FACULTY OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

UNDERGRADUATE DISSERTATION

Students should provide two hard copies of their work, which should be typed and double-spaced on
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Jason Mukasa
Fear of Façades: Introversion, Success and Death in Mrs.
Dalloway and Madame Bovary
English Literature

2015/16
Contents

Introduction 1.

Chapter I: Context: War, Women and Love 3.

Chapter II: Failed Desires: Façades Produced Through Futile Aspirations 9.

Chapter III: Two Worlds: Subverting and Supporting Notions of Madness and Illness 20.

Conclusion 29.

Bibliography 31.
Though separated by genres, time and countries, Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway and Gustave

Flaubert’s Madame Bovary bear marked similarities in the manner that both utilise the central

theme of desire in connection with irony and moral ambiguity to reveal façades that challenge

conventional values. Despite narrative differences between the two texts, the two authors converge

on depicting their protagonists’ desire for success, death and their introspective experiences of life.

Flaubert achieves this presentation of desire by portraying ambition in two modes: through ruthless

and reckless representations. Additionally, each portrayal functions to present the characters’ desire

as relating directly to the subject’s concept of happiness that is based on attaining social and

psychological security. Inherent in both forms of desire, Flaubert applies themes of mediocrity,

stupidity, irony and moral ambiguity. By doing so, Flaubert is able to reveal the processes that mask

the underlying truths within traditional notions that ultimately challenge conventional values by

providing a counter narrative to the prevailing discourses in society.

Instead of taking an individualistic approach to desire, Mrs. Dalloway frames

aspiration from a collective perspective that reconciles psychological realism with

epistemology. Mrs. Dalloway grapples with the aftermath of the First World War by

illustrating the manner that society’s reality has been fundamentally altered. As a result,

unlike in Madame Bovary where the pursuit for social and psychological security constitutes

happiness, Woolf focuses on framing desire through nationalistic ideals that can aid Britain’s

restoration. However, her use of stream of consciousness in tandem with polyvocality

captures the fragmented nature of Britain wherein desires and life experiences are in

constant conflict with each other. Through this ideological conflict, Woolf analyses the

subjective experience of realities interacting with each other in an interconnected but

disunited nation. From this setting, Woolf is able to examine Britain’s nature pre and post-

war in terms of desire to make Mrs. Dalloway function as a social critique of society.
Through the use of irony and moral uncertainty she is able to reveal façades within society

to challenge conventional notions.

Ultimately, this comparative dissertation will investigate how Madame Bovary and

Mrs. Dalloway use aspiration, supported by irony and ethical ambiguity, to disclose veneers

which challenge conventional notions. By considering critical and contextual readings of

both texts, such as Jonathan Culler’s influential book Flaubert: The Uses of Uncertainty and

Anna Snaith’s Virginia Woolf Studies, this dissertation will be able to offer an insight into the

façades that both authors unveil to challenge established values. In order to study the facets

of life that the texts undermine, the first chapter, ‘Context: War, Women and Politics’ will

investigate the existing norms of the respective societies in relation to how the authors’

reacted to them. This will create a reference point for later chapters to gauge how far the

authors deviated from traditional notions by revealing façades. Also, it will comment on

how retrospectively, modern interpretations uncover the guises with the advantage of

hindsight.

From the analysis of accepted norms, the paper will investigate how Woolf and Flaubert’s

protagonists’ goals manifest and interact with their societies. Focus will be drawn on the inherent

introspective and transgressive nature of their protagonists’ hopes and the pervasive tone that their

desires are bound to fail due to societal limitations. This will constitute the basis for the second

chapter, ‘Failed Desires: Façades Produces through Futile Aspirations’. This section will examine how

the ambitions of the protagonists in both texts mostly all fail, and through their failure, aspects of

life are unmasked to reveal the disingenuous nature of established values through paradoxical and

morally contentious means. From this background of failure, the work will lead to its penultimate

chapter, ‘Two Worlds: Subverting and Supporting Notions of Madness and Illness’. This chapter will

study how the prospect of the characters’ hopes failing forces the protagonists into a negative

introspective world that is closely associated with sickness and insanity. It will also highlight how the
texts ultimately question the legitimacy of authority whilst contradictorily upholding the existing

power structures. Lastly, it will scrutinise the role and interpretation of death in both texts as both

authors present death as a morally ambiguous method to attain freedom. The dissertation will

conclude that overall, Mrs. Dalloway and Madame Bovary apply the theme of desire, in connection

with irony and moral ambiguity, to expose façades that challenge conventions through a brief

reiteration of the central arguments in the paper.

Chapter I
Context: War, Women and Politics

In order to understand Mrs. Dalloway and Madame Bovary the contemporary attitudes of both

authors’ countries has to be scrutinised in relation to how they and their literature responded to

their societies. Despite occupying different genres, Woolf being a prominent figure of modernism

and Flaubert being considered a leading figure of French realism, the two authors share the

similarity of both responding to an era shaped by social upheaval. Published in 1925, Mrs. Dalloway

captures the social anxieties of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The text reflects the

contemporary views on homosexuality, class culture, centralised authority and ultimately the effects

of the First World War. Within this era of uncertainty, Woolf attempted to redress the social

concerns.

Published in 1856, Madame Bovary and Flaubert contend with the residual effects of the

French Revolution. The French Revolution which began in 1789-1799 was a fundamental turning

point in French history. It irrevocably transformed France through its lasting legacy and one that

continued to shape Flaubert’s lifetime. The revolution was characterised by events such as the

violent rebalancing of power from the church to the state; the prioritising of liberty and

enlightenment theory; the fall of the absolute monarchy. Furthermore, it laid the foundations for a

new middle-class based on commercial enterprise rather than aristocracy or clerical support to form.

Flaubert would respond by opposing aspects of the revolution such as its moral codes.
 The ethical codes that Flaubert disdained were consolidated in French politics and social

attitudes following Napoleon’s rise to power and after his departure. Napoleon’s reign has been

characterised as anti-democratic and morally conservative despite his agenda to ratify fundamental

laws of liberty. For instance, the revolutionary movement that overthrew the monarchy, the

Jacobins, enacted far reaching social reforms such as the Penal Code of 1791 which decriminalised

homosexuality and later legalised divorce in 1792 to both genders under very liberal conditions. 1 2

However, under Napoleon’s reign from 1799-1815, although his government did not overturn the

Penal Code of 1791 which concerned homosexuality, Napoléon’s reign and successive regimes

bypassed the law by enacting measures that still targeted homosexuals. For example, Michael Sibalis

argues that ‘Napoleon’s government never showed itself particularly tolerant of homosexual activity.

[…] Whenever they deemed unconventional sexual behaviour a threat to public morals, they did not

hesitate to take repressive action against pederasts and sodomites.’3 Furthermore, the trend

towards social regression continued after Napoleon’s ousting from office as divorce was made illegal

in 1816 and would not be legalised until 1884.4 Throughout the period until 1884 opponents of

allowing divorce drew inspiration from the Ancien Régime, the monarchic political and social order

in France prior to the revolution, that forbade divorce.

