"Madame Bovary"

Paper Summary:

This paper consider Emma and Charles as protagonists and tragic heroes of "Madame Bovary". Both characters are considered in the three criteria of tragedy-- disasters that remove title, power and position; special qualities which do not save them from destruction and tragic flaws, with the knowledge that hopelessness is interwoven throughout. It compares how this relates to Shakespeare's tragedy "Romeo and Juliet".

From the Paper:

"Although according to the media, a "tragedy" may refer to an unfortunate happening, such as a murder or suicide, the literary definition of "tragedy" does not necessarily coincide. Rather, according to the Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms, tragedy is "a form of drama concerned with the fortunes and misfortunes and, ultimately, the disasters that befall human beings of their title, power, and position." The dictionary continues by listing the classic figures of tragedy such as Oedipus, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, etc. Also key is the following: "What makes them tragic figures is that they have qualities of excellence, of nobleness, of passion; they have virtues and gifts that lift them above the ordinary run of mortal men and women" These attributes are seen to be insufficient to save them from self-destruction or from destruction brought upon them. And there is no hope for them." Let's examine Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary using the above definition as a benchmark for tragedy to identify its position."

More papers on "Madame Bovary":

• Book Review # 71182 : "Madame Bovary"
• Book Review # 95013 : "Madame Bovary"
• Analytical Essay # 32392 : "Madame Bovary"
• Book Review # 97369 : "Madame Bovary"--A Review"

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