Introduction
The novel Madame Bovary was written by a French writer called Gustave Flaubert in 1856. The book talks about a couple where the wife, Emma Bovary, is bored with her marriage to a doctor, Charles Bovary, and she ends up having secret multiple extra-marital affairs. She decided to pursue her passion for literature and music by having a romantic relationship with men who appreciated her desires (Flaubert, 2009). Consequently, the relations outside marriage eventually led to her death. Flaubert, in the novel Madame Bovary, he took special care to examine the relationship between art, literature and the effect it has on the emotions of the reader, nature, and virtue.
Dangers of Art's Emotional Appeal
Art and literature's appeal can adversely affect a person's character, mental state, emotions, or decision-making. Emma found consolation and excitement in literature and poetry which guided her emotional appeal on who to like, associate, or love. For instance, she got bored with her husband who was a doctor, and his career took most of his time. On the contrary, Emma wanted someone who is outgoing and adventurous so that they could explore the world of happiness together (Flaubert, 2009). Her life was driven by her passion for art and literature in what she had read from books. When her mother dies, poetry acts as her sole source of consolation. The author tells us that Emma turned to poetry to help her decide what degree of mourning is adequate. Rather than facing her emotions for the loss of her mother, Emma believed that art could guide her on what to do to ensure she gave her mother the last respect she deserves (Vuyk, 2010).
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Secondly, the author shows that some emotions relate to the concept of desire and they may be dangerous to the perpetrator and those close to him or her. Emma justifies her actions of adultery that it makes her look like the women in literature. While rowing in a boat with her second lover, Leon, Emma begins to sing some stanzas from a romantic poem entitled "Le Lac" by the poet Alphonse de Lamartine (Flaubert, 2009). The reason why Emma chooses to sing this poem is that it talks about two lovers in a boat sailing across the lake. However, Flaubert tries to explain to the readers that Emma did not understand the in-depth meaning of the poem and in the same breath he tries to allude to her forthcoming demise. The author is explaining to the readers how poetry can cloud someone's thinking. Emma did not acknowledge her passion and affection to Leon by drawing comfort from literature which in a way never alluded to what she was doing as wrong according to her interpretation and therefore, she never felt the need to conceal her contempt for Charles to him (Vuyk, 2010). In the novel, the author also shows how dangerous emotions due to art are tied to gender and socioeconomic status when Emma falls in love with a rich and rakish man, Rodolphe Boulanger, and suggests that they run away. She was ready to risk her reputation and marriage to follow her heart desires.
Cathartic Moments in the Novel
Throughout the novel, Flaubert uses Charles and Emma Bovary to show events that are serious and possessing magnitude to cause pity and fear in the reader. The moment Rodolphe ends his relationship with Emma, she becomes affected by the heartbreak which makes her sick for some time (Vuyk, 2010). This turn of events evokes an emotional response in the reader which in turn causes the reader to sympathize with the situation she has found herself in. When she turns to religion for consolation, Emma turns on a new leaf by restoring her former good deeds and committing herself to her marriage. On the other hand, readers also empathize with Charles who is does not know that his wife is having an affair with another man (Vuyk, 2010). The author tries to create a case of sympathy where Mr. Charles is occupied with his career to boost the socioeconomic status of the family, but his wife is not bothered and is engaging in other affairs outside marriage.
The central cathartic moment of the novel is the period when Emma is lured by a certain crafty merchant who takes advantage of her fancy for luxurious life and convinces her to be purchasing goods on credit from him using her husband's estate as the security. Once the debt had grown to a significant amount, the merchant claimed to be paid his money. The author creates a moment of sympathy during the period when Emma was pleading for financial assistance from her friends and former friends such as Leon and Rodolphe who turned her down. In despair, Emma eventually commits suicide by swallowing arsenic (Flaubert, 2009). Also, the grief that engulfs Charles due to his wife's demise, while reading Leon and Rodolphe's love letters and consequently his death creates a feeling of pity and sympathy in the reader. The mistreatment that Charles' daughter, Berth, receives from her cruel aunt by working in a cotton mill elicit an emotional response in those who read this novel (Vuyk, 2010). Although the writer wanted to show the cathartic moments in the story, empathy, and sympathy that engulfs the readers compromise the significance of these moments.
Relationship between Art and Nature
Apparently, both art and literature derive inspiration from nature which includes the external world and perceived senses. On the other hand, art is an imaginative reflection of reality or life. In literature and poetry, the artist selects beautiful and vital aspects of nature and put them into writing for people to read and appreciate. For instance, Flaubert was inspired by his friend and mentor, Louis Bouilhet who told him that the success of art depends on its relevance with as minimal digressions as possible (Flaubert, 2009). However, a technique sometimes distorts nature because no single work of art can describe or represent nature. However, some people may take an artistic action about something and presume that it represents everything that it is talking about in life. With this in mind, some critics have argued that art reflects the unnatural things. For instance, Flaubert while writing this novel, he believed that the internal strength and message in the story of Bovary was the most important because he wrote "a book about nothing, a book dependent on nothing external" (Vuyk, 2010).
Emma is portrayed as a romantic embodiment but does not equal any mental or emotional realities of the world. From above examples, it is evident that art lacks some sense of reality that nature possesses. Even though artists borrow ideas from life and put them ina creative and attractive way, Flaubert distanced himself from the sentiments present in the novel. This is because he does not believe that Emma's story is a complete representation of the reality in nature. This is evident in Emma's statement "all that I love is not there" and authors statement, "I have used nothing of my feelings or my life" (Flaubert, 2009). Bearing in mind that there is an extensive overlap of nature and art, there is a possibility that the two might surpass each other.
Relationship between Art and Virtue
Art is a very influential tool in our society because it shapes our thinking and behavior. Today, prominent artists have become role models for youths and are therefore ethical for the community to determine whether the art has a positive or negative impact on the people. Through art, our emotions, senses, imagination, language, and reasoning is shaped. For example, Flaubert illustrated in his story how Emma Bovary used the literature and poems she had read to justify her actions that were unethical (Flaubert, G. 2009). Most artistic works are very attractive and influential and may convince someone to do what they are saying. Arguable, some authors are not aware of the damage they cause to the younger generation who look up to them. There is a definite relation that virtue and aesthetics are related because they shape each other (Vuyk, 2010). For this reason, artists should understand that they have an ethical obligation and a role to play in promoting positive behavior in the society.
References
Flaubert, G. (2009). Madame bovary . Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing.
Vuyk, K. (2010). The arts as an instrument? Notes on the controversy surrounding the value of art. International Journal of Cultural Policy , 16 (2), 173-183.