The strong attachments to the morally conservative values in France are inherently linked

with the revolution’s relationship with religion. The church was among the first targets of the

revolution as it was upheld by and mutually supported the Ancien Régime. Under the revolutionary

ideals, it was thought necessary to rebalance the monopoly of power from the aristocrats, royalty

and clergy which formed the ethics of the feudal Ancien Régime. In order to achieve this, the

Jacobins systematically appropriated powers, land and assets from the Roman Catholic Church and

the aristocrats for the state’s benefit. Philosophers such as Voltaire contributed to the movement as

he pushed ideas of enlightenment theory over religious doctrines. However, in 1793-1794, the

Jacobins split due to internal differences and splintered into two rival fractions: the moderate

Mountains and radical Girondists. During this period, the Girondists initiated a violent campaign of
terror to undermine their rivals and Christianity in France. The period, which became known as the

Reign of Terror, laid the foundations for the divisions between church and enlightenment theory

that would shape Flaubert’s lifetime. Among the atrocities of the Reign of Terror, the Girondists

attempted to de-Christianise France and replace religion with principles of reason. However, the

campaign was largely abandoned due to the lack of support and resistance from a very heavily

Christian France.5 As a result, in 1801 Napoleon signed the Concordat of 1801 which epitomises the

lasting tensions between the church and state of Flaubert’s period and in Madame Bovary.

The Concordat of 1801 entrenched the revolution’s aim of redirecting the power from the

church to the state, promoting enlightenment theory and creating the class and moral values that

Flaubert would respond to. The Concordat of 1801 was an agreement that in reality functioned more

as a concession rather than full reconciliation of Christianity and the state. The Concordat recognised

Catholicism as ‘the religion of the great majority of the French people’ but not the absolute, thus

maintaining the right to freedom of religion.6 Furthermore, the church would not regain its land or

assets back that were seized during the revolution which allowed a new middle class to form that

was not tied to the church or aristocracy. Additionally, Napoleon endorsed ‘many ideas and ideals of

Enlightenment, as long as they did not interfere with political effectiveness.’ 7 However, Napoleon

also envisioned a reconstruction of French morality that accommodated Christian morality as

Napoleon stated that ‘no society could exist without morals, which could only be ensured by

religion’.8 Ultimately, Joseph Byrnes argues that Napoleon wanted to make ‘Catholicism plaint

enough to submit to his own restructuring agenda –political and military as well as cultural.’ 9

As a result, although the church’s status had been diminished, it nonetheless survived and

was still influential enough to shape the moral attitudes of Flaubert’s lifetime. Flaubert’s fraught

interaction with the contemporary ethics is exemplified through his trial of obscenity brought on

because of the alleged explicit material in Madame Bovary. When Madame Bovary was published,

despite the existing revisions conducted by Revue de Paris editors to obscure the suggestiveness of

the text, the prosecution claimed that the ‘“lavish colours”’, “voluptuous images,” and “energetic
brushstrokes” of Flaubert’s book’ was tantamount to a morally debased book.10 Despite Flaubert

winning his case, ‘the aftermath of the trial found him deeply depressed’ at the current moral

standards of society.11

The distaste for the ethical conventions extended into the class system. Throughout

Flaubert’s life he regarded the new bourgeoisie as fickle, uneducated and self-serving. The view that

the middle class that formed following the French Revolution was mediocre is supported by

Flaubert’s personal testimony. For illustration, in a letter in 1872 to Ivan Turgenev, Flaubert

confesses that he is ‘appalled by the state of society.’12 He lays the blame on ‘the stupidity of the

public’ before claiming that ‘the bourgeoisie is so bewildered that it has lost all instinct to defend

itself; and what will succeed will be worse.’13 Furthermore, when Flaubert met Émile Zola in 1869,

Zola was ‘overwhelmed by Flaubert’s nonstop ranting against bourgeoisie mediocrity.’ 14

Lastly, by signing the Concordat of 1801, France’s discourse would be largely shaped by the

contention between Enlightenment and religious principles which devalued the plight of women.

Despite the revolutionary principles of liberty and enlightenment theory women’s rights were largely

ignored. For instance, the sanctioned place of religion and the emphasis on scientific reason in

society legitimised patriarchal values that confined women’s identity to domestic spheres. Linda

Clark cites examples of the scientific community positing ‘the idea that that biological differences

between the sexes “naturally” led to different societal roles’ and the inability of French Declaration

of rights in 1789 to consider women as equal citizens for female marginalisation.15 Through Homais’

and the priest’s conflicts in the text, in connection with Emma’s dependency on men, Flaubert

reflects Clark’s views of women being caught in the centre of a power struggle between

enlightenment thought and religious.

Unlike Flaubert who responded to the residual effects of the French Revolution, Woolf

responded to the immediate effects of the First World War. The war influenced Woolf’s literary

style. Woolf embraced modernism as she believed that the war negatively transformed literature’s

relationship with emotions. She claimed that ‘in the vast catastrophe of the European war our
emotions had to be broken up for us, and put at an angle from us, before we could allow ourselves

to feel them in poetry or fiction.’16 Rochelle Rives reasons that the statements suggests her

dissatisfaction with her contemporary writers. She argues that Woolf felt that ‘in the wake of the

First World War, our relations to emotions changed. Too wounded to approach emotions head on,

the modern subject understands emotions as they are “broke up”, as matters of hermeneutic inquiry

to be examined.’17 As a result, Rives concludes that Woolf criticised modern writers for prioritising

‘content over form, expression and interpretation over being’ which ultimately ‘created both a

literature and a modern subject that is no longer able to feel.’18

As a consequence, many have argued that Woolf’s alignment with modernism reflects the

authorial intent of Mrs. Dalloway. Lesbian interpretations have proliferated since the renewed

analysis of Woolf’s work since the 1970s by feminists.19 Critics such as Hermione Lee and Eileen

Barret draw reference to Woolf’s personal interactions with homosexuality. Lee argues that

‘Virginia’s preference for her own sex had been a fact of her life since childhood.’ 20 However, she

adds that Woolf sought to resist sexual categorisation as ‘She could not bear to categorise herself as

belonging to a group defined by its sexual behaviour […] She wanted to avoid all categories.’ 21 By

refusing to adhere to societal demarcations, Woolf’s beliefs conflicted with prevailing class values

that upheld anti-homosexual views. Homosexuality was only legalised in 1967 and was treated as a

medical problem in the early twentieth century. It was seen as a conscious deviant act by individuals

who because of ‘heredity or childhood training choose to seek sexual partners from members of

their own sex.’22 Therefore, by refusing arbitrary labels, many have argued that Woolf sought to

destabilise contemporary discourses on homosexuality.

The war’s most profound effect on Woolf would be to inspire her to enter the contemporary

discourse concerning the authority and the centralisation of the state, especially in relation to

insanity. Whilst developing Mrs. Dalloway, Woolf wanted Septimus and Clarissa to be doubles who

would highlight the closeness of insanity and sanity and consequently reveal the inadequacy of the
social system to understand or help individuals with mental problems. For example, when planning

Mrs. Dalloway, Woolf wrote in her diary that she wanted to show ‘Mrs. D seeing the truth, SS

[Septimus Smith] seeing the insane truth.’23 Additionally, on June 19 1923 she commented that ‘I

want to give life & death, sanity & insanity; I want to criticise the social system, & to show it at work,

at its most intense.’24 As a result, by using Septimus to embody the insane as a shell-shocked soldier,

Woolf observes the shortcomings of mass conscription in the war, war itself and the authority of the

medical industry to claim to have the monopoly of knowledge in society.

