in their perpetual false consciousness" (Wall 29-31).
In Madam Bovary, Gustave Flaubert uses Homais as one of the central figures of his satire. Homais, Yonville's apothecary and the Bovarys' neighbor, is used as a vehicle to ridicule the values and principles of the
Bibliography: Brombert, Victor. The Novels of Flaubert: A study of themes and techniques. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1966. Kenner, Hugh. The Stoic Comedians. Boston: Beacon Press, 1962