Abstract

Madame Bovary, written in 1856, is the debut novel of French writer Gustave Flaubert who is widely regarded as the greatest novelist in western literature. In this book, Flaubert described lots of individual characters and social facts, showing us not only the tragedy of Emma but also the tragedy of French society in the 19th century. Emma Bovary was born and raised in the countryside but she tried to pursue romantic passion and aristocratic life. Occasionally she met Charles Bovary and married him quickly. However, Emma realized that life after marriage was not the same as she had expected, and she quickly got disappointed and finally betrayed her marriage. Although it was happy with two lovers at first, she soon found she was tricked. Aimless pursuit for romantic love and noble life ultimately led to the imbalance of Madame Bovary’s identity and emotion.
This thesis will be written in three parts. It will firstly give an introduction of the book and the author, and also state the influence of the book. The second part will mainly describe the imbalance in this novel, including the despicable bourgeoisie, the imbalance of Emma’s identity and emotion. The last part will mainly analyze the reasons leading to the imbalance of Emma. In this part, personal causes and social facts will be discussed separately. By presenting the tragedy of Emma and analyzing the reasons, the author of this paper tends to explore the cruel reality of the society at that time and its impact on individuals.

Key words: Emma Bovary; imbalance; identity; emotion; tragedy

摘  要

《包法利夫人》是西方小说集大成者、法国作家居斯塔夫•福楼拜于1856年完成的处女作。小说中，福楼拜通过大量的人物描写以及对社会现实的阐述，不仅描绘了爱玛的人生悲剧，更体现了19世纪法国社会的悲剧。虽然女主人公爱玛生于乡村并长于乡村，但她却向往浪漫的激情和贵族生活。在偶然的机会下，爱玛遇见了查尔斯•包法利，并很快嫁给他。然而，爱玛慢慢意识到婚后生活并非像她所期望的那样美好，她渐渐的感到失望，最终背叛婚姻。虽然后来与两个情人的生活一开始很幸福，但她很快发现自己只是被愚弄而已。盲目追求浪漫爱情和优雅生活最终导致她身份地位及情感的失衡。
本文将分为三个部分。第一部分介绍作者、小说以及小说的影响。第二部分主要介绍小说中的失衡状态，包括堕落的资产阶级，以及女人公爱玛的身份定位及情感的失衡。第三部分着重分析造成爱玛失衡状态的原因，主要分为个人原因和社会原因。通过对爱玛悲剧的描述及其原因的分析，本文作者旨在探索当时社会残酷的现实以及对社会个体的冲击。

关键词：爱玛；失衡；身份；情感；悲剧