Emma had great feeling for Leon. After Leon’s departure to Law school, Emma falls into depression. This depression causes her to be moody, irritable and generally miserable. The writer says:
“ Emma became aware of her love” (p, 100)
This change in character shows us that Emma loved Leon very much even though she did not confess it. We also learn from this that Leon was an important part of Emma’s life because his departure caused her to get depressed and to even fall sick.
Leon causes Emma to go through struggles. When Leon and Emma reunite, their relationship goes on however they live in different towns. Because of this, Emma travels every week to see him. By doing this Emma has to lie to her husband that she is going for piano lesson. You can see that this was a problem when the writer says:
“ her memory of Leon formed the core of the ennui” (p. 115)
This also becomes a case when Emma doesn’t know her piano teacher’s name after Charles asks her.
Emma can’t help falling in love with Leon. When Leon returns to Rouen from Paris, Emma is depressed because Rodolphe has left her. Seeing Leon doesn’t help her situation so she prepares a letter saying she will not be getting in an affair with him. Before they meet Emma’s is ready to give Leon this letter however after their meet the letter is seen being ripped up and thrown away. This shows us that Leon if very influential to Emma as she wasn’t able to resist falling in love with him again.
Leon compensates for the affection Emma lacks from her husband, Charles. Charles doesn’t give Emma the attention she desires and this results in her getting in affaires with other men. Leon manages to win her over Charles twice. Because of this lack of attention, Charles doesn’t even notice Emma getting very close to other men. This implies that Leon gives Emma the attention she lacks from her husband.
Leon revives Emma from her depression after she is left by Rodolphe. After Rodolphe leaves Emma she gets very depressed and even threatens suicide but when Lean returns in her life, the depression stops. This shows us that Emma needed a man to revive her from her stress and in this case Leon is that man.
Leon causes Emma to drift away from her child. Leon living in a different town from Emma caused her to travel every week to visit him. She ended up spending so much time with Leon and it caused her to drift away from her child. This is unusual because mothers are usually very close to their children especially when they are young.
Leon was the last man that man Emma loved before she committed suicide. Leon was the last man that Emma had an affair with before she poisoned herself. This implies to us that Emma was tired of her life and if she could not be with Leon then she didn’t want to be with anyone.
In conclusion, Leon played a very significant role in the play and this was the role of Emma’s lover. Leon had a very noticeable impact on Emma who played a more major character in the play. Most of Emma’s actions in the play can be explained by Leon’s overall impact on her personality.
by
meddakik (student)
