f "Emma's" in the 1850's; women who through oppression were forced to live out their lives never knowing who they really wereor what was truth and what was false. Emma does not have the knowledge to truly be held accountable for many of her actions. Freedom and responsibility are intertwined, you cannot have one without the other. As Emma was given virtually no freedom, it is impossible to force her to claim responsibility for the mess she creates. With almost no practical education or life experience or any decent advice it is actually a salute to Emma's intelligence that she is able to juggle her financial problems as long as she does. Eventually, when everything comes to a head, she is forced to confront the mess she is in, both emotionally and financially. She learns that romantic ecstasy doesn't last (Bersani 35). She is now "learning the hard way" and with no true friends to comfort or console her she is overwhelmed. Emma's lust, her longing for money and her sentimental aspirations all become 'confused' in one single vague and oppressive sense of suffering. Emma commits suicide not because of the money or Leon or Rudolphe. She kills herself because she realizes that she will never really understand life. She despairs because she is in a mess when she believes that she has done everything as she should. Emma's hope for a baby boy sums up the female experience in 1850's France. She hoped for a son. A man, at least, is free. He can explore passions and countries, surmountobstacles, taste the most exotic pleasures. But a woman is continually held back (Flaubert 101). ...
