Acedia.Apathy. Boredom. Torpor. Ennui.
Emma Bovary.
One of the most famous heroines of French literature might be considered the poster child for acedia. If you've never read Madame Bovary, you ought to. It's the story of what can happen when a person mistakes life for fiction and therefore has no authentic human relationships.
From Chapter IX, "Idle Dreams":
At the bottom of her heart she was waiting for something to happen. Like shipwrecked sailors, she turned despairing eyes upon the solitude of her life, seeking afar off some white sail in the mists of the horizon. She did not know what this chance would be, what wind would bring it her, toward what shore it would drive her... but each morning as she awoke, she hoped it would come that day; she listened to every sound, sprang up with a start, wondered that it did not come; then at sunset, always more saddened, she longed for the morrow.
From the beginning of July, she counted how many weeks there were to October, thinking that perhaps the Marquis d'Andervilliers would give another ball. But all September passed without letters or visits.
After the ennui of this disappointment, her heart once more remained empty and then the same series of days recommenced. So now they would thus follow one another, always the same, immovable and bringing nothing. Other lives, however flat, at least had the chance of some event... but nothing happened to her; God had willed it so! The future was a dark corridor, with its door at the end shut fast.
So... does anything ever happen to her? Plenty. But you'll have to find out for yourself. (Hint: the last thing that happens to her is really bad and really permanent.) One of the best books ever written in any language, and you can downloand it for free: http://www.online-literature.com/gustave-flaubert/madame-bovary/
Terrific example!! I know too well some folks like this...who just wait, in hopes of others bringing them life...sad, really...and quite an ending as you say!!!
ReplyDeleteThe excerpt illustrates acedia perfectly. I have not had the chance to read Madame Bovary, but I know a lot about it, mainly due to its similarities to Kate Chopin's The Awakening. Edna Pontellier also suffers from acedia due to her upper middle class lifestyle, but breaks free from it resulting in a tragic end.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
Wow, I'll have to read "Madame Bovary" now, that passage is incredibly depressing. This may sound strange, but from the way you've described it sounds a lot like "Don Quixote". They both live their life based on fiction, but to different results.
ReplyDeleteI have read Madame Bovary as well as watched the film that we only caught a glimpse of during class. I don't remember my thoughts about specific parts of the plot exactly, but... she did seem to always expect others to take her to exciting new places in order to cast off the listlessness of her daily routine. In that period of time though... and considering her lot in life, she didn't really have too many options when it came to striking off on her own. The few options that came to her though... she took up with much gusto.
ReplyDeleteAlbeit, her final choice didn't turn out to be as... romantic as she had read it to be.:)
Very interesting! I'm embarassed to say that I've yet to read Madame Bovary... I think that now I'm inspired to do so. I know a few individuals who mistake "fiction for authentic human relationships," as you so poignantly quipped, and it is really quite sad. Seems like a story that is relevant throughout the times.
ReplyDeleteMadame Bovary really does seem to embody ennui, doesn't she? That eternal dissatisfaction and detachment from her actual life, the retreat into an idealized but unrealistic world... it's all part of acedia. Well done. :)
ReplyDeleteJudging from everyone's responses, it appears that "living by fiction" is not all that uncommon. One message of "Madame Bovary" is that reality, while sometimes painful, can be satisfying at least part of the time.
ReplyDeleteOne reason I'm enjoying this book is that I see a little of Madame Bovary in several women I know.