FROM WEDLOCK TO DEADLOCK: MADAME BOVARY’S PATH TOWARD SELF-DESTRUCTION

Abstract

By undertaking an investigation into the unexplored thicket of nineteenth-century ideology, this study reappraises the rationale behind Emma Bovary’s suicide. The historical examination in this article reveals that the doctrine of the separate spheres exerted a great influence on the lives of middleclass women. Furthermore, the practice of this doctrine resulted in the reinforcement of a rigid housewife/harlot dichotomy. As the upshot of such an ideology, an association was made between women in public and the public women i.e. the prostitutes. By unearthing the traces of this ideology in Madame Bovary, this article aims to substantiate that as a middle-class woman, Emma’s longing for public life culminates in her identification with the figure of the prostitute. This abject metamorphosis, which is the ramification of societal adherence to the doctrine of separate spheres, ushers her toward her ultimate suicidal act.