Think about the title of Madame Bovary.
What questions does it leave you asking?.
What alternative title could you suggest and how might your alternative title affect the way we read and analyse the novel?.
One of the first questions that spring to mind when thinking about Madame Bovary.
as a title is; who is Madame Bovary? , How old is she? This question could be very significant as the age of the character can play a big part in how the reader may approach and read the novel. Their expectations would change. For instance, the novel could be about the older Madame Bovary; the mother. If we as readers imagined an older woman we possibly would not expect seduction and adultery to play such a large part in the novel.
The actual word `Madame` brings a certain air of mystery to the title; much more sophisticated than `Emma Bovary` would be. The name `Emma` brings to mind a young girl, it is quite a simple and ordinary name. `Madame` could also make the reader think of a brothel which is what I initially thought the novel would be about. A kind of memoirs of a courtesan, or a risqué French novel which to a great extent it turned out to be.
The full title of the novel is actually Madame Bovary Moeurs de province which translates as Madame Bovary provincial manners . In her book entitled Female perversions , Louise J.Kaplan explains how at the famous trial surrounding the novel :The prosecutor slyly suggested that the deceptively innocent sub-title be replaced by the more accurate " The Story of the Adulteries of a provincial housewife- pp.329.
This leads me on to the question of an alternative title. Quite a boring and obvious one could be: "The rise and fall of Emma Bovary- . This title would give the reader the implication that the character Emma will have good and bad times and leaves nothing to the imagination. My alternative title is: `Happiness in Sad Silence` which is taken from a sentence within the actual novel: .