Madame Bovary Response

To me, Emma Bovary came off as more of an ignoramus than a hopeless romantic. One cannot relieve a person from suffering the consequences of adultery simply because she had a naïve view of the world. In my opinion, Madame Bovary is presented as a cliché example of a woman who uses her good looks to get her way; exactly the type of woman that would fall into depression simply because the world ended up being different than the way she perceived it to be. I don’t fully understand how people can sympathize with a grown woman who has the maturity and personality of a little child.

I do believe that Flaubert’s novel could have been more significant given a slightly more relatable and likeable character. Many readers, myself included, wind up disliking Emma Bovary to the point that we immediately blame her for any incident that occurs, and end up never seeing it through her point of view.