Madame Bovary Readalong - crinolines, carriages and lovers this way, 1 October

[StColumbofNavron]

Following the successful Anna Karenina readalong (almost coming to a close), Emma Bovary has come up in conversation as a comparison piece. You don't need to have read Anna Karenina though to join in.

We start on 1 October, mark your spot.

The goal is to read one chapter per day. There are three parts, 35 chapters and we'll take a day break between each part. It is fine to post as we go along but no further than the chapter for that day.

I have opted for the Aveling Marx translation (Wordsworth Classics) as that is what is on my shelf, however, more on translations below.

https://welovetranslations.com/2022/04/08/whats-the-best-translation-of-madame-bovary-part-1/
https://welovetranslations.com/2022/04/08/whats-the-best-translation-of-madame-bovary-part-2/
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/oct/21/translating-madame-bovary-adam-thorpe

Part 1
1 01-Oct
2 02-Oct
3 03-Oct
4 04-Oct
5 05-Oct
6 06-Oct
7 07-Oct
8 08-Oct
9 09-Oct

BREAK 10-Oct

Part 2
1 11-Oct
2 12-Oct
3 13-Oct
4 14-Oct
5 15-Oct
6 16-Oct
7 17-Oct
8 18-Oct
9 19-Oct
10 20-Oct
11 21-Oct
12 22-Oct
13 23-Oct
14 24-Oct
15 25-Oct

BREAK 26-Oct

Part 3 27-Oct
1 28-Oct
2 29-Oct
3 30-Oct
4 31-Oct
5 01-Nov
6 02-Nov
7 03-Nov
8 04-Nov
9 05-Nov
10 06-Nov
11 07-Nov

@Sadik I don't have italics either! Maybe I should have given more thought to the translation I chose.

Part Two, Chapter Four

• Once the winter arrives, Emma moves into the parlor from her room. She sits and people-watches all day.
• Twice a day, she sees Léon go back and forth to and from his office.
• Monsieur Homais continues to be an attentive neighbor; he stops by every day around dinner time to discuss the daily news with Charles and to give Emma household tips.
• After this evening chat, Justin (Homais’ cousin/apprentice/servant boy) comes in to fetch his master. Homais pokes fun at the boy for having a crush on Félicité.
• The pharmacist also scolds Justin for eavesdropping all the time.
• On Sundays, the Homais household entertains the few townspeople Monsieur Homais hasn’t alienated. Léon and the Bovarys always come.
• On these occasions, Léon is always by Emma’s side, talking to her, coaching her at card games, and looking at magazines with her.
• Something is obviously going on between Emma and Léon. Charles, unsuspecting as ever, has no idea. At this point, Emma herself doesn’t fully realize it.
• Léon is careful to include Charles in his thoughts, as to avoid suspicions. He gives the officier de santé a splendid phrenological head model for his birthday (a kind of bizarro medical fad of the nineteenth century – supposedly different head shapes have different meanings).
• Léon is always willing to get things for Emma, from the latest books to a bushel of cacti.
• Emma and Léon each have little gardens outside their windows, from which they look at each other while tending the plants.
• To show her gratitude, Emma has a gorgeous velvet bedspread sent over to Léon…it seems like something of an extravagant present. Everyone else is sure that the pair are lovers.
• Léon idiotically reinforces this idea by talking about Emma 24/7. Even poor Binet gets so sick of him that he snaps at the boy one day.
• Ah, l’amour! Léon is tortured by his love for Emma, and tries to figure out how to possibly tell her. He can’t bring himself to do it.
• Emma, on the other hand, doesn’t get all worked up; she doesn’t even try and see if she is or isn’t in love with him. Flaubert ominously ends the chapter, though, with the suggestion that one day she’ll crack and her love will be out of control.

