In the novel, Madame Bovary, Flaubert explores hand gestures to establish the nature of the characters and the power of the relationships between the characters. With the description of the character's hands, Flaubert presents Emma and Rodolphe’s personas. Flaubert also foreshadows the character's future actions or their demise and empowerment over others. In Madame Bovary, Flaubert altars hand description and movement to further enhance the story of the Bovary’s.
Through the detailed repetition of the character’s hands Flaubert establishes the character's persona. Flaubert describes some of the character's hands or hand movements such as Emma and Rodolphe which symbolizes their qualities. Flaubert describes Emma’s “shiny, delicate” nails …show more content…
When Flaubert introduces Rodolphe and he is talking to Emma, his specific hand gestures that parallel to his personality: “He passed his hand over his face, like a man seized with giddiness. Then he let it fall on Emma’s” (188). Rodolphe lets his arm drop on Emma’s with silliness, with no control, almost childlike. Rodolphe’s actions are not sincere, true heartfelt acts of connection, Emma’s beauty interests him and Rodolphe wants her attention. The reader portrays this as dishonest, fake feelings, it's a ploy to attract Emma. Flaubert establishes Rodolphe’s false actions to the reader through his hand …show more content…
The reader sees Emma under the power and the toll it takes on her. When Rodolphe leaves right before Emma and Rodolphe are meant to run away together, Emma expresses her distress when she finds out: “she went on quickly up the stairs, breathless, distraught, dumb, and ever holding this horrible piece of paper, that crackled between her fingers like a plate of sheet-iron” (265). Flaubert confuses Emma, with the falsity of Rodolphe’s feelings that only the reader can see, Emma becomes distraught with the news. Flaubert compares the letter to a plate of sheet-iron that is weighing her down, it pulls her from the altar she was at, thinking she was going to run away with Rodolphe. Flaubert writes, “She saw him again, heard him, encircled him with her arms, and the throbs of her heart, that beat against her breast like blows of a sledge-hammer, grew faster and faster, with uneven intervals” (266). Flaubert reaffirms the power Rodolphe has over Emma, growing more and more distraught by the second. Rodolphe and his hand connections symbolize his literary controlling hand on Emma that confuses, causes heartache and physical illness, Rodolphe’s power being that
Through the detailed repetition of the character’s hands Flaubert establishes the character's persona. Flaubert describes some of the character's hands or hand movements such as Emma and Rodolphe which symbolizes their qualities. Flaubert describes Emma’s “shiny, delicate” nails …show more content…
When Flaubert introduces Rodolphe and he is talking to Emma, his specific hand gestures that parallel to his personality: “He passed his hand over his face, like a man seized with giddiness. Then he let it fall on Emma’s” (188). Rodolphe lets his arm drop on Emma’s with silliness, with no control, almost childlike. Rodolphe’s actions are not sincere, true heartfelt acts of connection, Emma’s beauty interests him and Rodolphe wants her attention. The reader portrays this as dishonest, fake feelings, it's a ploy to attract Emma. Flaubert establishes Rodolphe’s false actions to the reader through his hand …show more content…
The reader sees Emma under the power and the toll it takes on her. When Rodolphe leaves right before Emma and Rodolphe are meant to run away together, Emma expresses her distress when she finds out: “she went on quickly up the stairs, breathless, distraught, dumb, and ever holding this horrible piece of paper, that crackled between her fingers like a plate of sheet-iron” (265). Flaubert confuses Emma, with the falsity of Rodolphe’s feelings that only the reader can see, Emma becomes distraught with the news. Flaubert compares the letter to a plate of sheet-iron that is weighing her down, it pulls her from the altar she was at, thinking she was going to run away with Rodolphe. Flaubert writes, “She saw him again, heard him, encircled him with her arms, and the throbs of her heart, that beat against her breast like blows of a sledge-hammer, grew faster and faster, with uneven intervals” (266). Flaubert reaffirms the power Rodolphe has over Emma, growing more and more distraught by the second. Rodolphe and his hand connections symbolize his literary controlling hand on Emma that confuses, causes heartache and physical illness, Rodolphe’s power being that