However, motherhood, too, proves to be a disappointment to Emma. Here, Emma gives birth to a daughter, Berthe. Charles consequently decides that his wife needs a change of scenery, and moves from the village of Tostes into a larger, but equally stultifying market town, Yonville. Charles means well, but is boring and clumsy, and after he and Emma attend a ball given by the Marquis d''Andervilliers, Emma grows disillusioned with married life and becomes dull and listless. At this point, the novel begins to focus on Emma. Her father gives his consent, and Emma and Charles are married. When Heloise dies, Charles waits a decent interval, then begins courting Emma in earnest. Charles is immediately attracted to her, and begins checking on his patient far more often than necessary until Heloise''s jealousy puts a stop to the visits. Emma is a beautiful, daintily dressed young woman who has received a ''good education'' in a convent and who has a latent but powerful yearning for luxury and romance imbibed from the popular novels she has read. One day, Charles visits a local farm to set the owner''s broken leg, and meets his client''s daughter, Emma Rouault. His mother chooses a wife for him, an unpleasant but supposedly rich widow named Heloise Dubuc, and Charles sets out to build a practice in a small village. Later, Charles struggles his way to a second-rate medical degree and becomes an officier de santé in the Public Health Service. As the novel opens, Charles is a shy, oddly dressed teenager arriving at a new school amidst the ridicule of his new classmates. The story begins and ends with Charles Bovary, a stolid, kindhearted man without much ability or ambition. ''Madame Bovary'' takes place in provincial northern France.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |