Madam Bovary and the Portrait of a Lady - The Quest for Freedom - Essay Example

Madam Bovary and the Portrait of a Lady – The Quest for Freedom Introduction The novel “Portrait of a Lady” was written by Henry James in the 1880’s and later revised again in 1908. It is considered to be his finest piece of literary work and explores many social issues of that era like the concept of American individualism and its place in the nineteenth century European social structure. Here, James portrays the fictional character of Isabel Archer, who at the beginning is an independent woman and refuses to be tied down by the social conventions of that age. However, later we find that she gives in to the dictates of her age, and marries, only to be unhappy and disillusioned. ‘Madam Bovary’ a very famous novel by Gustave Flaubert, published in 1857, gives a detailed picture of the social status of women in the nineteenth century through the travails of Emma Bovary, as she passes from an impoverished childhood as the daughter of an illiterate farmer, to adulthood as the wife of a capable but lazy doctor, and later on, to her relationships with her lovers. Like Isabel, Emma is trapped in the middle class social norms and longs to escape. However, the similarities between the two characters end here. Emma uses her only power, her body, to rebel and tries to cut the suffocating social bonds of her era, while Isabelle uses her mind and spirit to remain free. At the end of each novel, the leading female protagonists are found to be unhappy and disillusioned with their lives. This article will discuss these two similar, yet so different, female characters keeping in view the social aspects of their times. It will examine their similarities and differences and compare their methods, in their rebellion against the stringent social norms of the nineteenth century Europe. Body In the story “Portrait of a Lady” set in the 1860’s America, the chief protagonist Isabel Archer is portrayed as a free spirited girl, from an affluent family, who having lost her mother when very young had been brought up by her father in a rather haphazard way. He had allowed Isabel to become educated and had always fostered her independence. Under such circumstances, Isabel had become extremely strong willed, confident, was well read and a little bit of a narcissist. In their hometown in Albany, in America, Isabel had managed to earn herself quite a name as an intellect and an intimidating personality. Unwilling to settle down for a marriage that would undermine her free spirit and not willing to compromise at any cost, Isabel decides to travel to Europe with her aunt Mrs. Touchett, after her father’s death. On reaching England, she creates a strong impression on everyone at her uncle’s mansion. Soon the Touchett’s neighbor, lord Warburton proposes marriage to Isabel but she refuses to acknowledge the offer, knowing very well that she has missed a big chance to climb up the social order. Here again we find that Isabel clings to her independence rather than marry and lose freedom. By refusing to marry the lord, she throws away the chance which would have brought her security, money and name, something any nineteenth century European girl, would have happily accepted. While in Europe, we find that a certain amount of romantic idealism was very slowly replacing Isabel’s American values. This makes her more vulnerable, which is made full use of by the scheming Madame Merle and her lover Gilbert Osmond. Unaware of the involvement between these two, Isabel falls in love with Osmond and decides to marry him. Being extremely strong willed she refuses to take heed of any warning from her well-wishers and goes into matrimony with Osmond, who is marrying, only to get at Isabel’s fortune. Later, three years into her marriage and after the death of her first born, Isabel understands the villainous nature of her husband and realizes that there is some sort of relationship between Merle and Osmond, and decides to leave them to be at the side of her dying cousin. Here, though two of her early suitors try to reason with her to give up her unhappy and disastrous marriage, she fails to do so, and at the end goes back to Osmond. Thus, at the end we find that, Isabel though free spirited in the beginning could not completely break away from the social norms of that era, however hard she tried. In Flaubert’s ‘Madam Bovary’, we find Emma right from the beginning does not have much say and choice over her life due to her impoverished circumstances. She is forced to be brought up in convent where she escapes into a world of fantasy by reading romantic novels. This unfortunately creates blight on her character, as even as a grown up woman she fails to differentiate between the real life and the fictional world. In her mind, she creates an alternative image of how life should be. Throughout her entire existence, we find that Emma is in pursuit of this shadowy image which in reality does not exist, except in her own mind. Her quest for a perfect love, during the times when women were of no consequence, is fruitless. She is powerless and entrapped in a society that is binding, and her husband Charles, accentuates the situation by being incompetent and lazy. Charles is blindly devoted to his wife but Emma feels that he cannot give what she desires