Madame Bovary And Hedda Gabler Analysis

Superior Essays
Charles Bovary and George Tesman are a perfect duo to compare and contrast with a relation to today’s society. A major topic that constantly looms in the world and social media today is “What defines a man?”. To be a man, do you have to be a certain age, have a family, or a certain look, or have a major career? While reading the stories of Madame Bovary and Hedda Gabler, the constant theme is the wife cheating or lying behind the husbands back. While most men are subject to this is a relationship, both of these men have different situations that end up having the same ending. Charles Bovary is a stupid and boring person who doesn’t seem to grasp the bigger picture in life. On the other hand, George Tesman is a bright, intelligent man who believes …show more content…
Although George doesn’t come from wealth, he tries to fit in with Hedda even though she knows he is in a class well beneath her own. He tends to under look things that are happening around him and even frequently lets Hedda control him as a man. George is known around the village as a man who follows the rules and doesn’t waiver from his morals. Act one shows us the first example of George letting Hedda embarrass him without question when Hedda insults his Aunt Julle on her hat. Instead of addressing the situation, George instead choses to draw her attention to a different subject. This shows the first problem about George and Hedda, she is very spoiled and treats George with little respect at all. Throughout the story, you realize how naïve he is of Hedda, which is return causes many problems with their relationship, and leads to Hedda having affairs behind his back. Act four brings up the most important controversy in the story, George finds out that Hedda has burned the manuscript of Ejert’s and at first is furious and even states that it is “illegal disposition of lost property”. George, being the naïve and blind man he is, rejoices with her instead and this leads to the killing of both Eijert and Hedda when she shoots herself. It is hard to tell if George is in love with his wife, Hedda, or if he is in love with her looks and the outside of her. When Hedda passes, we see …show more content…
The one major common they do have is their wives and lifestyle. Both men have gotten themselves into a relationship/marriage that entails a demanding and dishonest wife, but at the same time they are oblivious to what is going on behind their back. While they both try to please their wives, and provide them the lavish lifestyle they have always dreamed of, it is never enough for these women and the men end up living a lonely confused life when they pass. Charles constantly found himself trying to live up to Emma’s expectations of love and a happy marriage, it was never enough. Likewise, George should have known from the beginning that Hedda was not the one for him, the first instance when she insults his Aunt shows us that he is okay with her disrespectful comments. Charles and George are always fighting themselves and wondering why they are not good enough for the women but in reality, both women were too much to handle and they had unrealistic expectations for marriage. Charles had the brightest future of the two being a doctor, and although George wasn’t as smart, he was a very talented in his career but was always second to people and that was okay with him. The biggest problem with these two men is that they let their wives control them and run their life without hesitation. Today’s society consist of this problem a lot, especially lately. Constantly we see relationships

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