Loving the baby name riffs, you ladies are so fab and funny 😂

Part Two, Chapter 5

• The usual quartet is out on an odd and incredibly boring field trip. They’re visiting a new spinning mill just outside town, along with two of Homais’ unfortunately named children, Athalie and Napoléon.
• The main attraction is generally unattractive.
• Homais, as usual, chats up a storm. Everyone else is somewhat pensive. Emma reflects suddenly upon how irritating Charles is, even when he’s doing nothing.
• Léon, on the other hand, looks particularly lovely to her. She begins to realize that something is happening between them.
• Napoléon ruins the moment by generally being bratty. He’s painted his shoes white with a pile of lime that’s lying around the mill. Charles and Justin attempt to get rid of it.
• That evening, Emma thinks about the day – and about Léon. She can’t stop envisioning his face, his mannerisms, the sound of his voice. Finally, an epiphany: Léon loves her!
• Once she admits this to herself, Emma goes into full-out dramatic Love Overdrive. She laments fate, lolls around the house swooning left and right, and drifts about in a blissful haze. Generally, she does everything she’s read about in books.
• The next day, Monsieur Lheureux, the dry-goods merchant (he sells things like fabric and pretty much any household item) stops by for a visit. He is quite clever and sounds, from Flaubert’s description, like a pretty shady character. Nobody knows what he was up to before he came to Yonville.
• The merchant knows exactly what buttons to press with Emma. He talks up her elegance and refinement, then offers her a selection of dainty items to choose from. She sticks by her guns and says she doesn’t need anything, but the seed has been planted – Emma, naturally, wants pretty things.
• Lheureux also slyly tells Emma that if she needs money, she can always borrow it from him…which doesn’t sound like such a great idea, if you ask us.
• Emma congratulates herself on being so frugal, but she still can’t stop thinking of Monsieur Lheureux’s pretty wares.
• Léon shows up, nervous and on edge. He wants to say something to her about his feelings, but chickens out yet again. Awkwardness ensues.
• In the wake of the realization that she and Léon are in love, Emma attempts briefly to reform herself – she goes all serious and tries to clean up her act.
• Emma’s good girl façade fools everyone, even Léon. He begins to wonder how he’d even hoped to get close to her. In his mind, she becomes even more spectacular and flawless.
• Everyone admires Emma for her elegance and character. Now that she’s playing the good housewife, she floats along easily in Yonville society. However, on the inside, she conceals passionate feelings. We’re talking serious angst, here. When she’s alone, she can only think of Léon – actually, these fantasies are more enjoyable than his presence, which leaves her unsatisfied.
• Emma wishes Léon would notice that she’s in love with him, but she’s either too lazy or too scared to make anything happen herself. She consoles herself by striking dramatic poses in the mirror and prides herself on her "virtue."
• All of Emma’s secret troubles build up to the boiling point, and she strikes out, complaining about the littlest things, like a door left open or a dish she doesn’t enjoy.
• She is also incredibly irritated by Charles’s dopey lack of awareness; he’s still sure that he’s making her perfectly happy. She feels underappreciated, and makes Charles the focus of all her aggression.
• Emma’s depression returns from time to time. Félicité tries to comfort her, telling her that she once knew another girl who suffered from a similar problem – it was cured by marriage. Unfortunately for Emma, her sadness was brought on by her marriage to Charles.

