Zhengwei Ma Mrs.

Fry IB SL English: Hour 2 February 10, 2012 Context and Culture of the Victorian Age While watching different oral projects, our class examined unique aspects of Victorian age culture: home dcor, etiquette, fashion, marriage, entertainment, and historical events. Then we listened for parallels between the aforementioned and to details mentioned in Madame Bovary, by Gustave Flaubert. Before, I had not paid much attention to the more descriptive details through Madame Bovary. With regards to home dcor, I learned how the architecture of the house in which Emma Bovary lives mirrors her personality; the windows are symbols of both freedom and repression with the canary yellow wallpaper mocking Emmas entrapment. When Emma redecorates the house, she is portrayed as trying to live in the more Romantic ideal and trying to live the upper class lifestyle. I found that Emmas Romantic ideals, her vain ideas about love- as portrayed in her books- pulls her away from Victorian etiquette rules and her role in marriage. Victorian etiquette rules dictated womens lives- women were not allowed to directly look at men or to express emotions. Men took ownership of his wifes property and were in complete control in the house. I realized that Emma tries to transgress this to become the ultimate dichotomy which causes Charles to retain less and less control over her. Eventually she is moved into the arms of other men, because of Charless naivety continuing until the end.

The common topic throughout all of the presentations was the topic of the different social classes. The upper Victorian class worked less but yet was able to maintain expensive tastes in everything from entertainment to fashion. I learned that with regards to fashion only the upper class was able to keep pace with the latest fashion, something Emma tries to achieve with her more prodigal lifestyle as time passes. She manages to rise from a country girl to become a woman of mystique; although she tries in vain to move up the social ladder, she ultimately falls back down into the depths of debt. Throughout the book, men determine her fate for women were nothing without their man, regardless of social class. The oral presentations were beneficial in enhancing my understanding of the multitude of cultural and contextual considerations in Flauberts Madame Bovary. The ideas in the presentations increased the connections (and consequently symbols) that I was able to relate between the Victorian Age and in Madame Bovary . Word Count: 399