The Theme in the Work
The religion of Emma Bovary begins in the convent, in Chapter 6 of Part I: she loves the church for its flowers and the mystical languor of the altar perfumes, invents sins so as to stay longer in the confessional, and ends up rebelling against the mysteries of the faith. In Part II, Yonville has two spokesmen for the subject. In Chapter 1, Homais argues about religion with the innkeeper and accuses Abbé Bournisien of hypocrisy as soon as he leaves; in Chapter 3, at Berthe's baptism, the grandfather Bovary pours champagne over the child's head, and the priest is outraged by the mockery of the sacrament.
In Chapter 6 of Part II, hearing the Hail Marys, Emma goes to the church ready for any devotion and finds Bournisien busy with the catechism boys; when she tries to say what she feels, he asks whether it is not indigestion and prescribes tea. In Chapter 14, after the abandonment by Rodolphe Boulanger, she asks for communion believing herself close to death, wants to become a saint, buys rosaries, and addresses God with the words she used to murmur to her lover, while the priest orders pious books from the bishop's bookseller, which she reads without profit.
The end of the book passes through the rites. In Chapter 8, Emma kisses the crucifix with the greatest kiss of love she ever gave and receives extreme unction; in 9, Homais and Bournisien keep vigil over the body arguing about religion, celibacy, and confession, each with his own bookshelf, until they fall asleep facing each other; in 10, the procession leaves to the sound of the De profundis, and the sound of the stones in the coffin seems like the rumble of eternity.
Emma asks religion for what she asks of novels, sensation, and the religion of Yonville has nothing to answer with: the priest treats the soul like the stomach, and the pharmacist only wants to win the argument. The two scenes of sincere devotion, that of Chapter 6 and that of Chapter 14 of Part II, end the same way, without an answer. The kiss on the crucifix uses the vocabulary of love down to the last gesture, and the book does not say whether anyone received it.
Where It Appears
- Part I, Chapter 6: At the convent, Emma likes the church for its flowers, music for the lyrics of its songs, and religion for its mystical languor, and loses her faith through sensory satiety.
- Part II, Chapter 1: At the Golden Lion inn, Abbé Bournisien appears only to fetch his umbrella, and Homais accuses him of hypocrisy as soon as he leaves.
- Part II, Chapter 3: At Berthe's baptism, the grandfather Bovary pours champagne over the child's head, and Abbé Bournisien is outraged and almost leaves, placated only by pleading.
- Part II, Chapter 6: Emma goes to the church in search of help, and Abbé Bournisien, busy with the catechism boys, attributes her distress to indigestion.
- Part II, Chapter 14: At the height of her illness, believing herself dying, Emma had asked for communion; convalescent, she decides to be a saint and, at the prie-dieu, addresses the Lord with the words she had once murmured to her lover.
- Part III, Chapter 1: In Rouen cathedral, Emma kneels in the chapel of the Virgin, and the verger, the guide of the building, drags the two of them past tombs and relics until Léon flees and sends for a cab.
- Part III, Chapter 8: At Emma's deathbed, Abbé Bournisien gives extreme unction and anoints, one by one, the eyes that had coveted, the nostrils, the mouth that lied, the hands and the feet.
- Part III, Chapter 9: Beside Emma's body, Homais and Abbé Bournisien argue about religion without listening to each other, recommend their own bookshelves to one another, and end up falling asleep.
- Part III, Chapter 10: At Emma's burial, the procession leaves the church to the sound of the De profundis, Abbé Bournisien throws the first spadeful of earth, and the coffin makes a sound that seems like the rumble of eternity.
Passages
At the convent, Emma loves the church for what it gives her senses.
The convent's faith falls under the same criterion.Cet esprit, positif au milieu de ses enthousiasmes, qui avait aimé l’église pour ses fleurs, la musique pour les paroles des romances, et la littérature pour ses excitations passionnelles, s’insurgeait devant les mystères de la foi, this spirit, positive amid its enthusiasms, which had loved the church for its flowers, music for the words of its songs, and literature for its passionate excitements, rebelled against the mysteries of the faith.
Emma appeals to Bournisien for help, and his answer is a matter of routine.
- Yes…, you relieve all miseries.
Devotion repeats the language of adultery.
When she knelt on her Gothic prie-dieu, she addressed to the Lord the same gentle words that she had once murmured to her lover in the effusions of adultery.
Extreme unction names the sins by the organs.
first the eyes, which had so coveted all earthly splendors; then the nostrils, eager for warm breezes and amorous perfumes; then the mouth, which opened to lies, which had moaned with pride and cried out with lust; then the hands, which had delighted in tender touches; and finally the soles of the feet, once so swift when they ran to satisfy her desires, and which would walk no more.
Beside the body, the pharmacist and the priest recommend their own bookshelves to each other.
Read Voltaire! [...] Read Holbach, read the Encyclopédie!