Every fairy tale offers the potential to surpass present limits, so in a sense the fairy tale offers you freedoms that reality denies. In all great works of fiction, regardless of the grim reality they present, there is an affirmation of life against the transience of that life, an essential defiance. The affirmation lies in the way the author takes control of reality by retelling it in his own way, thus creating a new world. Every great work of art, I would declare pompously, is a celebration, an act of insubordination against the betrayals, horrors and infidelities of life. The perfection and beauty of form rebels against the ugliness and shabiness of the subject matter. This is why we love "Madame Bovary" and cry for Emma, why we greedily read "Lolita" as our heart breaks for its small, vulgar, poetic and defiant orphaned heroine. Azar Nafisi
About This Quote

In the novel, "Madame Bovary", Flaubert offers a critique of bourgeois society, but offers a vision of hope as the story progresses. In this novel, Emma Bovary is a character who is fascinated by romance and yearns to lead a romantic life. When Emma meets a man named Rodolphe, she acts on her feelings for him and becomes obsessed with him. She yearns to have a passionate love affair with this man, but is constantly thwarted by her husband and family.

In the end, it is only after she commits suicide that she is able to be with Rodolphe in death. In this novel, Flaubert offers an examination of the nature of the bourgeoisie and bourgeois morality. He suggests that societal structures can be changed through individual actions and that people can rise above their circumstances.

By challenging the social order through an examination of the heart, Flaubert offers a message of hope for those who are desperate enough to rise above their circumstances.

Source: Reading Lolita In Tehran

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