Part Two, Chapter 6

• Poor Emma. It’s springtime, and she finally attempts to do something to change her life. Remembering how much she loved the convent school, she goes to church to talk to Father Bournisien.
• She finds the priest much preoccupied by the schoolboys he’s in charge of. He’s something of an irritable and unpleasant man.
• Emma flat-out tells the priest that she’s suffering. He assumes that her suffering is physical, and asks if Charles has prescribed anything for it. When Emma attempts to explain her situation, he gets distracted by the boys again, and breaks off the conversation to yell at them.
• This is hopeless. The priest obviously has nothing to offer Emma – they talk for a while longer, their conversation punctuated by the children. Father Bournisien eventually just dismisses Emma, telling her to go home and have a cup of tea. She leaves, disgruntled.
• When she gets home, the stillness of the house seems to mock her. Berthe tries to come over and hug her mother. Emma (who, if you hadn’t guessed, is a terrible mother), angrily pushes the little girl away. Pushing a baby? Come on, Emma. This is a new low.
• Poor Berthe falls and hits her head on the dresser. She starts to bleed, and Emma freaks out. She feels terrible.
• Charles comes home, and Emma tells him that the baby fell over while she was playing. He takes care of the injury and tells Emma not to worry. Emma feels bad for a while, but her anxiety eventually wears off. She looks at Berthe dispassionately, thinking about how ugly the child is.
• Charles, in the meanwhile, has been visiting the Homais family. Mr. and Mrs. Homais. try to cheer him up in a truly warped way, by talking about the various dangers that children face in their everyday lives. The Homais kids live in a totally child-safe household without sharp knives and with bars on the windows.
• Léon is also around. Charles pulls him aside – the clerk worries that the doctor suspects his feelings for Emma.
• Luckily for Léon, Charles is still the same old well-intentioned buffoon he always was. He actually wants Léon to go into Rouen for him and make some inquiries about getting a portrait of Charles made.
• It turns out that Léon goes into the city every week – nobody knows why. Homais suspects that the young man has a secret lover there (wrong!). Nobody can figure out what Léon’s deal is.
• Madame Lefrançois notices that he’s started leaving food on his plate at dinner. Binet suggests that Léon should take up carpentry to improve his disposition (a rather odd choice).
• Léon’s boredom with Yonville and angst about his love for Emma are at a breaking point. However, he’s also afraid of moving away. In the end, though, he decides to leave right away for Paris, to start his studies in the big city.
• Soon enough it’s time to go. The Homais give Léon a tearful seeing-off, but before he leaves, he goes to bid Charles and Emma farewell.
• Charles isn’t at home, so he and Emma have a tense parting moment. He kisses baby Berthe goodbye, then he and Emma are left alone. They shake hands awkwardly – the tension is palpable.
• Léon leaves Yonville, accompanied by the notary, Monsieur Guillaumin.
• After he’s gone, Emma mopes around, wondering where he is. Monsieur Homais comes over to visit as usual, and they discuss Léon’s fate in Paris.
• Homais and Charles are worried that Léon will be corrupted by the city, or else catch some horrible disease. Emma is distressed.
• Soon enough, though, Homais acts as though nothing has happened. He heads back home merrily.

How old is Emma?

Good question, Piggy; I'm not sure, but I imagine her as young.

I'm finding the book a bit bleak at the moment. If Flaubert's goal is to depict the limited nature of small-town life (I'm thinking of the novel's subtitle, 'Provincial Ways'), then he's certainly succeeding. The men all seem so self-centred and dull. The bit where Emma was trying to seek solace from the priest was excruciating. And now her only friend Leon is gone! 😢

I know there are humorous moments, but sheesh, it's heavy. I suppose the beautiful descriptions of nature and the countryside and light pouring through windows offer a slight respite from what otherwise feels like a very claustrophobic environment.

Incidentally, what the name Berthe reminds me of in French literature is a medieval epic heroine comically called Berthe aux grands pieds ('Bigfoot Berthe'). (She was Charlemagne's mother.) I wonder if Flaubert is mocking Emma because she thinks this is a romantic, posh name and it isn't really...?

That's a very interesting theory!

I'm really enjoying Flaubert's style. I think he may be the closest I have found to Hardy , descriptively?

Very interesting, cassandre. Perhaps!
I was thinking that 'Berthe' would sound alright with an aristocratic surname like 'Berthe de Montcomble-Poncy' but it falls so flat with 'Bovary'. I imagine Emma to be around twenty or twenty-one.

I'll catch up with the chapter later on. Reading in French is falling by the wayside. I'm enjoying reading it in translation. I'm getting more of the nuances in the text this time round (unsurprisingly). I agree it's very bleak, dark and despairing.

