Madame Bovary 2

Describe the relationship of Roldophe and Emma. What stages do they go through? How do they act at the various stages?


I think Roldophe and Emma have a typical affair type relationship. The first stage is their infatuation with each other and their immediate attraction. On page 1165, it explains that after seeing Emma, Roldophe thought to himself, "Lovely teeth, black eyes, a dainty foot....How did such a clodhopper ever get hold of her?" Later he thinks to himself that he will have her and starts devising a plan to figure out how he can make her his lover. Next they met during the day of the Agricultural Show. They walked through town and then as the show started they went up to the "council chamber" on the second floor. Roldophe confessed his true feelings for Emma, she tried to resist, but she eventually gave in to her same feelings. Soon after, Roldophe didn't contact her for a period of time so she would long for him. Although this made Emma cold at first, she warmed up to him and they seemed to be like two love-stricken teenagers. Roldophe continually told Emma how much he cared for her, and sometimes Emma admitted her feelings for him and other times she seemed uninterested in him. As Roldophe and Emma went horseback riding, the closeness she felt with him made her feel uncomfortable, but after she returned home she realized how she like having a lover, the narrator saying she acted as though, "she were beginning a second puberty" (1183). This comes to the next stage their affair came to. Their passion levels were extreme as Emma would sneak to him home in the wee hours of the morning, not really worrying about getting caught. Roldophe was very passionate about Emma, just as she with him. Then, near the end of Chapter X comes the downslide to their affair. Emma just like she did with Charles and Leon found flaws with Roldophe. "She would have liked him to be more serious -- or even more dramatic sometimes.." (1189). Also, Roldophe didn't like the fact that Emma seemed to want to be in a relationship because she was coming to sentimental and only stayed with her for her beauty. I think Roldophe really just wanted to have an affair without any true love feelings attached, and Emma was looking for a lover.