Summary Of Madame Bovary And The Hobbit

The idea of identity is central to any fantasy novel as usually the main character’s sense of self changes as the novel progresses, whether from internal conflicts or through the influence of others. The concept of discovering self-identity is evident in the plot of Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary and J. R. R. Tolkien’s novel, The Hobbit. In Madame Bovary, Flaubert tells the tale of a whimsical young woman, Emma and her sense of identity throughout her life. Similarly, in The Hobbit, the quest that Bilbo Baggins embarks on is not only in pursuit of lost treasure, but also for his own identity and maturity that develops while on the quest. Through comparing and contrasting both respective texts, this paper will examine Bilbo and Emma’s sense

Coinciding with her romantic identity, Emma “would have liked to be married at midnight, by torchlight” (30), something that sounds very much inspired by a fairytale or romantic novel she may have read in the convent. However, even when love and happiness is within her reach, Emma cannot “bring herself to believe that the uneventful life she [is] leading [is] the happiness” (47) she has tried to aspire for all her life. Her romantic identity — and Charles unresponsiveness to her attempts to stir emotion with him — leaves Emma “picturing imaginary circumstances” (52) and wondering “why did [she] ever marry” (52). Emma’s romantic identity is an indirect result of her upbringing in a pastoral setting and in the convent. Similar to Emma, Bilbo Baggins’ comfortable and privileged childhood imparts him with an almost childish sense of identity — one that is subtextual hinted at by the author in his description of a hobbit’s child-like structure (Tolkien 12). While Bilbo himself is part Took, he “look[s] and behave[s] exactly like…his solid and comfortable father” (13). Bilbo identifies himself so strongly with his heritage and family name that he often tries “his best to appear wise and prudent and professional” (36) and live up to the reputation he has as a Baggins’. This is evident when Bilbo wonders “what his father would have thought of him” (52) and even

As she has already deemed “Charles’s desire for her [as] nothing very extraordinary” (51), she becomes increasingly enthralled with epic romances; each one amplifying the charm of her romantic identity until all that remains is the absurd obsession to live her life like a literary construct. She loses whatever qualities she possesses to be a good wife, and later as a mother because Emma willingly surrenders her entire being to the imaginary world, thus losing her own unique identity. Charles’s inability “to initiate…the intensities of passion” (48) and stir emotion within her like her novels leads Emma further into “internal discontentment” (48) and disillusioned with reality. In response, Emma unintentionally begins to seek to turn her uneventful life into the glamour her books speak of so beautifully. She begins to imagine herself as “a sailer in distress…casting desperate glances over to the horizon” (72) for someone to whisk her away from her dour life, and she eventually is by Rodolphe and Léon. Her secret trysts with two different men leaves her “overflowing [with] wonderment and gratitude” (317); a sensation that only her novels are able to give her. The influence that books have over Emma’s sense of identity is proven by the immense joy and satisfaction she feels at emulating a love affair like in one of her