Independent Women: Woolf's Lily Briscoe Essay

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Her affairs with Rodolphe and Leon bring her the type of intimacy she longs for even though they cause her much pain. Emma saw her affair with Rodolphe as vengeful because so much of her life felt like it was void of love. We are that she was "becoming a part of her own imaginings, finding the long dream of her youth come true as she surveyed herself in that amorous role she coveted" (Flaubert 175). She did not feel guilt; in fact, she "savored" (175) her relationship with Rodolphe and was without "remorse, disquiet or distress" (175). Emma is overwhelmed with emotions when it comes to Rodolphe and she did not know if she "regretted yielding to him, or whether she didn't rather to aspire to love him more . . . It was not an attachment but a continual excitement" (183). Here we see that she is not concerned with the trappings of a long-term relationship; she just wants to feel that kind of passion she does not have with her husband. With Leon, she is foolish to the point of ruining herself. Her circumstance represents the type of restrictions that women experienced in her day.

Lily Briscoe and Emma Bovary are women out of their time. They are not satisfied with what the world wishes to do with them and they have dreams that exceed societal norms.

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Lily is a creative woman and desires to express herself through art. Charles' statement becomes a hindrance and an inspiration to her because she refuses to let him be correct. She does not feel compelled to be married and she even turns away from the prospect as it approaches her. Madame Bovary is also constrained by society. She has a need to feel loved and her marriage does not satisfy her. She follows her impulses and has affairs in an attempt to find herself. Her story ends tragically but Madame Bovary did experience the love she so desired, even if it was only for a short time. These two women would have no doubt enjoyed each other's company, had they known each other. They would have fed each other's notions that their world was simply too oppressive for women and did not allow them the freedom to fully experience life because of the weight of being a wife and mother. These women are heroes in their own right in that they knew there was something more to life and went after that with every fiber of their being.

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