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Definition of Hyperbole
Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which a writer or speaker exaggerates for the sake of emphasis. Hyperbolic statements are usually quite obvious exaggerations intended to emphasize a point... read full definition
Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which a writer or speaker exaggerates for the sake of emphasis. Hyperbolic statements are usually quite obvious exaggerations... read full definition
Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which a writer or speaker exaggerates for the sake of emphasis. Hyperbolic statements... read full definition
Part 1, Chapter 5
Explanation and Analysis—Love:
The characters in the novel often portray love through hyperbolic and idealistic phrasing due to the romantic values many of them hold. One example of this exaggerated view of love is how Charles views Emma early in their marriage in Part 1, Chapter 5:
The universe, for him, did not extend beyond the silken round of her skirts.
This hyperbolic assertion of Charles being completely consumed by Emma contrasts with Emma’s more lukewarm feelings. Although Charles has the type of romantic devotion Emma desires from a lover, his lack of significant presence beyond her (his universe) makes him uninteresting to her. His dullness and practicality outweigh any romanticism he holds because he is content with just being married to her and wants nothing else for either of them. He never says these words out loud, while Emma thrives on the performance of love as much as the feeling. Furthermore, this hyperbole highlights his focus on Emma’s exterior ("the silken round of her skirts") rather than her as a person, showing how even at the heights of love’s expression, the men in the novel only value Emma for her superficial worth.
In contrast to the dull and quiet Charles, the playboy Rodolphe uses pretty words of love and affection to seduce Emma in Part 2, Chapter 9:
In my soul you are like a madonna on a pedestal, in a high place, secure and immaculate. But I need you to stay alive. I need your eyes, your voice, your thoughts. Be my friend, my sister, my angel!
His hyperbolic flattery contrasts with the cynical reality of his feelings, as he views Emma as just one in his string of mistresses despite his verbal glorification of her. Furthermore, his words contradict his quite aggressive behavior towards Emma in this scene. Whereas Rodolphe speaks insincere hyperboles that entice Emma, Charles’s sincere (yet also quite shallow) affections fall flat for Emma because he lacks the charisma and language to voice his overwhelming feelings. In a novel focused on the romantic Emma, hyperbolic confessions of love become crucial. She expects to hear lines similar to the romantic dialogue from her favorite literature, and anything less doesn’t register to her as love.
Related Themes:
Part 1, Chapter 9
Explanation and Analysis—Sublime Paris:
One of the focuses of Emma’s romanticism is the city and inhabitants of Paris. She views Paris as the perfect setting for love and for those of a higher social status, wishing she could be there instead of in the sleepy provincial towns she is stuck in. Emma’s hyperbolic view of the city and Parisians can be seen in Part 1, Chapter 9:
They [Parisians] lived on a higher plane, between heaven and earth, among storm-clouds, so sublimely. As for the rest of the world, it was nothing, it was nowhere, it scarcely seemed to exist.
In Emma’s eyes, Paris is the meeting place between heaven and earth, with such a bombastic description seeming as if she is describing the similarly mythologized Mount Olympus. As such, she elevates the city and its people to an above-human, nearly divine status. Furthermore, Emma’s exaggeration emphasizes that she does not view Paris as a real earthly place but as a symbol of her lofty dreams. Her allusion to heaven even connects to her use of religion as a way of elevating herself in her fantasies.
Furthermore, Emma’s use of hyperbole emphasizes her all-or-nothing mentality, especially concerning matters such as happiness and love. Paris is not just an ideal location, but it is the only place for her, as she renders the rest of the world “nothing.” She believes she is unable to find true happiness anywhere but in Paris, setting herself up for failure. Her exaggerated focus on Paris highlights how her inability to cope with mediocrity and struggle with bourgeois boredom results from how she has quarantined all of her dreams into one out-of-reach place instead of looking for new ways of finding happiness.
Related Themes:
Part 2, Chapter 9
Explanation and Analysis—Love:
The characters in the novel often portray love through hyperbolic and idealistic phrasing due to the romantic values many of them hold. One example of this exaggerated view of love is how Charles views Emma early in their marriage in Part 1, Chapter 5:
The universe, for him, did not extend beyond the silken round of her skirts.
This hyperbolic assertion of Charles being completely consumed by Emma contrasts with Emma’s more lukewarm feelings. Although Charles has the type of romantic devotion Emma desires from a lover, his lack of significant presence beyond her (his universe) makes him uninteresting to her. His dullness and practicality outweigh any romanticism he holds because he is content with just being married to her and wants nothing else for either of them. He never says these words out loud, while Emma thrives on the performance of love as much as the feeling. Furthermore, this hyperbole highlights his focus on Emma’s exterior ("the silken round of her skirts") rather than her as a person, showing how even at the heights of love’s expression, the men in the novel only value Emma for her superficial worth.
In contrast to the dull and quiet Charles, the playboy Rodolphe uses pretty words of love and affection to seduce Emma in Part 2, Chapter 9:
In my soul you are like a madonna on a pedestal, in a high place, secure and immaculate. But I need you to stay alive. I need your eyes, your voice, your thoughts. Be my friend, my sister, my angel!
His hyperbolic flattery contrasts with the cynical reality of his feelings, as he views Emma as just one in his string of mistresses despite his verbal glorification of her. Furthermore, his words contradict his quite aggressive behavior towards Emma in this scene. Whereas Rodolphe speaks insincere hyperboles that entice Emma, Charles’s sincere (yet also quite shallow) affections fall flat for Emma because he lacks the charisma and language to voice his overwhelming feelings. In a novel focused on the romantic Emma, hyperbolic confessions of love become crucial. She expects to hear lines similar to the romantic dialogue from her favorite literature, and anything less doesn’t register to her as love.
Related Themes:
Part 3, Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Everlastingly Entombs:
Madame Bovary uses alliteration to enhance the poetic rhythm and emphasize the romanticism of a passage for better or worse. For example, in Part 3, Chapter 1, when Emma is reunited with Léon and is beginning to rekindle their romance, the novel describes her as follows:
Emma held forth on the miseries of earthly love and the eternal isolation that everlastingly entombs the heart.
While Emma may be expressing some true unhappiness about her lot in life, especially as a woman, the novel's highly stylized alliteration emphasizes how much of Emma’s miserable expression is a calculated performance meant to entice Léon. She plays the role of a miserable wife who needs to be saved by a lover in mimicry of the romantic fantasies from her novels. The alliterative “e” paints the picture of her hopelessness, bringing Emma together with words relating to eternity ("eternal" and "everlastingly") and entrapment ("earthly" and "entombs"). By taking on a more romantic writing style through its alliteration and hyperbolic statements, the novel furthers the idea of Emma’s dalliances being incongruous with the real world and doomed to fail as a result. This change in style through alliteration highlights the constructed nature of the scene and how both characters are using each other to fulfill their romantic fantasies rather than living in undiluted reality. Emma and Léon see each other and themselves as characters rather than people, so the novel strips away its realist style in these moments to emphasize their distorted worldview.
Related Themes:
