A journey describes a traveling from one place to another. Throughout Madame Bovary, the novel, Emma, the main character, travels to many places in search of a better life. Gustave Flaubert, the author, portrays Emma as a young lady who always lives in a dream world. Her ideas of the perfect world are far beyond her reach. It is ironical that every time she takes a journey, especially for romance, she is soon disappointed. Her dreams are never attainable; therefore, she poisons herself in the end.
             Journeys are a way of escaping. One of Emma's first journeys is to the convent. At the age of thirteen, she enjoys being with the nuns and learning about religion. Gradually, she turns away from the spiritual and religious aspects, and finds the physical beauty of things to be much more interesting. "She was softly lulled by the mystic languor exhaled in the perfumes of the altar, the freshness of the holy water, and the lights of the tapers" (24). Emma's dreams start to unfold while she is at the convent. This journey, at the beginning of her life, is ironical because she learns about the things that make her life unhappy.
             After she marries Charles, Emma is quickly bored. The ball at La Vaubyessard excites Emma and hopes that there are more events like this one in the future. The ball is a way of living out part of her dream. Fantasy and reality merge together, but this does not happen often in her life. Emma thinks that her presence at the ball means that she is no longer middle class (32-37). Her thoughts kill her in the long run. The journey that is supposed to be delightful actually begins her downfall because she believes that she is able to get whatever she desires. Because she imagines that she is a part of the higher class, she yearns for many things that are intangible.
             Emma's affairs cause her to go on many rendezvous. At Yonville, Leon, a clerk, and Emma meet.
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