and hopes for, and it is for this reason the ties with her husband and child suffocates her, making her a prisoner. Soon she starts taking lovers but is disappointed to find that none of them are not committed enough to marry her and help her escape the prison like situation. After wielding power with her only weapon, her body, and having a string of lovers, Emma finally seeks freedom by committing suicide. Thus in Emma’s case she did manage to break the social norms to some extent, and would have gone ahead to break away completely, had any of her lovers supported her in her quest for freedom and true love. In the end, however Emma was forced to commit suicide when she realized that there is nothing as true love, and her rebellion was fruitless, making her socially ostracized and even more powerless. She chose suicide to escape from a society which refused to let her live her dreams. Thus, right from the beginning we notice the differences between Isabel and Emma. The only stark similarity between them being, that they both wanted to break free of the middle class social values to search for a life that would represent their own will and freedom. However, there is another similarity which both the books present through their lead protagonists, Isabel and Emma. As Porte tells us, like ‘Madam Bovary’, the ‘Portrait of a Lady’ also “focuses on the question of a woman’s destiny and the conditions and consequences of modern marriage” (Porte, 1). Both the books in one way and the other bring forth the aspect of feminine identity and explore the then social structures, beliefs and mannerisms. A closer look at Isabel’s rebellion against the bourgeois social norms, show a certain amount of dignity in it. However, her quest lacks some amount of focus in it too. Isabel’s thirst for ‘independence’ and her wish to do something spectacular in her life is apparent; however, she is not clear and really does not know what exactly to do with her life. Her free independent way of thinking is largely due to her father’s upbringing where she was allowed to do almost anything she wished, thus growing up without much discipline and order. However, her natural intelligence makes up for her fallacies. In America, Isabel refuses to be tied down with marriage and the associated bindings of a matrimonial life with the rich Casper Goodwood. We see her rebellious spirit when she bids Casper farewell and tells him that she does not wish to think of marriage for the next one year as she travels with her aunt in Europe. In fact, at the very beginning of the story we notice that social customs and Isabel are not compatible with each other. The story starts in the very traditional setting of an afternoon English tea ceremony with members of the high English society sitting in a well-ordered genteel landscaped garden. The very entry of Isabel seems slightly incongruous with the entire setting, where we find her entering amidst a general bedlam of barking dogs and pursed expectations. However, one thing is very clear. Isabel’s individualism is at disparity with the normal social conventions but not against the people that live within these norms. In other words, Isabel’s rebellion is against social norms and structures that try to shape and define a person’s life and aspirations, and not against the people who stick to these norms. Once in Europe however we notice a change in perspectives and we find a romantic streak in her character that would prove to be disadvantageous for her, later in the story. However, this romantic streak never takes control over Isabel’s life and she retains her cool composite mind and sharp intelligence, even when faced with adverse conditions. When Isabel’s question of staying up alone with her cousin Ralph and lord Warburton without a chaperone comes into discussion, she at first rebels but later becomes docile and listens to her aunt. Here, we notice a contradictory nature in Isabel’s rebellion. Though she wants to flout all social rules, she also does not want to become a social pariah, so will not voluntarily go against the society. Again, we notice this duality in Isabel’s nature when she refuses to marry lord Warburton in fear of losing her independence, yet envies the security of the mundane, conventional life his sisters lead. Though desperately wanting to be independent, Isabel somewhere subconsciously also craves for security. Thus we notice an inner conflict in Isabel in regards to her wanting to rebel against social values and yet wanting to be secure under these very norms. However, by rejecting marriage proposals thrice, Isabel does manage to show her commitment to stay independent, though she is never clear as to what do with her life. With Ralphs splitting his fortune with Isabel and with madam Merle scheming with Osmond to get at her fortune by way of marriage, all hopes of Isabel’s staying independent, extinguishes. With a sham of a marriage and Isabel choosing to stick to this marriage to fulfill her social duties and obligations, marks the end of her rebellion and speaks of her defeat at the hands of the society. In contrast, when we take up madam Bovary we notice how different the circumstances are right from the very beginning. Emma, the chief protagonist is from a poor middle class family and was brought up in a convent, without her having much say