Emma Bovary: A Tragic Heroine
Emma is a main character and the protagonist, along with Charles, in the play. She is a static character because she maintains the same mentality, although it is accentuated at certain points in the novel. Moreover, she is flat, as her modus operandi does not change throughout the novel. Her mentality is revealed indirectly to the reader, who discovers her lack of ethics, worldview, morality, and love for her family.
Emma is a woman who grew up reading novels and short stories that unexpectedly impacted her life. She believed she would one day find her life’s man, a man who would adore her as the men in her stories and novels. Emma lives in her own world and never reflects on her actions throughout the novel, leading to serious problems. After marrying Charles, she repents and does not show motherly affection towards her daughter, Berthe. She even considers cheating on her husband with Rodolphe Boulanger, her first lover. He showers her with attention and gifts, and she believes she has found passion and love with him.
But the novel begs the question: Was Rodolphe truly in love? Similarly, Léon Dupuis, a young lawyer, takes an interest in Emma, and she loves him. But is it possible to love so many men? Or was her love simply a human representation of the characters from the novels that so influenced her? Perhaps it was a representation of the blue-blooded princes in various works. We can say that Emma Bovary lives her life through books.
In conclusion, Emma Bovary is a tragic heroine, a character with a miserable and foolish life. The novel encourages the reader to judge her. When she dies by ingesting arsenic, the reader feels compassion not for Emma, but for her husband, Charles.
Charles is a main character and the novel’s protagonist. He is a static, background, and indirect character. He is static and flat, as his modus operandi does not change throughout the novel, and he is indirect because the reader follows his nature throughout the novel. Charles is portrayed as a boring man with no ambitions in life, who feels his life is complete with Emma’s love. He lives in his own world and cannot see his wife’s growing distance, culminating in her adultery. His love for Emma is sincere and pure, and he is willing to do anything for her.
Throughout the novel, Charles displays great nobility. When he sees his wife’s declining health, he does everything possible to make her feel better. He even allows Hippolyte’s leg to be operated on, although the operation ends tragically with amputation. Charles’s naiveté is evident, especially in his great and deep love for Emma. However, he lacks the shrewdness of Lheureux, the merchant, who tricks Charles into signing a series of notes, benefiting greatly from the situation. Charles can be seen as an uneducated man who does not know literature or music, and only knows medicine. He lives in his own world and is characterized by great nobility.
Léon is a minor character, although significant in the work. He does not greatly impact the play’s theme, but he represents the ideal man found in the books Emma reads. The character is static and flat. The author uses him to highlight that Emma lives her life through books. Léon is not truly in love with Emma, as he is ready to leave at his boss’s request. His primary function is to make the reader understand that Emma Bovary’s life is unfulfilled and foolish, as she tries to live a perfect life like in her stories and find a prince charming, but does not find that in Charles.
Rodolphe, as shown above, is another minor character who influences Emma. The author uses him to demonstrate the same point as with Léon. He is a static and flat character. He is Emma’s first lover, and the novel shows that both Emma and Rodolphe are in love. However, he ultimately leaves to avoid trouble, showing that he has no major problems with deceiving her husband. He is characterized as the opposite of Charles and can satisfy Emma’s needs, as he is the clear representation of the Prince Charming from Emma’s books.
Rodolphe also plays with Emma’s feelings, as he is unwilling to take anything serious with her.