In conclusion, Woolf’s life and literature directly reacted to the closing and opening of the

twentieth century. The most profound reaction occurred during the interwar period. Throughout

this period she refused sexual binaries which had dominated the discourse on homosexuals long

before the twentieth century, questioned the ethics and power of the state and ultimately adopted a

modernist style to convey post-war Britain in literature. By using a modernist approach Woolf aimed

to write a text that would observe and criticise Britain’s social system following the war. In Flaubert’s

case, his views on society and Madame Bovary would be affected by the cultural vestiges of the

French Revolution. The revolution changed the social and political landscape of France. Flaubert

negatively reacted to the new middle class, a conservative moral code and revealed that he was

aware of conflicts between religion and the state backed enlightenment theory.

Chapter II
Failed Desires: Façades Produced Through Futile Aspirations

‘“Must”, “must”, why “must”? What power had Bradshaw over him? “What right has Bradshaw to

say ‘must’ to me?” he demanded.’ 25

The desire for freedom is central to the protagonists in Madame Bovary and Mrs. Dalloway. The type

of independence pursed, however, differs between the texts as the protagonists reflect the culture

of their respective society. Therefore, this chapter will examine how the main character in Madame
Bovary, Emma, aspires for a vicarious freedom that is contingent on the whims of men and romantic

literature whereas Mrs. Dalloway presents achieving ideological supremacy as a means for liberty.

Within the two interpretations of freedom, this section will analyse how the yearning for self-

determination is inherently introspective, transgressive and ultimately bound to fail due to societal

limitations. Consequently, by scrutinising autonomy attained through ideological supremacy in Mrs.

Dalloway, the chapter will examine themes of ideals, subjective realities and the significance of

narration in relation to desire. In Madame Bovary, the importance of Flaubert’s representation of

desire through reckless and ruthless methods in relation to Emma’s phallocentric hopes will be

studied. Moreover, this segment of the paper will predominantly look at the first half of both texts.

Overall, by analysing the way that the protagonists’ hopes interact with their society and supporting

characters, this chapter will conclude that the doomed wishes of the protagonists, supported by

irony and moral ambiguity, reveal façades that contest conventional values.

Flaubert presents desire through two depictions: ruthless and reckless. The modes affect all

characters but significantly Emma. The ruthless style is based on the aspiration to attain one’s wishes

through immoral and selfish means. Acts such as deceit and false performances geared towards self-

enrichment at the expense of others forms the basis for the ruthless method. The reckless approach

is characterised by acts of stupidity and lack of prudence. Each character uses one or both modes of

desire concurrently or alternatively throughout the text. Flaubert reconciles the two approaches

with the overall intent of desire in the text. The general motivation for ambition is happiness.

Flaubert frames happiness as being based on achieving social status and psychological satisfaction.

For example, Charles’ ultimate desire in life is to have a nuclear family. Upon Emma’s pregnancy, for

instance, he remarked that ‘he was overjoyed at the idea of becoming a father. Nothing was lacking

to him now. He had been through the whole of human experience.’26 His comment that ‘nothing was

lacking to him now’ directly reinforces the view of happiness being linked to self-esteem and his

state of being ‘overjoyed’ at being a father consolidates the pursuit of status. The trend is the same
for the supporting characters such as Homais who wishes to be considered the preeminent authority

in science and achieves the feat through aggressive tactics.

When these concepts are applied to Emma it is clear that her notion of happiness motivates her to

achieve a reckless freedom mediated on romantic ideals found in literature. From a young age she

was influenced by the illusory romantic principles and aimed to apply them to real life. She

reminisces that when she was fifteen and attending a convent ‘The metaphors of betrothed, spouse,

heavenly lover, marriage everlasting, that recur in sermons, awoke in the depths of her soul an

unlooked-for delight.’27 The implications of Emma’s early fantasies are significant. Importantly, they

would influence Emma’s adult life to ascribe to a phallocentric view of love and society due to the

religious background of her fantasies. For instance, as an adult she admits that ‘a man, surely, should

know about everything; excel in a multitude of activities, introduce you to passions in all its force, to

life in all its grace, initiate you into all mysteries!’28 The consequences of her patriarchal notions are

profound. Firstly, it explicitly forces Emma to contend with society by placing the burden on men to

accept traditional gender roles that position them as active and women as passive. However,

ironically, her inability throughout the text to adopt a submissive role derails her own virtues of love

and ultimately her male-centred ambitions. Thirdly, her failure to assume a docile role reflects

Emma’s overall ambiguous stance on patriarchy which has effects on her relationship with her

lovers.

Thus, Emma’s embrace of patriarchal values conflicts with Charles who is an outlier within

the masculine order which ultimately unveils the façade of male power being determined by biology.

Charles’ mediocrity and male powerlessness is established early in the text through his domination

by each of his female relatives. For instance, his mother directed his life by having ‘given him medical

training’ and found him a wife, ‘a bailiff’s widow from Dieppe, forty-five years’ called Madame

Dubac.28 Charles’ marriage with Madame Dubac was also characterised by female supremacy. It is

noted that ‘his wife was master. […] she opened his letters, kept a watch on his movements’. 29

Furthermore, the account of Charles’ father’s failure to raise him the ‘the Spartan way’ whilst a baby
due to his ‘peaceful disposition’ portrays his lack of traditional masculine assertiveness as

pathological.30 However, the depiction of Charles’ passiveness as inborn ironically dismantles the

biological deterministic arguments by entering the very same discourse. By suggesting that Charles

naturally embodies servile qualities the text presents a wider spectrum of manhood that

encompasses innately docile males. However, the universal condemnation of Charles’ emasculation

in the text as a ‘wisp of a man’ from his friends and Emma is an attempt to reassert the hegemonic

gender traditions by criticising his deposition which has morally ambiguous consequences. 31

Despite the criticisms, Charles’ celebration of his deference to women provides a different

moral code to view manhood. Upon marrying Emma, he retrospectively compared his childhood to

his current life. He asked ‘When, till now, had life been good to him? In his school days? […] alone

among school fellows who had more money than he or were clever in class […] But now, this pretty

woman he adored was his for life. […] He used to reproach himself for not loving her enough, he

couldn’t bear to be away from her.’32 The marriage to Emma and subsequent obsequiousness

provides Charles with a means to uplift his status and his confidence, two characteristics that his

admission shows that he lacked in school. As a result, Charles, who is labelled defective within the

patriarchal system due to his weakness, ironically and unwittingly shows strength of character. By

framing his male inadequacy as a positive quality which allows him to love Emma he democratises

masculinity by unveiling its rigidness by inverting moral codes which challenge masculine values.

