tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767816.post8692152272343724201..comments2024-02-20T03:18:43.590-05:00Comments on Magnificent Octopus: Emma and Léon and RodolpheIsabella Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10735198478395875257noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767816.post-90797035809580577202010-10-25T13:26:14.805-04:002010-10-25T13:26:14.805-04:00In much of this part, Emma's baby and husband ...In much of this part, Emma's baby and husband seem very absent. Where is Charles while she's hanging out at the fair with Rodolphe? Does Charles have a problem with it? I haven't been very sympathetic when it comes to her attitudes as a mother, but maybe I am judging her from a modern perspective. I feel that if Berthe is raised without any motherly affection, she will turn out just like Emma. A damaging cycle.Shelleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18408471966661831444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767816.post-73384736722087891932010-10-24T04:22:27.124-04:002010-10-24T04:22:27.124-04:00I'm almost sure that Eliot was familiar with M...I'm almost sure that Eliot was familiar with Mme. Bovary. Eliot was so intelligent, ferociously so...she seems to have known and known about everything.Bybeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10061186489010154661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767816.post-2032848688552081972010-10-23T14:38:34.948-04:002010-10-23T14:38:34.948-04:00I guess I'd have to reread the scene in questi...I guess I'd have to reread the scene in question, Isabella, but I didn't remember Emma's role in the Hippolyte fiasco as being anything constructive or positive at all. I read it as Emma wanting to replace the uncertainties of love (she'd been having ups and downs with Rodolphe) with the more certain rewards of wealth (or fame) if/when Charles became "successful." All about her and not about "helping" Charles advance or anything like that. And while her trust was clearly abused in some ways by the selfish Rodolphe, it's hard for me to feel too, too sorry for her in that regard since she's kind of the Rodolphe to Charles' Emma if you get my drift. Plenty of unhappiness to go along with the blame here--thank goodness the pharmacist and the priest lighten things up for us once in a while!Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767816.post-37671419087614968902010-10-23T05:02:43.749-04:002010-10-23T05:02:43.749-04:00I didn't know Chabrol did an interpretation of...I didn't know Chabrol did an interpretation of MB, I look forward to watching that. Thanks.ABhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00424190778506425886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767816.post-38384995793993577872010-10-22T20:22:59.001-04:002010-10-22T20:22:59.001-04:00I found that I was particularly unsympathetic to E...I found that I was particularly unsympathetic to Emma once she started acting so ridiculously obsessive about Rodolphe. She was just way over the top, and didn't seem to realize that he was pushing her away already.Carinahttp://readingthroughlife.canoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767816.post-92094712559608071382010-10-21T23:20:06.008-04:002010-10-21T23:20:06.008-04:00I felt that Emma was very much the victim as well....I felt that Emma was very much the victim as well. To Rodolphe, surely, but also to her own discontent which brought her so much trouble. I wish that I could read the Lydia Davis translation; my edition is from Barnes and Noble, which I've enjoyed very much, but I'm afraid I've missed some important nuances that Lydia would have included.Bellezza https://www.blogger.com/profile/18073864187188953633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767816.post-57750971633501763062010-10-21T21:14:02.592-04:002010-10-21T21:14:02.592-04:00I feel some of that same inclination to defend Emm...I feel some of that same inclination to defend Emma as she is so heartlessly handled. Was so contemptuous of her 20 years ago too. When I believed that we all controlled our own fates completely. Now I am a Flaubert hater. :)<br /><br />Enjoyed the way you constructed this post too. Gives the panoramic view of your insightful thoughts. Clever.Franceshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12597485569740436880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767816.post-76918802397906988042010-10-21T16:27:26.388-04:002010-10-21T16:27:26.388-04:00The Middlemarch/Madame Bovary connection is so int...The <em>Middlemarch</em>/<em>Madame Bovary</em> connection is so interesting - and not one I'd have ever thought to make. Primarily because Eliot's work seems so suffused with compassion and humanity, whereas Flaubert...<br /><br />I really blamed EVERYONE involved in the Hyppolite catastrophe. What a horrible situation! And the fact that the Bovarys (and the reader) see it as just sort of a single-chapter interlude in their romantic dramas...very telling.Emilyhttp://www.eveningallafternoon.comnoreply@blogger.com