Customer center

We are a boutique essay service, not a mass production custom writing factory. Let us create a perfect paper for you today!

Example research essay topic: The Motif Of Windows In Madame Bovary - 813 words

NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert is a novel about a woman who is never satisfied. She is always searching for something new, and when she finds that, she quickly leaves it to search for yet one more thing. Throughout the novel there is a constant reference to windows. This motif is used by Flaubert to help give insights into the character of Emma. By showing her in the context of windows, Flaubert paints a picture of a woman who is constantly searching for excitement and a woman who is trapped inside her own life. From the opening of the book, the reader realizes that windows will be a major part of the novel.

Windows make up the crucial centers around which the plot is organized (Rousset 161). Windows are used in two main ways in the novel: as description tools that convey theme, and as a way to convey theme through the character of Emma. Windows become powerful description devices because they convey Emma Bovary's attitude towards life (and the authors theme) simply with description. Because Emma does not like her married life, the description of her home is not very flattering. In her home the pallid light that filtered through the window faded softly away with little shadowy undulations (Flaubert 16). Here, the reader perceives a decidedly negative picture of the house simply from the light coming through the window.

Obviously Emma has many negative feelings about her life in that house. However when she is with Rodolphe, through the yellow curtains that draped the windows a soft old-gold light [comes] stealing (Flaubert 18). This description is in stark contrast to the earlier one. Emma obviously believes that being with someone new is a wonderful thing. Flaubert thinks this is foolish however, and the continual contrast between what the reader sees as reality and what Emma sees as her supposed reality creates a theme that Emma is not right in believing that it is OK to live life without realizing that she cannot live life the way she wants to.

One of the very first references to windows in direct relation to a character comes when Charles [opens] his window and [sits] gazing out with his head on his hand (Flaubert 1). This sets up the general function of the window in the novel. Flaubert is using images of a character sitting in front of a window and gazing out at life. This same image will be used many more times in the novel. After setting up this motif, Flaubert then begins to use it in context with Emma. Emma's characteristic pose is at a window, and this image suggests some manner of imprisonment (Brombert 166).

The first reference to Emma with a window is her standing by the window looking out into the garden at the bean-sticks that had been blown down by the wind (Flaubert 2). Emma is standing in front of a window looking to the outside world. This will become a familiar pose for Emma. When Emma moves to Yonville, she is happy for a time, but she quickly resumes her routine of sitting in front of the window. Emma would pull her easy-chair close up to the window so that she could watch the villagers as they went by on the pavement (Flaubert 14). To Emma, looking through a window is a way to free herself from the bonds she has in married life.

She is longing for liberation, and by letting her imagination run wild when looking through the window she can accomplish this (Brombert 164). This constant dreaming and longing for something more leads to the authors theme of ridiculing those who cannot resolve the conflict between their dreams and their realities. By having Emma constantly unhappy and constantly focused on imaginary hopes and far-off places, Flaubert is ridiculing her and stating that she is most foolish for not having the sense to be even remotely realistic about her life. In Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, Emma Bovary is portrayed as a foolish woman. By contrasting her feelings about life and displaying a consistent pattern of her behavior, Flaubert allows the motif of Windows to become prevalent in the novel.

Through this use of windows, the reader gets a complete picture of a woman who is never satisfied with life, and who is constantly searching for something that will never come to her. Flaubert believes this is foolish because a key to life is having a balance between reality and dreams, and Emma can never obtain this. Bibliography: Bibliography Brombert, Victor. The Novels of Flaubert. Princeton University Press 1996.

Reprinted in NCLC Vol. 10. Flaubert, Gustave. Madame Bovary. Translated by Lowell Bair. Bantam. New York, New York. 1989.

Rousset, Jean. Madame Bovary: Flaubert's Anti-Novel. W. W. Norton. 1965. Reprinted in NCLC Vol. 10.

Turned, Martin. Madame Bovary. Hamish Hamilton, 1950. Reprinted in NCLC Vol. 10.


Free research essays on topics related to: emma bovary, live life, gustave flaubert, married life, madame bovary

Research essay sample on The Motif Of Windows In Madame Bovary

Writing service prices per page

  • $18.85 - in 14 days
  • $19.95 - in 3 days
  • $23.95 - within 48 hours
  • $26.95 - within 24 hours
  • $29.95 - within 12 hours
  • $34.95 - within 6 hours
  • $39.95 - within 3 hours
  • Calculate total price

Our guarantee

  • 100% money back guarantee
  • plagiarism-free authentic works
  • completely confidential service
  • timely revisions until completely satisfied
  • 24/7 customer support
  • payments protected by PayPal

Secure payment

With EssayChief you get

  • Strict plagiarism detection regulations
  • 300+ words per page
  • Times New Roman font 12 pts, double-spaced
  • FREE abstract, outline, bibliography
  • Money back guarantee for missed deadline
  • Round-the-clock customer support
  • Complete anonymity of all our clients
  • Custom essays
  • Writing service

EssayChief can handle your

  • essays, term papers
  • book and movie reports
  • Power Point presentations
  • annotated bibliographies
  • theses, dissertations
  • exam preparations
  • editing and proofreading of your texts
  • academic ghostwriting of any kind

Free essay samples

Browse essays by topic:

Stay with EssayChief! We offer 10% discount to all our return customers. Once you place your order you will receive an email with the password. You can use this password for unlimited period and you can share it with your friends!

Academic ghostwriting

About us

© 2002-2024 EssayChief.com