From Emma’s perspective, Charles’ admission that ‘this pretty woman he adored was his for

life’ in connection with his perceived dysfunctional masculinity reveals the veneer of marriage and

womanhood through Emma’s ambiguous stance on patriarchy. Charles’ act of resistance in not

conforming to traditional gender notions ironically becomes the antithesis to Emma’s desire for

freedom. By maintaining his position in the text as a submissive husband, in addition to his

mediocrity, he fails to live up to Emma’s phallocentric desires that place the burden on the man to

‘introduce you to passions in all its force, to life in all its grace’.33 Emma notes his failings by

lamenting that Charles ‘had nothing to teach; knew nothing, wanted nothing.’ 34 Furthermore she
recognises that by extension of his ordinariness, she, as his wife, will also be subjected to mediocrity.

She bemoans her marriage by asking, ‘O God, O God, why did I get married? […]If matters had fallen

out differently, she wondered, might she not have met some other man? […] For they weren’t all like

this one.’35 Her statement reveals her contradictory position on patriarchy. By centring her

denigrations on Charles she preserves the overall patriarchal institution despite her sense of social

imprisonment originating from the inability to divorce him as divorce was illegal. Thus, on one hand,

by conveying her desire for ‘some other man’ she indirectly attacks the male-centred values by

articulating her transgressive wishes for another partner which would undermine the notions of

marriage and womanhood as women were encouraged to be pure and devout in relationships. Yet,

conversely, she attempts to uphold the system by maintaining her illusory desire for a man who fits

the masculine ideal despite it being the very hindrance to her ability for freedom as it reinforces

patriarchal laws. Overall, she highlights the façade of being dedicated in marriage through her

embrace of patriarchal values as it ironically presents the principles of commitment as unfeasible

which therefore contends with the overall conventions of marriage.

Emma’s patriarchal paradox is exaggerated by the ironic and morally ambiguous omission of

a masculine ideal in the text which suggests that masculinity is as elusive as Emma’s romantic

desires. Emma’s desire to have an affair with Rodolphe and Léon unites the two lovers through their

characterisation of cowardice and anti-traditional values. For illustration, despite Emma’s sentiments

of entering ‘a marvellous world where all was passion, ecstasy, delirium’ upon becoming Rodolphe’s

mistress, Rodolphe’s extensive ‘experience and understanding of women’ presents him as a

perennial bachelor.36 37 The representation as a willing unmarried man conflicts with Charles’

mother’s conventional view that every man ‘must have a wife as well.’38 Furthermore, Rodolphe

establishes his subversive values most poignantly during his courtship of Emma. He attacks social

conventions by advocating ‘to feel nobly and to love what is beautiful […] Not to accept all the

conventions and the humiliations society imposes on us.’39 He continues by attacking the ‘petty,

conventional morality of men […] that flounders about on the ground…’40 The significance of the
attack is that he disassociates himself from the prevailing male-controlled values and instead

endorses a libertine approach to love which functions as an explicit demand for change. However,

whilst intellectually, his views may be radical and daring, his manner of ending his relationship with

Emma portrays his cowardice which further undermines any notion of manliness. His letter

informing Emma that their relationship is over is founded in insincerity and weakness. He selectively

uses the word ‘fate’ as an excuse to neutralise the burden of responsibility from himself in explaining

why their relationship ended and he ‘let one big drop’ of water fall onto the paper to give the

impression that he had cried. 41 42

In terms of Léon, Léon suffers from Emma’s dominance which further highlights the absence

of a remotely traditional male figure in the text. Emma places reckless romantic demands on Léon.

For instance, ‘on each occasion, Léon had to give her a report of everything he had done since their

last meeting.’43 This encourages Léon into subsuming his identity into Emma’s as it is observed that

‘he never questioned her ideas, he concurred in all her tastes. He had become her mistress rather

than she his.’44 His acquiescence is significant as it shows that Léon, like Rodolphe, exhibits qualities

that are divergent to the gender status quo. Furthermore, Léon’s inability to articulate his

dissatisfaction over her ‘progressive absorption of his personality’ that he ‘resented’ because he

could not ‘stop loving her’ shows a lack of agency, immediate gratification and cowardice. 45

Ultimately, Emma’s desire for an ideal man has ironic and morally ambiguous ramifications for the

text. Her yearning for a masculine figure reveals the incapacity for her lovers to demonstrate basic

tenets of masculinity: agency and bravery. Therefore, her ambition for happiness through adultery

demystifies male power by exposing the ordinariness of men which challenges key concepts that

upholds male authority in the text. However, Emma and society’s unwillingness to directly question

the presumption of male superiority maintains a tone of moral ambiguity and guarantees the failure

of her desires as it ensures that she pursues an unrealistic ideal.

In contrast to Madame Bovary, Mrs. Dalloway provides a tangible and unifying realistic

image of the characters’ desires. Hugh Whitbread’s symbol as quintessential Englishness lays the
foundation for the wider aspirations of the supporting characters’ ambitions to assert their

ideological views as a means to attain greater liberty. In relation to the protagonists’ desires they

respond to Hugh’s symbol of Englishness in three distinct ways. Clarissa reacts by acknowledging

that she is within the ruling ideology of England, however, due to her low self-esteem and analytical

nature she recognises her inability to be fully a part of the institution and consequently desires to

be. Peter responds with cynicism and envy; Septimus, who will be discussed in the next chapter,

wishes to reject Englishness in its totality in exchange for his introspective reality. Ultimately, by

framing Hugh as the definition of Englishness, Woolf is able to present the wishes of the supporting

characters and protagonists to be favoured by the state in the same manner that Hugh benefits

except through their own ideals.

Clarissa’s low self-esteem and desire to ingratiate herself into English society reinforces

Hugh’s status as the symbol of Englishness. For instance, Clarissa identifies individuals who represent

English values and covets their traits. She criticises herself in comparison to Lady Bexborough by

stating that ‘she would have been, like Lady Bexborough, slow and stately […] very dignified, very

sincere. Instead she had a narrow pea-stick figure; a ridiculous little face…’46 Her self-deprecation is

significant for two reasons. Firstly it her shows her desire to align herself with individuals who

embody traditional English values such as class and respectability. Secondly, it highlights Clarissa’s

dual identity as an insider and outsider of the English order. Thus her divided identity disallows her

from fully representing and experiencing the English ideal similar to how Emma in Madame Bovary

cannot experience her phallocentric ideals due to her membership and exclusion from traditional

notions of femininity. As a result, her rejection from Lady Bruton’s lunch party solidifies Clarissa’s

fears of being marginalised from English society. She says ‘the shock of Lady Bruton asking Richard to

lunch without her made the moment in which had stood shiver.’47 Her fear of being ignored

highlights that the English ideal is inherently based on exclusivity which replicates middle class

values. Ultimately, Clarissa’s hyperbolic statement elevates the importance of Lady Bruton’s

‘extraordinarily amusing’ lunch parties and uplifts Hugh’s status and privilege in the text as he is
among the guests invited.48 Additionally, Hugh’s ‘art of writing letters to the Times’, which is the

context of his invitation, shows that Hugh acts an ideological state apparatus for middle class society

as the Times is sold as a middle class respectable paper.49

From the context of Hugh as a symbol of the ruling ideology, Miss Kilman’s rivalry with

Clarissa in connection with Woolf’s use of stream of consciousness and polyvocality challenges the

conventions of Englishness. The emphasis on different perspectives and the focus on internal

thoughts rather than action displace the power from the ruling ideology to individual subjective

experiences which subverts hegemony by providing multiple interpretations on life. For instance,

Miss Kilman desires to reassert her pride in a society that she feels has systematically dispossessed it

from her and consequently attacks upper class society. She recognises that despite being

‘degradingly poor’ she did not envy Clarissa’s class as she believes that ‘she came from the most

worthless of all classes–the rich.’50 She reverses the power relations between the classes by

remarking that she ‘pitied them’ as ‘with all this luxury going on, what hope was there for a better

state of things?’51 Ultimately she concludes her attack by advocating for a reversal in economic

positions by demanding that Clarissa ‘should have been in a factory’ with ‘all the other fine ladies!’ 52

Her statement unveils the façade of the usefulness and respectability of the middle classes

by presenting them as unproductive and disrespectful which challenges the prevailing class values.