Part Two, Chapter 7

• Emma sinks back into depression. Now that Léon is gone, she has nothing but her romantic fantasies left. It’s just like it was after the ball at La Vaubyessard – nothing seems good enough for her.
• Léon becomes the center of Emma’s fantasy life – not the real Léon, mind you, but her own construction of him. Now that he’s gone, she curses herself for never giving into her love and…how shall we put this delicately…er, offering herself to him.
• The memory of Léon becomes the center of Emma’s life; Flaubert compares this memory to a campfire burning in the middle of a desolate, snow-covered plain. Emma clings to it desperately for a while, but soon enough it dies down.
• Eventually, the flame of Emma’s love for Léon dies completely, and she’s left in the dark. Her depression is again as intense as it was in Tostes. Emma melodramatically feels that her life will never be better now that she’s experienced something she thinks is real grief.
• This time around, Emma attempts to console herself with material things. She goes on a shopping spree, purchasing a special prie-dieu (a kind of prayer bench), new clothes, and a variety of other pricey things. She also half-heartedly picks up some new hobbies, like learning Italian and reading "serious" books instead of novels, but quickly abandons them. She also acts with an astounding unpredictability – one day she even downs a whole glass of brandy, much to Charles’s dismay.
• Emma is flighty and unpredictable, but she never seems to swing over to "happy." Her looks reflect her inner unhappiness, and she starts to complain about aging.
• Her health is on the decline on the whole – one day she even spits up some blood. Charles is understandably worried, but Emma waves him off. She seems not to care whether she lives or dies.
• Charles cares, though. This incident reduces him to tears, and the only thing he can think to do is write to his mother.
• The elder Madame Bovary suggests rather vehemently that it’s Emma’s novels and lack of religion that make her ill – so Charles decides to keep Emma from reading them. He’s afraid to tell this to Emma himself, so his mother comes to take care of the matter. She cancels Emma’s library card herself.
• Emma and her mother-in-law are not happy to see each other – Madame Bovary Senior leaves after three weeks of uncomfortable silence.
• Mama Bovary leaves on a market-day and, after she’s gone, Emma hangs out her window, watching the merchants assembled sell their wares. In the crowd, she notices a real live gentleman in a fancy velvet coat. Shockingly, he’s headed towards the Bovary house.
• The gentleman asks Justin and Félicité if Charles is available – apparently his servant isn’t feeling well and wants to be bled.
• Charles gets Justin to help with the operation by holding a basin to catch the blood. The sight of blood is too much for both the servant and for Justin – both of them pass out cold. Emma has to come and assist with the remainder of the business.
• Emma is undisturbed by the blood. She competently helps Charles and attempts to revive Justin. As she helps her husband, she looks particularly beautiful, even amidst all the mess.
• Homais comes over, just as all of this is happening. He yells at Justin for hanging about the Bovary household instead of working in the pharmacy where he belongs; the boy heads back home.
• The remaining party briefly discusses fainting – Emma has never done it. Monsieur Boulanger comments that it’s very rare that a lady should have such a strong constitution, but notes that some men are also really easily disturbed by blood.
• Monsieur Boulanger sends his servant back home, but lingers to pay…and get a better look at Emma.
• He’s shocked by how beautiful and graceful Emma is, and can’t believe that she’s married to Charles. We get the idea that Rodolphe Boulanger is bad, bad news. He’s handsome, brutish, and intelligent – a dangerous combination. Furthermore, he’s a real womanizer. Emma is out of her league with this guy.
• Rodolphe decides to seduce Emma. He’s incredibly arrogant about it – he thinks he has her all figured out. Unfortunately, he’s right.

Actually maybe I'm talking rubbish about the name Berthe, because when I google it, the 19th c. woman artist Berthe Morisot comes up. So clearly it was a name in use in the 19th c. But Berthe Bovary isn't a felicitous combination, as you say, Fuzzy!

I'm full of indignation at Emma's MIL cancelling Emma's library card. How dare she?! And Rodolphe, omg, what a cad. Already thinking of how he would get rid of Emma after sleeping with her.

It's interesting what you say about Flaubert's style, Piggy. He claimed to care about style above all else.

I note that tomorrow's chapter is LONG.

Berthe de Montcomble-Poncy! That made me laugh

Yes, this Rodolphe character sounds like very very bad news.

I loved the bit about too much reading harming Emma! That has echoes of Austen. Is it Northanger Abbey?

Unhand those novels. ladies!

Well, it's our delicate constitutions, you know. We can't handle too much drama or peril.

I was horrified at the no reading! Can you imagine? Rodolphe does indeed sound like very very bad news......

Rodolphe is a very nasty piece of work.
He's fully determined to have his way with Emma. Run Emma, run!

