Bordem in Madame Bovary and Therese Raquin
Compare the theme of boredom in Madame Bovary and Therese Raquin. Through a close-reading of specific scenes, discuss the different ways in which Emma and Therese experience and cope with boredom. What role do marriage and setting (Paris v the country) play in their respective boredoms?
Emma Bovary and Therese Raquin are both unable to maintain an enthusiasm and engagement in their lives, their respective marriages or their surroundings. This essay will argue that boredom is a mental element in Madame Bovary, as Emma experiences and copes with her boredom within her mind. In contrast, boredom is experienced as a physical phenomenon in Therese Raquin and coped with in a physical way. This essay will then go on to argue that boredom as a mental element in Madame Bovary is important for a truthful, realist reflection of the world, while boredom as a physical phenomenon in Therese Raquin is a necessary element in Zola’s naturalist experiment.
In Madame Bovary Emma experiences boredom mentally. Faubert uses the imperfect verb to create a feeling of boredom and repetition. When the imperfect verb appears alongside free indirect speech, where the third person narrator begins to narrate in the words and tones of the character being discussed, this feeling of boredom and repetition is created within that character’s mind. The narrator says
The same series of identical days recommenced. So now they would keep following one another, always the same, immovable, and bringing nothing new … nothing had happened to her; God had willed it so! The future was a dark corridor; with its door at the end shut tight. She gave up music. What was the good of playing? Who would hear her? (54)
Here, use of the imperfect verb “would keep following” creates the feeling of a habitual, repetitious sequence of day following day. The use of free indirect speech when the narrator says, “God had willed it so!” and “What was the good of playing? Who would hear her?” places the reader inside
Emma Bovary and Therese Raquin are both unable to maintain an enthusiasm and engagement in their lives, their respective marriages or their surroundings. This essay will argue that boredom is a mental element in Madame Bovary, as Emma experiences and copes with her boredom within her mind. In contrast, boredom is experienced as a physical phenomenon in Therese Raquin and coped with in a physical way. This essay will then go on to argue that boredom as a mental element in Madame Bovary is important for a truthful, realist reflection of the world, while boredom as a physical phenomenon in Therese Raquin is a necessary element in Zola’s naturalist experiment.
In Madame Bovary Emma experiences boredom mentally. Faubert uses the imperfect verb to create a feeling of boredom and repetition. When the imperfect verb appears alongside free indirect speech, where the third person narrator begins to narrate in the words and tones of the character being discussed, this feeling of boredom and repetition is created within that character’s mind. The narrator says
The same series of identical days recommenced. So now they would keep following one another, always the same, immovable, and bringing nothing new … nothing had happened to her; God had willed it so! The future was a dark corridor; with its door at the end shut tight. She gave up music. What was the good of playing? Who would hear her? (54)
Here, use of the imperfect verb “would keep following” creates the feeling of a habitual, repetitious sequence of day following day. The use of free indirect speech when the narrator says, “God had willed it so!” and “What was the good of playing? Who would hear her?” places the reader inside