American Literature

The theme of tragedy in literature has never been new, even the Ancient Greeks and Romans regularly played tragic dramas for the eager public in the early civilizations. Plato and Aristotle, two of the formidable philosophers in the world even analyzed and scrutinized the impact and purpose of such tragic dramas. Plato believed that tragic drama is mimetic, or a mere illusion that deceive people of the real tragedy of life (Ahrensdorf 158). Aristotle, on the other hand, believed that tragic dramas were cathartic, which is meant to purge people of negative feelings (Waugh 44). Though the philosophers differ in their opinions, they both agree that literature becomes a tragedy through the existence of the hero and the heros hamartia or tragic flaw. Tragic characters in literature are usually determined by a variety of criteria the character should be able to succeed and be happy, since he or she inhibits traits that put him or her unto a high moral pedestal (Waugh 45). This goodness in the protagonist would make him or her a hero or a heroine of the literary piece. And yet, ultimately, the character does fail and does not succeed, because of the said hamartia or flaw, which makes the hero a tragic one. In Madame Bovary, which is one of the finest examples of the French literature featuring the bourgeois society of the nineteenth century, Gustave Fluabert makes a wonderful portrayal of the life of Madame Bovary. Madame Bovary is portrayed as an individual having several character flaws. She has a strong urge to climb the social ladder and is driven by passion and zeal. Her desires and so called needs consume her youth and, eventually, her life. In spite of the character flaws and the immoral paths she traveled, Emma Rouault Bovary is a real hero and the protagonist of the novel.
    Emma Rouault Bovary appears to have several character flaws that may compel us to overlook her goodness. The character flaws of Madame Bovary are the result of the circumstances of her life. Though it can be regarded as a finger pointing at and merely accusing others or certain things of being the cause of Madame Bovarys character development as an obvious horrendous individual, people around her and the society that she was living in played a huge part in the development of her personality the things, events and people around her had made her the tragic heroine she was. Emmas failure cannot be considered her own. Her character illustrates the different ways, through which the circumstances (rather than a free will) determined the life of women in the nineteenth century. If Emma had been rich as Rodolphe, her lover, she would have been free to live the life she wants. We often find her dissatisfaction with the bourgeois society where she lived. This is a justification of her flaws. Emmas difficult plight is a reflection of the difficulties of any individual, who is trapped among the French bourgeoisie. Her difficult life determined her paths. Her society was least merciful to her. Her flaws are overlooked because of her disadvantaged plight. She does appear like a hero in the eyes of the readers. She is, no doubt, the protagonist of the novel.
Emma lived in a disadvantaged society. She had no other means to make a living. Her desperation made her resort to sex to earn money for her expenditures. She was completely helpless in the misogynistic society, in which she lived. She is the product of her circumstances. In spite of the immoral paths she traveled, readers like Emma. It is she who is the protagonist.     The novel Madame Bovary begins in what seems to be the story of Charles Bovary, however, it will be revealed later on that, while Charles does play a very important part in the novel and narration, it will be his second wife, Emma who is the principal character of the novel.
Emma is presented as the protagonist of the novel. She is the principal character, around whom the novel revolves. At the beginning of the novel there is a sense of dullness, which clearly epitomizes Charles Bovarys character and life. We read that he wiped his face with one hand and continued motionless, his eyes lowered. In the evening, at preparation, he pulled out his pens from his desk, arranged his small belongings, and carefully ruled his paper. We saw him working conscientiously, looking up every word in the dictionary (Flaubert 3). Emma Rouault would then be the heroine, who would come waltzing in, turning Charles life upside-down and injecting life into both the novel and Charles personality. We further find that she did not answer, but as she sewed she pricked her fingers, which she then put to her mouth to suck them. Charles was surprised... Her real beauty was in her eyes. Her look came at you frankly, with a candid boldness (Flaubert 10). Though Charles is a very important character, it is Emma who is made to be the heroine, since she is the only one innocent enough and the readers have awish to sympathize with her. We find the author emphasizing her talents as he says that she received good education and so knew dancing, geography, drawing, how to embroider and play the piano (Flaubert 12). In murmurs as she spoke to herself, now joyous, opening big naive eyes, then with her eyelids half closed, her look full of boredom, her thoughts wandering (Flaubert 15). Her characteristics and talents are very much evident in the novel that she is the protagonist in the eyes of the readers.
Emma is undoubtedly a tragic heroine. She is suffering and yet she is also causing other innocent people to suffer like Charles Bovary and their daughter. Paris says in Imagined Human Beings a Psychological Approach to Character and Conflict in Literature that the character of Emma was able to illicit sympathy because she encounters several unfortunate events which are not entirely her fault and yet, she is criticized because of her tragic flaws that brings much more misery to herself and to the other characters (Paris 193). Emma was forced by her circumstances to travel the path of immorality. Her encountered sequences of difficult circumstances and desperate situations that made her follow the wrong paths. Her flaws are therefore overlooked. Emma is viewed by the readers with a sympathetic eye. She is therefore recognized as the protagonist of the novel.
