Have you read Gemma Bovary, the 2005 graphic novel by Posy Simmonds?
I’m reading the—ahem—original Madame Bovary as I write this and am, comme toujours, seduced and repelled by Emma’s desperate passion for beauty and refinement.
Gemma’s an update, with a heroine who’s equally urgent as Emma, with a bad case of postmodern ennui.
But this post concerns literary fashion, so here is Charles Bovary’s first glimpse of Emma:
“A young woman, in a blue merino-wool dress with three flounces, came to the door of the house. . . . Charles was surprised at the whiteness of her nails. They were lusterous, tapering, more highly polished than Dieppe ivories, and cut into an almond shape.”
Perhaps the image above could be Emma and Gemma’s middle sister, Maud. ("Madame Bovary--c'est Maud! [with apologies to Flaubert].)
I’m reading the—ahem—original Madame Bovary as I write this and am, comme toujours, seduced and repelled by Emma’s desperate passion for beauty and refinement.
Gemma’s an update, with a heroine who’s equally urgent as Emma, with a bad case of postmodern ennui.
But this post concerns literary fashion, so here is Charles Bovary’s first glimpse of Emma:
“A young woman, in a blue merino-wool dress with three flounces, came to the door of the house. . . . Charles was surprised at the whiteness of her nails. They were lusterous, tapering, more highly polished than Dieppe ivories, and cut into an almond shape.”
Perhaps the image above could be Emma and Gemma’s middle sister, Maud. ("Madame Bovary--c'est Maud! [with apologies to Flaubert].)
could be, could be... :-)
ReplyDeleteFantastic picture, sooo european...
l