Her attacks on class culture attempts to ‘unmask’ Clarissa’s class privilege as disrespectful

considering the sacrifices of ‘all the other fine ladies’ who worked throughout the war and continue

to support the country.53 Additionally, it compares the contributions of the working class to the

elites who indulge themselves in decadence which fails to benefit civilisation. However, her pity on

Clarissa has ironic results. Her pity presents her perception of herself as morally superior. Her sense

of having a moral high ground in relation to her wish to see Clarissa reduced to being a working class

factory worker implicitly transforms her desires into an aspiration to marginalise Clarissa on moral

and economic grounds. Thus, whilst her desire to reaffirm her pride directly unveils the flaws of the

middle classes, her wish of seeing the reversal of Clarissa’s economic position paradoxically
replicates the foundations of the existing structure of the ruling English values which are based on

social and economic ostracism. As a result, the implicit wish to reconstruct the same alienating

structure of the prevailing class values questions the ethical base of Miss Kilman’s desire and

presents her ambition for change as morally ambiguous due to the ironic omission of actual change.

Despite the economic differences between Clarissa and Miss Kilman, the portrayal of their

shared desire to express their sexuality reflects their mutual aim of subverting the moral code by

exposing its detrimental effects. Miss Kilman functions as a cautionary tale of women who are

unable to hide their sexuality like Clarissa. For example, Clarissa describes her kiss with Sally as ‘the

most exquisite moment of her whole life’.54 However, the subsequent interruption by Peter is

interpreted by Emily Jensen as an act of reasserting middle class heterosexual values which oppress

her natural desires. She argues that Clarissa is ‘crippled by heterosexual convention’ and the end of

her relationship with Sally marks a ‘respectable kind of suicide and has learned, following Peter

Walsh’s lead, to see her actions as ‘civilised’ and the memory of her love for Sally as ‘sentimental’. 55

Consequently, Clarissa is able to validate and replicate the status quo by marrying Richard. Eileen

Barret contends that Clarissa proliferates the heterosexual values by attacking Miss Kilman’s inferred

lesbianism. She argues that Miss Kilman’s ‘German origins associate her with the early German

sexologists, and her name reflects the popular belief that all lesbians were man haters’ to establish

her identity as a lesbian.56 From this context, because Miss Kilman is ‘incapable of masking her own

lesbian passion’, evidenced by her desire for Elizabeth ‘whom she genuinely loved!’ she becomes the

target of Clarissa’s anti-lesbian sentiments, such as Clarissa labelling her ‘Elizabeth’s seducer’.57

However, Barret concludes that despite Clarissa’s hostility towards Miss Kilman, Miss Kilman

‘coincides with Clarissa’s idea of her own lesbian passions and becomes “one of those

spectres with which one battles in the night”’ and ultimately ‘forces Clarissa to recognise the so-

called monstrous lesbian within.’58

As a result, Clarissa’s lesbian desires in relation to her normative status in the text functions

to reveal homosexuality as normal thus unveiling the erroneous homophobic values. The perception
that Clarissa embodies English values highlights her ordinariness which works to expose

homosexuality as normal, especially considering her continued desire for ‘the most exquisite

moment of her whole life’. Furthermore, as Miss Kilman is unaware of Clarissa’s sexuality, Woolf

utilises dramatic irony to highlight the closeness of the two characters. However, the cost of

Clarissa’s existing freedoms gained by aligning herself with Englishness is morally unclear. On one

hand, by endorsing the status quo she ironically has to forego her freedom to express herself and

legitimises her own discrimination. On the other hand, her refusal would result in derision and

stigmatisation similar to the plight of Miss Kilman. Thus, the threat of exclusion becomes a push

factor in making her support middle class values at the expense of revealing her identity. Ultimately,

her morally contentious support for the prevailing ideals directly discloses the predatory nature of

class values and presents homosexuality as benign which further undermines the conventional

values.

Peter’s ostensible departure from the dominant culture reveals his cynicism and envy

towards traditional English values which exposes the misleading nature of freedom in post-war

Britain which ultimately, through ironic and morally ambiguous means, attacks the English ideal.

Peter’s uneasy relationship with English values leads to him condemning the frivolity of the upper

classes as he believes that it denies him the right to fulfil his desire of being with Clarissa. During a

conversation with Clarissa about Bourton he contemplates confessing his love for her however he is

deterred by his lack of wealth. He remarks to himself that in comparison to the Dalloways’ ‘inland

table, the mounted paper-knife […] the old valuable English tinted prints–he was a failure!’ 59 His

remark conveys the prevailing dominance of class values in the text by suggesting that it is a barrier

to love and actively demarcates lives according to wealth thus denying the possibility for freedom of

love and interaction as it monetises certain spaces. Furthermore, his focus on material objects

reflects his view that Clarissa and the upper class are superficial. Ultimately his inability to achieve

his ambition of admitting his love to Clarissa due to wealth differences highlights his sense of

irrelevancy in society. As a result, he reacts by shaping his identity in opposition to traditional

Englishness. He states that that he is a ‘romantic buccaneer, careless of all these damned proprieties

[…] and respectability and evening parties and spruce old men wearing white slips beneath their

waistcoats.’60 The freedom attained by his rejection of ideals is clearly seen through his

internationalism as he has lived in India and his masculinity ‘allows him access to London both day

and night’ as opposed to Clarissa who is ‘by convention confined to daytime walking’.61

Peter’s withdrawal from the traditional class order discloses the one sided reconstruction of

Britain following the war which supports Miss Kilman’s assertion that the middle classes are self-

serving. Peter’s act of disregarding conventional values implicates the freedom won during the war

by suggesting that it is insufficient and unfairly distributed, as a result, only by exiting the system can

one truly attain a measure of liberty. However, Peter’s desire for Clarissa prevents him from

rejecting class culture in its entirety and allows Woolf to use situational irony to highlight the

contradiction of Peter’s love for Clarissa. Peter’s ambition to depart the social system cannot be

reconciled with his wish for Clarissa as she outwardly aligns herself with the very upper class values

that Peter feels marginalised by. The absurdity of Peter’s desire to rebuff the class system yet

maintain his desire for Clarissa is seen by the fact that he legitimises the values by measuring his

identity from a middle class framework. He regards himself as a failure because he lacks wealth

which emphasises that Peter ascribes to middle class concepts of success which are based on

materialism and wealth. Thus, Peter’s yearning for Clarissa reveals the morally ambiguous nature of

his desires. On one hand it explicitly shows that he attaches positive moral qualities to the existing

class beliefs as he envies them due to his belief that it can uplift his status and esteem. Alternatively,

his attempt to reject the class system portrays his recognition of its immorality which unveils the

disparity of freedom available in society.