    As Madame Bovary drowns in her illusions and deceptions, there is still that small grain of hope that she might be able to redeem herself and be the exalted heroine of the novel. It is indeed revealed that she is the heroine, but a tragic one at that as she does not redeem herself at all and instead, escapes from the demons she has created and nurtured. These demons are her own innate character flaws or hamartia and they were caused by the people and certain events around her. These factors can be grouped into three aspects the first one is Emmas own identity in the Rouault family the second is Emmas relationships with men (Charles, Leon, Rodolphe and Lheureux) the third and last one is Emmas illusions about romanticism and the bourgeois society. Emmas plight was forced on her by her background and the society where she lived. She is indeed a tragic heroine in spite of the wrong paths she traversed through.
    Emmas family life with the Rouault is one of the causes, which make her a tragic figure. Firstly, she does not have mother, as her mother died early and she is left to the care of her father, who is a drunk, given to frolicking and who does not care for his own daughter. We read that old Rouault would not have been sorry to get rid of his daughter, who was of no use to him... (Flaubert 16). Secondly, the fact that Emma has never felt kinship or real affection is the most likely reason why she has been yearning for it from other people and she finds this in her relations with men. This childhood and early life of hers is a catalyst for her future decisions and actions. This is also the reason why Emma decided to escape from her world, devoid of affection, into the world of emotion-filled books, which she likes reading. The only problem is that Emma connects the passion-filled romantic idealism with that of real affection and love. Thus, when she does not find the passionate intimacy in the marriage with Charles, she chooses to look for it somewhere else. She jumps into a more passionate affair with Rodolphe. He also disappoints her and breaks her expectations. This leaves her heartbroken. When Emma married Charles, she was seeking the passion which the romantic ideals seemed to portray, and instead, she  met disappointment and misery. This relationship with Charles in turn becomes a catalyst for her other relationships that with Leon, Rodolphe and in some sense, with Lheureux. Emma found a sense of belongingness with Leon, a young and handsome man in Yonville. Her relationship with Leon from the beginning was what she considers as sweet and enchanting. This seemingly innocent relationship with Leon is just another of Emmas illusion that her romantic ideals have finally materialized. But the passion which she so desperately wants was not to be found in Leon. If Leon provided companionships and sweetness, it is Rodolphe who found what Emma wants, the carnal fanaticism which she so desperately yearnsas how she describes it, a yearning for the celestial lover (Flaubert 24). But even if Rodolphe had provided a different kind of relationship, Emma would still want better things, things which the bourgeois society seems to want. The bourgeois society (which is the third contributor to Emmas becoming a tragic heroine) is known to be materialistic, and this greed for finer things is what constitutes Emmas relationship with Lheureux. Because of Lheureuxs personality as a money lender and his cunning persuasion in the whole money-lending business, Emma has allowed herself to be drowned in debt. This evil persuasion of the bourgeois society made Emma degrade her life. 
These three factors (Emmas family, Emmas affairs and relationships with the men in her life and, finally, the ideologies of the bourgeois society and romanticism) ultimately make Emma Bovary a tragic character. Her death, which was wrapped with so much pain, left both Charles and the readers rooting for Emmas survival and salvation. However, what Flaubert has created is not the climactic ending of the novel with Emmas death but the full realization that she is indeed the tragic heroine. Even though it seems that Emma committed suicide as an act of cowardice, it actually became an act of bravery for her since Emma chose to kill the immoral being that she has become. Emma was not running away from debts, but running away from the fact that she can cause more damage to her family and to herself. In some ways, even if Charles was meant to be pitied, one could not help but pity Emma more. After all, the miserable and heart-wrenching things she has to go to just to find the full realization of her romantic ideologies, Emma has still been unable to find it.
    Certain events and characters became catalysts to the birth and cultivation of Emmas hamartia or tragic flawand that tragic flaw which makes her the heroine was also what destroyed her Emma was so nave that she has to be pitied and yet, Emma was so nave that she was unable to fully discern that romantic dreams are but an illusion. This restlessness of Emma Bovary coupled with her romantic illusions and the collective ideologies of the 19th century bourgeois society makes Emma throw herself from one affair to the other and this leads to her financial crisis and moral degradation. The novel ends in the pretty Madame Bovary committing suicide by taking in arsenic, as she cannot face the insurmountable debt and loan sharks (in the person of Lheureux) closing in on her and the unhappiness she has been feeling after the unsuccessful results of all her relations. The cause of Emmas failure is nothing but the nature of her society. Emma remains an innocent individual for the readers. She is, no doubt, a character worth sympathy. In spite of the character flaws and the immoral paths she traveled, Emma Rouault Bovary is a real hero and the protagonist of the novel.