Ladies Characters in Sentimental Education and Don Quixote - Research Paper Example

SIGNIFICANCE AND CONTRIBUTION OF WOMEN CHARACTERS IN THE NOVELS SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION AND DON QUIXOTE INTRODUCTION Women characters throughout the history of literature had occupied an elevated position in any work of art. They have become an important cause for the strength and success of any piece of work. Just their presence in the plot makes it so interesting and adds magnificence to the work. From the past to the present, women characters and their contribution has brought a great change in the development of the artistic forms. To name a few, Desdemona in Othello, the famous Helen of Troy, and Anna Kerenina in Leo Tolstoy’s novel are some amazing characters whom we can never forget in our lives. Without them, the works would never have reached such an altitude of perfection. It is through them the portrayal of life becomes interesting, passionate and meaningful. The purpose of this paper is to project the significant role played by the women characters in the novels, Sentimental Education by Gustave Flaubert and Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. It will deal about how the female characters affect the progression of the novel and at the same time bring out their contribution to the development of the plot in general. This paper is structured in a way to present only the major characters from both the works so that it would be more appropriate and close in connection to the theme of my paper. I would also like to state that this paper would present the novels one by one to avoid disorder. WOMEN IN SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION Sentimental education is the last novel written by Gustave Flaubert. It accounts the life of a young man named Frederic Moreau and his passionate love for an older woman known as Madame Arnoux. Most incidents faced by the protagonist in the novel are actually things that happened in the real life of the author. So, we can call this work more or less autobiographical in nature. Though his love for the woman is enduring, it is not as sincere as it seems to be for; it often jumps in and out and abruptly ends at last. None of his desires seem to be standing, as soon as he is able to fulfill his longing, his desire changes and longs for something else. This frequent change makes his life a useless one in the end. Though his love for Arnoux stays in him throughout his life, it is just a desire and not as a complete and true love. And this is the real reason why he neglects her at last when he sees her white hair symbolizing her old age. With this small background about the plot in mind, let us move on to discuss in detail how the major female character of this novel contributes herself to the text. MADAME ARNOUX Though the author has made Frederic as the protagonist in the novel, it is actually Madame Arnoux, the beautiful and elegant lady that becomes highly equivalent to the protagonist. She serves as the real inspiration for the actions of our hero in the progression of the novel. In simple terms, it is she who drives the novel. She is a fully developed character with an easy-going nature, more virtuous and mute. As a young man Frederic falls in love with her madly and is immersed into his own imaginative world of fantasy for the rest of his life with the only ambition of making her his own. He sees her as a specimen of female perfection and as an unavoidable object of his desire. In this way, Madame Arnoux becomes the prime attraction around whom the story revolves. She is the ultimate need in Frederic’s life becoming a part in him, haunting his imagination all the time right from his young age. His constant urge for Arnoux is the force that deeply affects the movement of the novel as well as the main character. We can clearly see this life-long search for his love occupies the major part of the novel. The very presence of Arnoux in reality as well as in Frederic’s imagination is the key that opens the door of creativity. We can see that the only constant thing that stays till the end in Frederic’s mind is his love for Madame Arnoux. She becomes the ultimate object of inspiration for Frederic and all of his actions is driven towards her. In this way, Arnoux gains all our appreciation for the kind of woman she is. Frederic is more interested in her physical body than in the emotional one. He longs for her all the time and is never fulfilled even in the end. All his efforts go in vain and at last when Arnoux herself offers her he rejects her for she appears no longer beautiful to him. The role played by Madame Arnoux in the novel is actually one of a mother rather than a mistress. Through the story we understand that he can never posses her sexually, but she serves as a constant force in his life driving him all the time. Thus, the character is portrayed in multitude dimension from the beginning starting as a pretty young lady in the eyes of Frederic and reaching the state of a mother figure at the end. She is no more the beautiful object of desire to him for she appears to be an old woman who has played a great role in his life. ROSANETTE AND MADAME DAMBREUSE Both, Rosanette and Madame Dambreuse are minor characters in the novel who play their role as alternatives for Madame Arnoux. They just come and go in the life of Frederic to satisfy him in the loss of Arnoux. Frederic shifts between these women now and then and totally looses control of his own life. Though he starts living with Rosanette and Dambreuse, he does not get the fulfillment from them for; his whole mind is filled with Madame Arnoux, whom he sees as the ideal woman in his life. Through this amazing depiction of different women characters in this novel, we can see how they all have made their mark in the life of Frederic. In the end, we are not very sure whether Frederic has learned a lesson, but as readers we have witnessed the effect of the female characters in the world of imagination as well as in reality. WOMEN IN DON QUIXOTE Don Quixote is a splendid work of creativity that stands high among all other works in the history of literature. With its historical background, the novel accounts the life of a man who looses his sense reading too much books about knight-errantry. With innumerable interesting incidents and with its stylistic way of writing, Don Quixote becomes one of the most prominent writing of all times. Just as the other novel we saw, here too the protagonist has the same force of the unseen woman that