A Problematic Perspective of Madame Bovary

Madame Bovary was problematic in nineteenth century France because Flaubert glorified adultery and disgraced marriage. The problem with Emma was that there was no double standard in abuse and disrespect towards men. In Madame Bovary, men are problematically used as sexual entertainment because there was a double standard in nineteenth century France. Madame Bovary, or Emma, is problematic caused by her marriage, which she finds to be dull and mundane. Emma was problematic with her love affairs with Rodolphe. More problematic sexual desires are revealed in a rendezvous with Leon. The theme that Emma 's happiness was more important than Charles ' happiness was problematic. Lastly, Emma is in control over Charles ' privately was problematic in nineteenth century France.

In Madame Bovary, Flaubert wrote about problematic issues that a wife can successfully get away with adulterous relations. Flaubert writes, "Emma was finding in adultery all the banalities of marriage" (Madame 272). In fact, Madame Bovary was unofficially was given the second title, "A History of the Adulteries of a Provincial Wife" (Madame 329). Furthermore men were supposed to be stronger than women, for women were publicly perceived as weaker during the nineteenth century. For instance women were not allowed to vote in France until women suffrage was extended in 1944 (Geary 470). Because Flaubert did not write about women being perceived as weaker, Emma 's behavior was problematic and considered taboo. Thus, Flaubert was charged with pornography and blasphemy, and the book was banned (Geary 473). The government wanted Flaubert to denounce Emma, because she was problematic, but he refused to do so (Geary 473). Adultery and a disgraced marriage were not correct women roles and a violation of the female sexuality. However, there is a double standard.

Flaubert in many ways depicts that there is a double standard when it comes to making the opposite sex happy in private. In Madame Bovary, men are problematically used as sexual entertainment. Men unconventionally pleased the sexual desire of women. It usually was vise-versa.; thus Emma was publicly perceived as problematic. As Flaubert described Emma 's affair with Leon, it shows that the line for a double standard has become blurry. "He never disputed any of her ideas; he fell in with all her tastes: he was becoming her mistress, far more than she was his" (Madame 316). Because "he was becoming her mistress" and "never disputed any of her ideas," shows that the double standard no longer applies. Women were there to make a man happy and agree with everything a man said, but a man was not suppose to be there to make the woman happy and agree with everything the woman said. A man being a mistress of a woman was taboo; however, vise-versa was generally accepted by the public. Many of the nineteenth century men felt Emma was problematic was treating a man as a "mistress", that is why, as noted above, they banned the book.

In nineteenth century France, there was a double standard. A man could abuse his wife and have sexual entertaining affairs and was not frowned on by society. The problem with Emma was that there was no double standard in abuse and disrespect towards men. "She wished she could attack all men, spit in their faces, grind them into the dust" (Madame 263). Spitting in a man 's face would have been a direct insult during nineteenth century France and saw as clearly problematic. On the other hand, spitting into a woman 's face may not have been so taboo. Flaubert 's Madame Bovary portraits Emma as problematic with her private sexual desires with Rodolphe and Leon.

The sexual desires and adulterous affairs were problematic. Emma was problematic with her love affairs with Rodolphe. Emma 's thoughts after her first sexual encounter with Rodolphe. "How she had suffered! But now her hour of triumph had come; and love, so long repressed was gushing forth in joyful effervescence. She savored it without remorse, without anxiety, without distress" (Madame 183). Rodolphe "she was not completely free from her subjugation to him" (Madame 280). Rodolphe concurred that Emma was problematic as a "poisonous machineel tree" when he wrote his goodbye letter to Emma (Madame 175).

More problematic sexual desires are revealed in a rendezvous with Leon. "The conjugal embraces evoked adulterous desires...she cursed herself for not having loved him. She thirsted for his lips" (Madame 131). It was taboo that Emma was married to Charles but "thirsted" for Leon. Emma was problematic because Flaubert portrayed her as a scarlet of sexual passion and a married woman and mother. "She would undress savagely, tearing at the thin lacing of her corset, which fell down around her hips like a gliding snake" (Madame 265). Flaubert depicts Emma as more problematic because he wants the public to sympathize or empathize with her.

The theme that Emma 's happiness was more important than Charles ' happiness was problematic. Flaubert makes one feel sorry for Emma, and she treated her husband Charles terribly; the one who truly loved her. Thus, this was Emma 's first step into getting the mind set necessary for her adultery. "Wasn 't he the obstacle to every kind of happiness, the cause of all her wretchedness, the sharp-pointed prong of this many stranded belt that bound her on all sides" (Madame 123)? Because Charles is the one to blame for the events that were to aspire by Emma, Emma was considered problematic. It was taboo for Women to blame their husbands for their unhappiness and to justify adultery in nineteenth century France. Emma was also problematic because of her clear mental control over her husband.

Emma was in control over Charles ' privately, but it was controversial to show this control publicly because a wife controlling her husband was taboo and problematic in nineteenth century France. Charles was aware that "his wife was master" and "he had to say this and not say that in company" (Madame 18). Emma 's deceit was increasingly problematic at the conclusion of the text because Flaubert did not allow Charles to reconcile his respect and dignity from being betrayed. When Charles discovers the letter from Rodolphe that ended their affair, he naively dismisses it. Thus, Flaubert problematically depicts Emma as being privately and problematically manipulative over Charles.

"Everyone must have adored her, he thought. Every man who saw her must certainly have

coveted her. This made her the lovelier in his mind; and he conceived a furious desire for

her that never stopped; it fed the flames of his despair, and it grew stronger and stronger

because now it could never be satisfied" (Madame 388).

Charles continued to be naive and weak. A upper middle class man in nineteenth century France should not be naive and weak.

In conclusion, even Emma knew she was problematic, for she sought after redemption for her sins during her final sacraments.

"The priest stood up and took the crucifix...dipped his right thumb in the oil and began

the anointments: first her eyes, which had so fiercely coveted all earthly luxury; then her

nostrils, so avid for warm breezes and amorous scents; then her lips, which had opened to

speak lies, cry out in pride and moan in lust; then her hands, which had taken such

pleasure in sensuous contacts..." (Madame 280).

Emma 's problematic role of controlling her husband bring about her ruin and, in the process, causes harm to innocent people around her. The perception of Charles being dim-witted and unable to recognize his wife 's true character is problematic. The marriage and sexual roles in Madame Bovary were reversed and so Emma was viewed as problematic; thus, Emma is a problematic fictitious example of eliminating the nineteenth century French double standard. Charles becomes increasingly happy and content with his married life, and Emma secretly grows to hate him and has sexual affairs. Flaubert assigns Emma a role of a radical woman who was different from traditional women roles in nineteenth century France and taboo, which is problematic. Although Madame Bovary is a fictional text, the text is evidence of the increasingly problematic role of female sexuality in society and their role as women.

Works Cited

Geary, Patrick, Mark Kishlansky and Patricia O 'Brien. A Brief History of Western Civilization:

The Unfinished Legacy. Boston, MA. 2007.

Madame Bovary. Trans. Francis Steegmuller. New York: Random House, 1957.

Cited: Geary, Patrick, Mark Kishlansky and Patricia O 'Brien. A Brief History of Western Civilization: The Unfinished Legacy. Boston, MA. 2007. Madame Bovary. Trans. Francis Steegmuller. New York: Random House, 1957.