over it. Reading romantic novels make her unrealistic and she soon forgets the differences between the real and the fantasy world. She yearns for sophistication, nurtures romantic illusions that are imbued with passion and sensuality. Emma often goes into a deep depression when her real world does not match up to her fantasy world. When with her daughter she lacks maternal instincts and is often annoyed at her presence. Here again we notice certain streaks of instability in her when she has fits of a conscience attack and feels guilty about neglecting her husband and daughter and tries to mend her ways. However, this feeling of repentance is always short-lived, and frustrated with her mundane existence she takes Rodolphe and Leon as lovers. In her quest for wealth and passion, she moves from one lover to another, and in the process builds up a huge debt against her husband’s property. At the end when she realizes the futility of her existence, she commits suicide. Unlike Isabel, Emma is often viewed by critics as mediocre, immoral and selfish. As Kettle remarks “Emma Bovary is, unlike Isabel Archer, not in the least fine, that she fails to escape from her petty-bourgeoisie social milieu, and that she is quite incapable of the exalted moral discipline to which Isabel is dedicated...”(Kettle, 28). Emma chooses to rebel against society by taking in lovers, unlike Isabel, who stands firm on her morality, Unlike Isabel who never really crossed the threshold of social norms, Emma completely breaks them. Isabel after her mother’s death was given complete independence by her father turning her into a free willed, slightly narcissist person. On the other hand, Emma after her mother’s death to escape depression immersed herself into novels which transported her into an unreal world. Isabel, because of her position and independent upbringing could say no to marriage and yet have faithful lovers. Emma because of her impoverished upbringing had not much say over her life, and it was because of her low social standing that her lovers could desert with impunity. Emma’s wish to lead life on her own terms does not hold ground because Europe at that time did not take kindly to free spirited girls. Women were seen merely as wives and mothers, and nothing more. Isabel is fortunate enough to be brought up in America were women in the nineteenth century were given some amount of independence. Isabel though independent at first chooses to become a submissive wife to the villainous Osmond though society tries to dissuade her. She gets the chance to be free but does not exercise it, as she lacks the courage and fortitude required to defy societal rules. Her aunt is in fact shown to be made of sterner stuff, as we find that she is estranged from her husband Mr. Touchett, and is living alone. Emma on the other hand, found her marriage to be suffocating and tries to escape, but her shallow lovers and a stringent society cuts off all her escape routes. Charles, her husband, blindly loved her and the then social rules saw this as enough grounds for a wife to be happy. During those times, it was not even considered whether a woman loves her husband or not. A nineteenth century European marriage will have to be consummated, even if a woman does not feel for the husband. Under such orthodox societal views, it was indeed heroic for Emma to express her dissatisfaction and take lovers, and it was tragic that they all were shallow and deemed unsuitable for her. Conclusion Emma stands apart from Isabel in the fact that she is a true hero. It was her misfortune that she was a part of bourgeoisie social class that never accepted women in any role, other than a mother or a wife. She sends out a challenge to the futile bourgeoisie class of her times, which is hypocritical in its pretenses and smugness. Emma’s rebellion is against a materialistic society, which gives priority to women’s role as a mother and wife. Her rebellion is against the norms that stereotype a female identity and puts shackles around it in the name of marriage and motherhood. Thus, Emma is a character that is tragic yet it inspires awe, as she is far ahead of her times and is a visionary. Her only pitfall is that she chooses men who are shallow and selfish. Unlike Isabel, who we find are surrounded by admirers who remain ever faithful to her, Emma is tragically used and discarded by her lovers. Thus we Emma is a victim of her times that were ruled by a patriarchal society and when she rebels against it she ultimately fails to achieve her freedom, as she does not possess the correct insight and as a result chooses the wrong way to speak against the society. Both Isabel and Emma fail in their rebellion against the society and its conventional norms. Isabel fails, because after a point, she lacked that steeliness of character, required make a rebellion successful. Emma had the strength of character to openly defy society and leave a mark, but lacks insight and fails to express herself correctly, and chooses death over life, in the ignominy of her failure to lead life on her own terms. Works cited Kettle, A. An Introduction to the English Novel - Volume Two: Henry James to the Present. New York: Read Books, 2007. Print. Porte, J. New essays on The portrait of a lady. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990. Print. Read More