In conclusion, Mrs. Dalloway frames Hugh Whitbread as the centrepiece of middle class

values for which the supporting characters and protagonists respond to. They respond by vying to be

favoured in the same manner that Hugh is except through their own ideals to attain greater

freedom. The reactions to the status quo manifest themselves internally as Woolf prioritises stream
of consciousness and polyvocality. Through these means the transgressive and inherently

introspective desires of the characters are revealed. For instance, Clarissa’s homosexual desires are

relegated to her memories; Miss Kilman’s desire to rebalance the economic order remains a fantasy

and Peter imagines himself to be a romantic buccaneer. Ultimately, despite their desires failing

because of society’s influence, crucial façades are revealed through irony and morally ambiguous

means that challenge conventional values. In Madame Bovary, Emma’s phallocentric ambitions

conflict with her naturally assertive character which derails her desires. By examining her hopes in

relation to her lovers, existing values such as male power and masculinity are challenged by

unveiling façades about them through ends that have ironic and morally debateable implications.

Ch. III
Two Worlds: Subverting and Supporting Notions of Madness and Illness

‘Doesn’t this conspiracy of society revolt you? Is there a single feeling it does not condemn? The

noblest instincts, the purest sympathies, are reviled and persecuted, and if ever two poor souls do

meet, then everything is organised to prevent their union.’61

The failed desires of the protagonists confine them to an introspective world which is in constant

conflict with scientific theories. The overarching contention between the characters and scientific

beliefs is that science is portrayed as an institution that attempts to instil conformity and

compliance. However, as the last chapter showed, the characters in both texts have innately

transgressive aspirations. As a result, the subversive aims of the characters are therefore forced to

interact with scientific theories. Through their interactions both texts simultaneously uphold and

challenge the prevailing scientific beliefs in society. Through Emma and Rezia, this chapter focuses

on the wives who have husbands who are ineffectual within the social order and have links with

scientific authorities. Their experience allows both authors to challenge the scientific conventions by

unveiling the façade of the discipline’s supposed humanitarianism by presenting it as rudimentary

and founded on unsubstantiated knowledge. However, the prominence of science in both texts’

epiphanies and death scenes is a setting for irony, moral ambiguity and an ostensible reassertion of

conventional values. Overall, by looking at the latter part of the novels this chapter will conclude

that the unsuccessful ambitions of the characters lead to conflicts with the scientific discourse that,

through irony and morally ambiguous means, challenges conventional values by revealing façades.

It is imperative to begin with Septimus’ surrender to the medical authorities as this scene

marks a turning point the in the text. His surrender to Sir Bradshaw and Dr. Holmes is a critical scene

that lays the foundation for the latter half of Mrs. Dalloway in relation to revealing façades that are

related to scientific theories through Rezia’s role as Septimus’ wife. For context, Septimus confesses

that after the Armistice of 1918 ‘he could not feel.’63 His lack of feeling punctuates his relationship

with Rezia as he observes that when ‘she cried for the first time since they were married […] ‘he felt

nothing’.64 Despite his lack of feeling he recognised the psychological abnormality by observing that

‘each time she sobbed […] he descended another step into the pit.’65 The pit functions as a metaphor

to highlight himself as sinking into an unforgiving isolated world which mirrors his worse fear of

being ‘alone for ever.’66 From this background, Septimus, who is unable to feel, is ironically forced to

create a façade to reveal one. He manufactures the impression of distress to highlight his

imperceptible agony that was disguised by normality as his inability to feel disallowed him from

conveying his misery. Woolf describes his capitulation as: ‘At last, with a melodramatic gesture

which he assumed mechanically and with complete consciousness of its insincerity, he dropped his

head on his hands. Now he surrendered; now other people must help him. People must be sent for.

He gave in.’67

His submission unveils the rudimentary nature of the medical practice to undermine the

conventional acceptance of authority in society through Rezia’s desire to help her husband.

However, her ambition to help her husband is underpinned by the ironic and ethically questionable

fact that her intention of helping Septimus also simultaneously supports and challenges the medical

profession through her unquestioning attitude. For instance, once Septimus’ surrenders, Rezia is
tasked with overseeing his affairs by arranging and consulting with doctors on his behalf. She first

approaches Dr. Holmes who advises her that ‘there was nothing whatever the matter’ with him and

recommended that he ‘take up some hobby.68 69 As Septimus’ mental illness is established from the

outset of the novel, Rezia’s decision to engage Dr. Holmes allows Woolf to highlight the inadequacy

of Dr. Holmes’ analysis and consequently the medical industry through dramatic irony. However,

despite the poor instruction to ‘take up some hobby’, Dr. Holmes’ persistence presence, evidenced

as he ‘came quite regularly everyday’, implicates both Rezia and Dr. Holmes in Septimus’

confinement due to poor medical standards which has morally contentious consequences. 70 Rezia is

portrayed as being complicit as she facilitates Dr. Holmes entry into Septimus’ life. She believed that

‘Dr. Holmes was such a kind man’ and ‘could not understand’ Septimus’ displeasure towards him

which leads to Septimus feeling ‘deserted.’71 His sense of desertion is the locus for the moral

uncertainty within Rezia’s desire to help her husband as it implicitly argues that Rezia, like himself,

should resist and question authority. The motif of her trust in Dr. Holmes’ substandard advice

despite having witnessed Septimus’ schizophrenic episodes first-hand, frames her, from Septimus’

perspective, as immoral due to her ostensible abandonment. However, the moral condemnation is

equally tempered by Rezia’s dependency on the scientific authorities as they function as the only

tangible institution that has the authorisation to consider medical theories which therefore confines

her into compliance.

Septimus’ suicide provides the catalyst in allowing Rezia to analyse and ultimately question

the scientific field to undermine it. Rezia’s role as her husband’s protector against Dr. Holmes and Sir

Bradshaw unmasks the authoritativeness and anti-humanitarianism of science through contradictory

and morally unclear means to disrupt conventional values of perceiving science as benevolent. For

instance, Dr. Holmes’ attempt to forcibly enter Septimus’ room at the end of the novel compares

with the manner that he first entered his room under friendly circumstances which allows Rezia to

realise the aggressiveness of the authorities. When Rezia trusted Dr. Holmes and invited him into

their home whilst Septimus was unwilling to see him, he had to give Rezia a ‘friendly push before he
could get past her into her husband’s bedroom.’72 On the next occasion that he has to enter,

following Septimus’ epiphany that he wanted to live, Rezia is described as ‘a little hen, with her

wings spread barring his passage.’73 However, Holmes pushed ‘her aside’ and it is noted that he is ‘a

powerfully built man.’74 The contrast in moral depiction directly suggests a transformation and clarity

of Holmes’ character which presents him as predatory. The representation of Rezia as a hen

heightens her domination as it is juxtaposed with the emphasis of Holmes’ strength.