Part Two, Chapter 8

• It’s a big day for little Yonville – the town fair. Everyone in the town is up early to set up for it. Binet, who doubles as the captain of the fire brigade, is all gussied up. The whole town is looking its best.
• The only person who’s not too thrilled about all of this is Madame Lefrançois. Homais stops to chat with her, and she cheers up a little when she finds out that he’s on the fair advisory committee (he got there through a dubious claim that his knowledge of chemistry gives him advanced knowledge of farming).
• Homais keeps talking, but his audience is not listening. We follow Madame Lefrançois’ gaze and see what has put her in such a foul mood – the town’s other tavern, her rival, is full of singing people. These good days won’t last too long, though; she tells Homais that she heard that Tellier, the barkeep, was in such great debt to Monsieur Lheureux that the tavern was going to be shut down the following week.
• From the perspective of these gossiping neighbors, we see Emma and Rodolphe a little ways off, talking to Monsieur Lheureux. Rodolphe is obviously planning on making his move already – unlike Léon, he’s a pretty smooth operator.
• Homais goes over to say hello, but Rodolphe manages to avoid him. He regards Emma as they walk along – he’s pleased with what he sees.
• Monsieur Lheureux attempts to follow them and maintain their conversation, but they get rid of him quickly. Rodolphe immediately launches his attack and starts flirting openly with Emma once they’re alone.
• The townspeople are assembled for various agricultural competitions. Rodolphe is supposed to participate in the judging, but he has other things on his mind. He turns all his attention to Emma, who responds eagerly to him.
• He knows exactly what buttons to push – they talk about the frustrations of provincial life, the loneliness of existence…basically, all of Emma’s favorite subjects.
• Their conversation is interrupted by the entrance of the fire brigade and the start of the awards ceremony. A government official, Monsieur Lieuvain, arrives to dole out the prizes; he gives a long, long, loooong speech about the government, the country.
• While this is going on, Emma and Rodolphe continue their intimate conversation. Rodolphe claims that the only true duty is to enjoy what’s beautiful about life, and reject the conventions of society.
• Emma feebly tries to argue that society’s moral standards are important, but Rodolphe shoots her down promptly. He’s the clear winner here; Emma is toast.
• Monsieur Lieuvain, in the meanwhile, just keeps talking and talking. He’s full of governmental rhetoric, but he’s basically not talking about anything. Despite this fact, the whole town (except for Emma and Rodolphe) is enraptured by him.
• Rodolphe quickly wins Emma over. All of her feelings about Léon, the Viscount at the ball, and her loneliness come rushing back, and re-focus on Rodolphe. She’s smitten.
• Finally, Monsieur Lieuvain wraps up his speech. Another speech begins, and Rodolphe continues to woo Emma all the while.
• Agricultural prizes are given for things as diverse as pigs, liquid manure (gross), and drainage. Simultaneously (in an inspired moment of truly ridiculous juxtaposition), Rodolphe declares his love for Emma.
• The prizes, and the wooing, conclude with the awarding of a prize for long service, which is awarded to a confused little old woman. Flaubert describes this woman, Catherine Leroux, with rather excruciating detail; she’s obviously been broken down by years of hard work. She says that she will give her prize money to the priest, which offends Homais.
• Following this ludicrous ceremony, a big feast begins. The townspeople, in a frenzy of communal gluttony, all stuff themselves.
• Rodolphe isn’t interested in the food – he’s thinking of Emma and of the pleasure he’ll get from her in the future. Emma is off with Charles and the Homais family.
• The grand finale of the festival is a display of fireworks – unfortunately, they’re too damp, and they barely go off. The evening ends rather anti-climactically, and everyone drifts back home.
• Homais proceeds to write an enthusiastic, over-the-top article about the fiesta, and publish it in a Rouen paper.

You're right @cassandre this is a really long chapter! Are we all going to fall behind?

I liked this chapter. He obviously enjoyed writing it. I liked the clever cross cutting, for want of a better term. It was also quite witty...all the manure and sexual longing.

I've listened to it on audio Tarahumara but I'm going to read it as well. It's around the length of three chapters! I agree that it's cleverly written. All the manure and sexual longing 😁

I thought that the old woman who received the medal for her years of labour contrasted with Emma's lack of occupation and idleness. It reminded me of Emma's mother-in-law who recommended that she made herself useful. The farm labourer can't sit around and fantasise all day long. I don't know if it's what Flaubert intended. Maybe not.

This chapter (8) is the second one that involves a large gathering of 'common folk'. The agricultural fair and previously, Emma's wedding. The depiction is very unflattering. Also, it's a pivotal moment for Emma in the story. The poor thing doesn't stand a chance against the predatory Rodolphe. I have the song 'Smooth Operator' going around in my head! He really has all the lines at his disposal.

Oh god definitely a smooth operator. I would totally have fallen for him. Look out Emma!!

