An Analysis of Homais as an instrument of satire in Flauberts, Madame B

An analysis of Homais as an instrument of satireIn Flauberts satiric novel, the storys apothecary is used to convey Flauberts views of the capitalistic. As a fomite for Flauberts satire, Homais is portrayed as opportunistic and self-serving, attributes that Flaubert associated with the middle class. Homais obsession with social mobility leads him to commit despicable acts. His character and values are excessively detestable. He is self-serving, hypocritical, opportunistic, egotistical, and crooked. All these negative characteristics are used by Flaubert to represent and satirize specific aspects of middle class society. More specific issues that are turn to include Homais superficial knowledge, religious hypocrisy, and pretentiousness. Furthermore, his status as a secondary character suggests his significance to the satire. If Emma is meant to portray the feminine aspect of the bourgeois then Homais is doubtlessly meant to represent the masculine aspect. Flaubert wanted to ridicu le and criticize the bourgeois class. By including Homais, Flaubert is able to satirize all the negative aspects of middle class society in spite of appearance a single novel. In adolescence and throughout much of his life, Gustave Flaubert regarded the bourgeois existence as an immense, indistinct, unmitigated state of mindlessness (Wall 29-31). He vented his contempt for the bourgeois in many of his works. In his Dictionary of Received Ideas he proclaimsEach bourgeois phrase, each bourgeois feeling, each bourgeois opinion is touched by the hilarious dismaying suspicion of fakery. Solemnly and energetically proclaiming their clichs to each other, perhaps the bourgeois are indeed simply machines. They are stuck, like interest automata, in their perpetual false consciousness (Wall 29-31).In Madam Bovary, Gustave Flaubert uses Homais as one of the central figures of his satire. Homais, Yonvilles apothecary and the Bovarys neighbor, is used as a vehicle to ridicule the values and pri nciples of the French middle class. True to this, Homais is depicted as an overly ambitious, self-important fool. For example, Flaubert creatively stages arguments between Homais and the village priest in assure to mock the bourgeoiss lack of spirituality. One encounter of note occurs on Emmas deathbed soon after she has passed away. The Priest declares that there is nothing left field but t... ...ften those who are selfish and opportunistic that are rewarded rather than the humble and honest. Homais is essentially a compilation of all the negative aspects of the bourgeois class that Flaubert detested so much he is a crafty hypocrite, a medical charlatan, a self-important know-it-all, and a quack. He serves to expose the ideological decay of an one- clock time(prenominal) revolutionary class (Wall 28). Certainly, Flauberts attack on 19th-century French middle class society is both complete and thorough, but at the same time subtle and smooth. Primary SourcesFlaubert, Gustave. In timate Notebook 1840 1841. Trans. Francis Steegmuller. NewYork Doubleday & Company, 167.Flaubert, Gustave. Madame Bovary. Trans. Geoffrey Wall. capital of the United Kingdom Penguin, 1992.Secondary SourcesThody, Philip. Reference Guide to World Literature. 2nd ed. New York St. James Press,1995.Wall, Geoffrey. Introduction. Madame Bovary. By Flaubert, Gustave. London Penguin,1992.BibliographyBrombert, Victor. The Novels of Flaubert A study of themes and techniques. PrincetonPrinceton University Press, 1966.Kenner, Hugh. The Stoic Comedians. Boston Beacon Press, 1962