As a result, Rezia’s reaction at seeing Septimus’ dead body consolidates the view of

perceiving the medical world as one that aggressively seeks to instil compliance as ‘she understood’

his suicide.75 Jeffrey Barman in Surviving Literary Suicide supports the claim that Rezia perceives

Septimus’ death as a reflection of the medical industry’s dominance as it was Woolf’s authorial

intent to do so. He posits that ‘Mrs. Dalloway asks us believe that Septimus’s suicide is a rejection

not of life itself but of the dehumanizing forces antithetical to life’ which he argues is symbolised by

Holmes and Bradshaw as Woolf ‘holds them responsible for his death.’76 However, Barman also

highlights the morally uncertain position of such a view. He contends that as Septimus’ illness had

existed before the intervention of the doctors ‘it is difficult to accept the novel’s implication that had

the physicians not cruelly intervened, Septimus would have permanently regained his health.’ 77 He

concludes by citing Elain Showalter who argues that considering Septimus’ pre-existing symptoms

‘the doctors of Mrs. Dalloway are probably right in recommending rest and seclusion for Septimus.’ 78

Septimus’ suicide alters the experience of Clarissa’s party as it simultaneously frames Clarissa’s party

as a failure and a success. His suicide disturbs Clarissa’s notions on class and science by unveiling

both institutions as debased and unsympathetic. Clarissa responds to Septimus’ death by attacking

‘men like’ Sir Bradshaw.79 She claims that he is ‘obscurely evil’ and capable of ‘forcing your soul […]

they make life intolerable.’80 Framing Bradshaw as dominating souls presents Septimus’ death as a

means to attain freedom by exiting an unforgiving social order through death which ultimately

reinforces Clarissa’s view that ‘death was defiance.’81 Shirley Panken supports this view by reasoning
that ‘Septimus and Woolf share a sense of anarchy and meaninglessness insofar as the opinions of

psychiatric specialists are concerned.’82

However, Panken fails to mention the moral and ironic consequences that Septimus’ death

has on Clarissa’s desires in terms of her relation to the class structure and wider scientific discourse.

Clarissa’s vicarious experience of Septimus’ suicide complicates her interpretation of his death as it

questions her position within middle class society and the ethics of science in general. For

illustration, she confesses that upon hearing of his death ‘she had never been so happy’ and ‘she felt

somehow very like him […] She felt glad that he had done it thrown it away while they went on

living.’83 84 Her identification with an outcast resonates with the view that she was never part of

upper class society which highlights her desire to host a party as a failure as she feels more

comfortable outside the class system. She reveals the debased nature of the class society by

confessing that ‘she had pilfered. She was never wholly admirable. She wanted success, Lady

Bexborough and the rest of it.’85 Thus despite achieving her desire to host her party Clarissa suggest

that it comes at a cost of navigating a world that places manipulative demands on the subject and

death is the only solution. However, Sir Bradshaw’s invitation to her party consolidates the scientific

community’s place within the English order; this in relation to Clarissa’s unconditional support for

the class structure, evidenced as ‘she must go back’ to the party after hearing Septimus death,

frames her recognition of the immoral systems as morally ambivalent.

In Madame Bovary, through Charles’ incompetence and mediocrity, Emma’s desire for

prestige unveils and emphasises the overstated veneer of medical knowledge. The most profound

scene that challenges the reputation of science is the failed operation on Hippolyte which quashes

Emma’s desire to attain status through Charles’ professional skills. After the failed operation, Emma

scolds herself for her gullibility in believing that Charles could have succeeded as she had long lost

faith in his competency. It is observed that ‘she did not share his humiliation, she had her own to

bear: that of ever having expected ability from such a man.’86 Emma’s reflection reveals that unlike

Rezia, who initially trusted the intentions and capabilities of the medical authorities, Emma had
already identified its undeveloped state and was desperate to be proved wrong for her own sake.

She laments that Charles was unaware ‘that the ridicule attaching to his name would now sully hers

as well’ and grieved for ‘the things she had wanted and denied herself, the things she might have

had!’ due to Charles’ failure.87 Thus, from Emma’s perspective, Charles’ professional inadequacy

directly confines her into an introspective state of perpetual yearning and sacrifice as ‘she

remembered all her luxurious instincts’ she had denied herself in her marriage. However, Emma’s

desire to see Charles successfully perform the operation is steeped in irony. Both Charles and

Homais, the town pharmacist who encouraged Charles to perform the operation, lack appropriate

qualifications. Charles is only an Officer of Health and therefore not qualified to conduct surgeries

and Homais lacks a diploma in medicine. As a result, her faith in Charles functioned as an implicit

desire to witness a subversion of the medical practice as the operation was unlawful in order to

ironically uphold the industry by helping Hippolyte. Furthermore, Frederick Brown in Flaubert: A

Biography highlights the moral ambivalence embedded in Emma’s reaction to the failed surgery. He

argues that Emma can only focus on Charles’ ‘ineptness and nothing more. That Hippolyte has had

his virile member sawed off hardly concerns her.’88

Through her infidelity, Madame Bovary simultaneously undermines the scientific discourse

by disclosing its myopia through Charles’ inadequacy whilst also upholding it through his genuine

acts of altruism. For instance, after Rodolphe breaks up with Emma she becomes ill for over a month

wherein Charles fails to analyse the root causes of her problems but nonetheless shows a high

degree of selflessness. During Emma’s illness ‘brain-fever had set in. For forty-three days Charles

never left her side. He forsook his patients […] he was desperate.’89 Charles’ desire to help Emma

illuminates the noble and benevolent sentiments of medicine, however, his decision to abandon his

patients when ‘the poor fellow was worried about money’ highlights the recklessness of his

decision.90 Furthermore, his choice of abandoning his patients in exchange for someone whom he

cannot help due to Emma’s aversion to him is morally ambiguous as it would adversely affect the

small town of Yonville and ironically frustrate his financial problems.

 From the context of Emma’s sense of imprisonment due to Charles’ defective status within

the patriarchal and scientific order, Emma praises her affair with Léon as it initially offers her a

measure of freedom. Consequently, Emma’s evasion of Charles through adultery shows how, unlike

in Mrs. Dalloway where the medical authorities are centralised, Madame Bovary discloses the

decentralised nature of the medical authorities. The disorganised structure of the medical

community makes it vulnerable to manipulation which is highlighted through Emma’s affair with

Léon at The Hotel de Boulogne in Rouen. Emma’s clandestine escapades to the hotel allow Emma to

escape domestic roles which are supported by scientific theory. For instance, Homais, who is the

principle proponent of scientific theory in the text, proposes that ‘it’s my opinion that children ought

to be taught [music] by their own mothers.’91 Emma shrewdly pretends to support Homais’ view in

order to convince Charles to send her to Rouen once a week for lessons in order to deceive him and

visit Léon who lives in Rouen. As a result, Emma highlights how the system can be manipulated for

one’s advantages. However, critics have highlighted the inherent irony and moral ambiguity with

