Beginning of Essay
In an ideal world, like the one Emma Bovary yearns for in the book Madame Bovary, romantic relationships are based on the principle that the two participants are madly in love with each other. But in the world Gustave Flaubert paints in his book, as in the real w ....

Middle of Essay
.... “old Rouault was rich, and she!-so beautiful!”(p.15) He knows he will be marrying into a wealthy family, and he will be obtaining a “trophy wife.” As for Emma’s part in the marriage, she has no say whatsoever. She is given to Charles by her father in exchange for a dowry. So, before she is even married, she is already treated like chattel by the men in her life. Their treatment of her by men lend in part to her misery. The monotony of daily life as well as her own idealistic demeanor lead to her considering taking a lover. Leon, a young villager, catches her fancy and takes an interest in her as well. But sh ....