Social Divide between the Rich and the Poor in GustaveFlaubert's Madame Bovary
Throughout history, literature has become an effective medium thatreflects and illustrates social events and experiences of a particularperiod. Furthermore, literary works provide a subjective interpretation ofexperiences that the author/writer has that are also significant instudying the kind of society and people that lived in a particular period.Gustave Flaubert's "Madame Bovary" provides these functions in a literarypiece; his depiction of life of Western society during the 19th centurymirrors the rigidly conservative and intolerant nature of the peopleagainst individuals who are perceived to be 'outcasts' or non-conformistsamong people who follow strict norms within their society. In the novel, Flaubert centers on Madame Bovary, who, afterwitnessing the elegance and high status of the rich and elite class of thesociety, aspired for a life similar to theirs. In the process, MadameBovary wasted her life committing mistakes, like committing adultery, justso she would have the wealth she have always dreamed of. Throughout thenovel, Flaubert focused on illustrating to his audience the highly criticalsociety that the Bovary couple lived in; why, in the course of the novel,
Herrealization that she has a 'pitiful' life compared to what she has beenexposed with among the elite made her detest poverty, even her husband andherself: "the memories of her past life, which till then had always been soclear and definite, vanished so completely in the splendours of the momentthat she could hardly persuade herself they were not a dream. Shewould take a sort of perverse delight in praising what others blamed andexpressed views about wrong-doing and immorality that made her husband openhis eyes" (Chapter 9). Unlike Charles, Emma's exposure to the elite life of wealthy people inher society made her aspire for a better life than what she already has. Flaubert's narratorassumes a condescending voice at the start of the novel, which is aneffective way of conveying the snobbish nature of the society he (Flaubert)assumes. She told him what tosay, and what not to say, in company. It wasthe village 'cure' who had started him in Latin, his parents, to saveexpense, having put off sending him to school till the last possiblemoment" (Chapter 1). He doubtless owed it to this anxiety to get on thathe was not put down into a lower class; for, although he knew his grammarfairly well, his composition was not exactly a model of elegance. Evidently, Flaubert uses Charles and Emma'scharacters to voice out his criticisms and views on how the societytolerates social discrimination, where the rich are favored and the poorlooked down on or regarded as 'inferior' to the rich. This paper discusses, through acharacter analysis of Charles and Emma Bovary and a study of their life asa couple, how the great social divide between the rich and the poor has ledto the tragic end of Emma Bovary's life. This passage uses the phrase "a model of elegance,"in order to distinguish Charles' status from that of his classmates, whoare considerably well off and brighter than he is.
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