Emma’s desire to visit Léon at the hotel. Victor Brombert in Flaubert: A study of Themes and

Techniques argues that Emma’s happiness is fleeting and ultimately gives way to pain. He states:

Even her sexual behaviour with Léon, after a while, takes on a distinctly morbid quality:

when they meet in the hotel room, she undresses “brutally”, tearing off the thin lace of her corset,

which swishes around her hips “like a gliding snake” (III.6). The simile leaves something to be

desired; but it does convey a feeling of perversity and even of agony –the latter being further

developed in the almost medical description of Emma’s physical ecstasy 92

Furthermore, despite the newly afforded freedom to escape the banalities of provincial Yonvile in

exchange for the metropolitan Rouen, Emma’s pursuit of happiness is doomed by the symbol of the

hotel. The hotel represents a location of transience. However, Emma recklessly attempts to change

the function of the hotel by perceiving it as a static place. Both Léon and Emma ‘fancied they were in
their own home, there to dwell for the rest of their lives’.93 However, in order to maintain the secret

love affair Emma must ruthlessly lie to protect the illusion. She remarks that lying ‘became a need, a

craving, an indulgence’.94 In spite of her attempt to preserve the illusion, it is ultimately, reality that

destroys her affair. Léon, upon the prospect of getting a promotion admits that he ‘it was time to be

serious’ whilst Emma acknowledges that ‘she was sated with him as he was tired of her. Emma had

rediscovered in adultery all the banality of marriage.’95 However, Emma’s desire to upkeep a non-

existence love ‘from habit or depravity’ presents her as a neurotic daydreamer.96 Ignês Sodré argues

that Emma ‘uses compulsive daydreaming as a (lethal) drug to ‘cure’ empty, depressed states of

mind.’97 Thus from this perspective, the text raises morally ambiguous questions of Emma’s

culpability which lambastes the medical industry for its blindness and decentralised nature which

allows Emma to evade its surveillance which ironically might have helped her.

Emma’s suicide is the most morally complicated and unclear event in the text as her desire

to end her life has many interpretations. Her suicide on a basic level represents her inability to

continue her illusions of wealth which Lheureux manipulatively enabled thus leading to bailiffs

issuing her with an order of distrain. However, conversely, from the scientific perspective, Emma

ironically embraces the medical establishment as a means to attain freedom from Charles as she

wants to avoid his pity. For instance, in the penultimate scene before she ingests the arsenic, she

recounts her scorn towards the prospect of Charles appearing superior by forgiving her for

financially ruining him. She says ‘there would be a great many sob, many tears, and in the end,

recovered from the shock, he would forgive […] she felt furious at the idea of Bovary’s being superior

to herself. 98 From this interpretation, Emma’s sense of injustice at Charles, whom she deems the

architect of her suffering because of his patriarchal and scientific incompetence, mirrors the

perception of Septimus’ suicide as a means to escape a social order that encourages submissiveness.

However, by entering Homais medical room, called the Capharnuam to obtain the arsenic,

Flaubert adds moral symbolism to her act of suicide. The Capharnuam subverts the medical

establishment through its relationship with religion and science. The Capharnuam is important in
Christianity as it is cited in all of the gospels wherein it is mentioned that Jesus healed someone from

an unclean spirit. Thus, Emma’s dependency upon the Capharnuam implicitly suggests that she is

tainted and in need of healing. However, the inability of Homais and the priest to agree upon

whether Emma ‘died in a state of grace’ or ‘impenitent’ consolidates the blurred ethics of her desire

to commit suicide.99 Furthermore, James Rhodes undermines the perception that science functions

primarily for healing but rather facilitates self-interest. He asserts Homais’ decision to call his

medical room the Capharnuam reflects his arrogance and consequently the perversion of medical

ethics. He argues that ‘In characteristic arrogance he has elected to call it the Capharnuam,

envisioning himself, one assumes, as a new Christ and his pharmacy as the New Jerusalem.’100 He

concludes ‘In short Flaubert uses Homais, in part, to illustrate the perils inherent in faith in the idea

of progress and to show how many of his contemporaries had perverted the legacy of

Enlightenment’.101

In conclusion, by analysing both texts from the perspective of Emma and Rezia it is possible

to highlight how both novels undermine the scientific discourse by unveiling the negative aspects of

the institutions. However, equally, the characters also show how the medical theories are also

upheld in the text. The subversive and supportive beliefs were assessed by examining the role of

science in terms of the character’s desires, death scenes and epiphanies. Ultimately, the chapter

highlighted how the characters’ desires conflicted with prevailing scientific values which revealed

through irony and moral ambiguity façades that contended with the conventional values

surrounding the medical discourse.

Conclusion

Through their novels, Woolf and Flaubert play with the central theme of desire to undercut

established values. Both writers accomplish their aim by underpinning ambition with irony and

moral uncertainty to reveal façades that challenge conventional values. By placing desire at the
forefront of their texts Woolf and Flaubert are able to engage with contemporary attitudes for

subversive purposes. Both novelists converge in engaging with scientific discourses to highlight the

flaws within the system. Mrs. Dalloway and Madame Bovary adeptly reveal the darker side of

medical authorities in society’s that were increasingly becoming more dependent and trusting of

scientific theory. They strive to show the scientific field from a perspective that highlights its function

as tool of oppressive social control rather than from its traditional image of benevolence.

Yet concurrently, they buttress the immense power of the establishment through the characters

frequent unconscious support for the system.

Within this culture of societal restrictions the texts highlight the core desire of the

protagonists for freedom in countries where liberty and equality are unfairly distributed. Flaubert

presents the yearnings of Emma as foolhardy and aggressive yet ameliorates them against the

backdrop of her limited options as a woman in the nineteenth century. The focus on Emma’s

phallocentric fantasies simultaneously reflect her limited options but also act as a locus for moral

and ironic contention in the text as it is the source of her failed desires. In Mrs. Dalloway, Woolf

illustrates how post-war Britain is an assortment of ambitions and through her use of stream of

consciousness disturbs the belief in objective truths and universal codes of ethics. By focusing on

Peter, Septimus and Clarissa, the text showcases how individuals seek to be favoured by the state.

However, the pursuit of acceptance paradoxically alienates them from the very institution as it

unearths the dogmatic, manipulative and repressive nature of class society on which the state

upholds. Ultimately, the characters not only recognise the futility of their aspirations but through

their failure they acknowledge the social limits of their society which allows the text to present their

desires as transgressive and introspective.

Ultimately, at the heart of Madame Bovary and Mrs. Dalloway is the aspiration to succeed.

Both texts unite in depicting the protagonists’ desperate pursuit for their concept of success as a

perilous and elusive endeavour. Woolf and Flaubert achieve such a depiction by portraying how the

hopes of the characters constantly grate against the confines of their society because of the
transgressive and introspective nature of their ambitions. Whilst the pessimistic tone created from

the failure of the main characters is tangible, heightened by the penalty of death in the case of

Septimus and Emma, the authors reclaim a sense of optimism through the very failure of their

desire. The audacity to transgress society’s boundaries through their hopes allows the authors to

challenge conventional values through irony and moral uncertainty as it reveal façades that

undermines the status quo.

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