I'm afraid to say I would have too Almahart, in my younger days. * *

Part Two, Chapter 9

• Six weeks have passed since the fair. Rodolphe hasn’t seen Emma again; at first, he just didn’t want to show up to see her right away, and decided to go on a hunting trip. However, this trip lasted a lot longer than he’d planned and, now that he’s back, he’s worried that he missed his window of opportunity.
• He decides to give it a shot anyway and visit Emma, hoping that absence has indeed made the heart grow fonder.
• Again, he’s right. He can immediately tell that Emma’s still totally into him. He plays his absence up melodramatically, claiming that he had to tear himself away from her. Rodolphe is a total drama king (and liar), and he theatrically wins Emma over with highfalutin’ words and extravagant declarations of passion.
• Emma is totally swept off her feet by Rodolphe’s calculated attack. She allows herself to bask in the glow of his romantic words. However, as he continues to ham it up, they hear Charles arrive at the house. The two lovers immediately switch back into polite neighbor mode.
• Rodolphe, ever the resourceful one, asks Charles if it might do Emma some good to take up horseback riding to improve her health. Of course, he will accompany her himself.
• Charles thinks this is a splendid idea, and he and Rodolphe make all the arrangements. Emma, in a contrary mood, resists – however, Charles convinces her by saying that she can order a new riding outfit.
• The next day, Rodolphe shows up promptly at noon on horseback, with a second horse in tow for Emma. After a brief warning about safety from Monsieur Homais, they’re off.
• The pair ride off into the countryside. They get a good view of the village from up higher – to Emma, Yonville has never looked so small and miserable.
• They venture deeper and deeper into the forest. They dismount and Rodolphe ties up the horses so they can walk into the woods unhampered. As they go, he keeps his eyes on the sliver of white stocking that show between her skirt and boots – to him, it seems like naked skin.
• Rodolphe and Emma reach a clearing and, once they’re settled down, he starts to woo her once more…this time more seriously.
• Emma puts up some resistance – but not too much. She gives in to his advances and, as Flaubert says, "abandons" herself to him. We all know what that means.
• After the deed is done, Rodolphe and Emma head back to Yonville slowly. Everything seems different to her now.
• Rodolphe is legitimately charmed by her – after all, she’s quite lovely.
• Emma feels as though everyone is looking at her as they ride through town.
• At dinner, Charles tells her that he’s purchased a horse of her very own. Little does he know what’s really going on…
• Emma escapes from dinner early and goes upstairs to think over her situation in privacy. She even thinks she looks different – and she feels as though her real life is finally starting.
• From the next day on, Emma and Rodolphe are committed to each other (at least, she’s committed to him, and believes him when he says loves her).
• They do the stereotypical things people having affairs do – exchange notes, have secret rendezvous, etc.
• Emma is blissfully happy. She even runs out in the early morning (after Charles has left on an early call) and races over to La Huchette to see her lover.
• After this risky business goes on for a while, Rodolphe protests that she’s getting too careless. Is he really concerned, or can it be that he’s getting sick of her? Hmm…

I'm a bit behind, haven't read today's chapter yet! But I totally agree with you Piggy about chapter 8. The way Flaubert alternates between the two speeches Rodolphe's seduction speech and the speech of the visiting dignitary is virtuosic. It's also really funny, even though Rodolphe is such a predator that the implications are grim. It's like we're getting two types of rhetoric intertwined and both are pure bullshit, at least on one level. (sorry for the bad language.)

I was also interested in your comment about Austen and novel-reading being bad for women. I've long been intrigued by the theme of women being told not to read novels/romances because they're Too Dangerous, but I didn't know that came up in Austen! I've seen it in early modern conduct books for women. I think there's a related theme involving sexist stereotypes in terms of how men and women read. Men are meant to read intellectually, women are meant to read emotionally; and so women don't have any distance from the text and just identify with whatever they read and decide to do it in real life. 🙄This is a notion you come across frequently in the pre-modern period.

Fuzzy, I like your contrast of the old woman's diligence with Emma's idleness. (Idleness is also seen in the premodern period as being very bad for women, because it gives them time to entertain their lustful thoughts!!) Flaubert seems to have been very interested in servant characters. A long time ago as an undergrad I studied his short story 'Un Coeur simple', which is about an old maidservant called Felicite (the same name as Emma's maid!). She worships her pet parrot. ?? It's all a bit bleak and ironic, but I think she's portrayed with genuine sympathy.