drives his life. Don Quixote plunges into his world of fantasy and never returns to reality. Dulcinea del Toboso is the love of his life for whom our hero dedicates his whole life. Caught in this mad world of imagination, the life of our hero becomes an adventurous one. Thus, Cervantes in this brilliant novel makes a beautiful portrayal of women as the driving forces behind men. As we dive deep into the novel, we see how the author has made the women characters as important as men. Though there is not much detailed description about women in the story, the way Cervantes has presented them has become more significant. His idea of showing that the women are the real driving force behind men is very applicable in his novel. It is true that women in general, create a big influence on men and it is an unavoidable fact that their role in our life can change everything. There are men who have become great because of the women they have come across and at the same time there are also many who have lost everything in life just because of them. Whatever it may be, it is our duty to understand that they are the forces that make our life either pleasant or unpleasant. It is not necessarily that we have to look at them as good or bad, but we have to withstand the pressure of their force and make an intelligent move. These are some things that we understand from reading the novel looking at it from a women perspective view. DULCINEA “Woman is the soul of man, the radiance that lights his way. Woman is glory.” Dulcinea is a simple peasant woman who has no knowledge of the valorous deeds that Don Quixote commits in her name. She is really the unseen character in this novel playing a great role in his life. We never meet Dulcinea in the novel, and on the two occasions when it seems she might appear, some trickery keeps her away from the action. If she had been presented physically before us, the character would not have gained so much popularity. In fact, it is her unseen nature that makes her more lovable and drives the story very interestingly making her role the most significant one. Despite her absence from the novel, Dulcinea is an important force because she epitomizes Don Quixotes chivalric conception of the perfect woman. In his mind, she is beautiful and virtuous, and she makes up for her lack of background and lineage with her good deeds. Don Quixote describes her chiefly in poetic terms that do little to specify her qualities. She is, therefore, important not for who she is, but for what her character represents and for what she indicates about Don Quixotes character. She is the real motivation for all the quests taken by Don Quixote. In one stage version of this novel, a local priest sings a song called "To Each His Dulcinea", in which he reflects, “Although Dulcinea does not exist, the idea of her is what keeps Don Quixote alive and on his quest.” Cervantes has made an amazing picture of her in the novel without ever revealing her physical presence. Thus, we can see how she affects the protagonist’s life and at the same time make her way in the development of all other characters. Without Dulcinea, the book certainly would have lost its flavor and our hero would have had no inspiration in his life. It is she who makes the novel move interestingly and serves as a spectacular temptation in attracting all our attention in the book. Her role is the most significant one in the construction of Don Quixote. TERESA PANZA She is the wife of Sancho Panza who is portrayed as a woman similar to a common housewife. She is the ultimate motivation for her husband. In this way, she gains much of our appreciation and gets a significant role in the novel. Given less importance than Dulcinea, she is really the intelligent character in the book bringing the understanding of reality to Sancho, but he always ignores her views. With her small appearance in the novel, Teresa makes her mark in the readers’ heart through her intelligent conversations and opinions. SIGNIFICANCE AND CONTRIBUTION By analyzing the characters, especially women in these two great works, we are able to comprehend how important they are to the development of the novel. The purpose of presenting both men and women characters in a work in my personal opinion is, to reflect life as it is and also to show how they are a constant force of attraction to each other affecting both the sides of their lives. Can we ever think of a life without them? For any common men, the need of women is the most required thing in life. Only then we can say that our life becomes a meaningful one. Thus, we need to agree to Cervantes’s view that women are the driving forces behind men always. There is nothing else that could prove the significance and contribution of women in our life than the works of these two great masters. Through these works they have clearly depicted the role of women and their contribution to life. CONCLUSION It is evident from all the discussions expressed above that women do have a great role to play in our life. They are an inevitable source of inspiration that trigger our actions in our life. The force that men experience through women has to be classified in two ways, one as a source of strength and motivation that make men what they are, on the other hand as a wicked form of power that can bring us down. In either ways, they are the fuels that drive us through our journey of life. In, Sentimental Education, the hero falls down because of his imaginative love for Madame Arnoux throughout his life. And the same thing happens in Don Quixote, where the protagonist is not able to look at life as it is, with the only thought of the inspiration of his woman he drives his life mad. In both the works, the eminent role of women is brought out so well that their influence not only touches the progress of the novel but also brings about great changes in the phase of life that our heroes face. It gives us a clear picture of the ability of women to control our life and take us to any extent with their direct or indirect influence upon us. Their influence can be positive as well as negative but it is in our hands to be a victim or not. Thus, we can see how women can be a real driving force in our life from the realistic display of these great novels. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Dr. Agarwal, Don Quixote: Guide, Mahaveer Publication.Hyderbad. 1999. 2. Sturman.M, Don Quixote Notes, Hungry Minds Inc. New York. 3. Flaubert, Gustave, Sentimental Education. Wordsworth Editions Ltd. 2000. 4. Materials from Internet. Read More