Emile, or On Education Literary Elements

Bildungsroman, Educational Book, Realist Fiction. Setting

The setting of the book is universal but it was published in Geneva during mude eighteenth century. The book has been written in the context of the education of a child and to eradicate corruption from society.

The narrator of the book is Rousseau and the book has been narrated from this point of view I.e. from first person's point of view. Rousseau has introduced himself in the book as the mentor of a child.

Didactic, Critical, Optimistic, Moralistic, Educating

The protagonist of the book is a hypothetical child Emile, whom Rousseau teaches various lessons of life at each stage in his life. The antagonist in the book is the corruption prevailing in society.

The major conflict in the story is between Rousseau and the prevailing corruption in his society. Rousseau wanted to eradicate this by educating people since their childhood regarding all the matters of their lives i.e. since childhood to adolescence and then to the later part of their lives.

As it is an educational book, there is no climax in the book as it usually occurs in other stories. On the other hand, it can be said that climax occurs in each stage of the protagonist's life where he acquires various skill and learn different lessons of his life.

The course of education which has been followed in the upbringing of Emile foreshadows that he would become an honest individual who cannot tolerate the corruption in society. Furthermore, the description of Sophie foreshadows Rousseau's views about women.

The understatement in the book is that children should learn from the influence of others I.e. through others' actions rather than instructions. Another understatement in the book is that we should raise our children in such a way that they would become healthy individuals with creative minds and enlightened souls. Rousseau raises the hypothetical child by teaching him a specific lesson at each stage of his life. He doesn't tell him about religion before adolescence and he instill various skills during his childhood.

There are allusions to education of a child, kite flying, religion, spiritual enlightenment, adolescence, childhood, breastfeeding, engagement, skills, trade, Savoyard, corruption, humans potential for corruption, manhood, virtue, woman as weaker sex, passivity of women, timidness, etiquettes, household chores and moral values.

The book is replete with images of educating a child. There are images of Emile learning as a child, as an adolescent and then as a man. The author has portrayed him as flying kites and learning its strategies. He is presented as following his own shadow and then learning from the influence of others.

There are several pastoral images in the book because the mentor asks Emile to learn from the natural environment. He learns from nature and from living among animals as well. The mentor has not liked the images from books or learning from books.

There are images of Emile getting indulge in various activities I.e. trade, religion, spiritual enlightenment etc. The author has also introduced him as an individual getting engaged with a girl named Sophie. Through Sophie's character, Rousseau has given an account of the education of girls. There are images of Sophie demonstrating proper etiquettes and devotion for Emile.

The paradox in the book is that the sole focus has been put on the education of a male while women have been relegated to periphery. Women have been considered as weaker sex and their existence has been demonstrated as for men's pleasure. The author has just talked about the household chores, etiquettes and devotion regarding women. As they are equal part of society, their lack if education is quite paradoxical. Another paradox in the book is that people do not provide proper education to their children and then they blame the society for corruption and other evils.

A parallelism has been drawn between the education of an individual and his role in society. As he becomes more educated, he gets awareness about his responsibilities as an individual in his society.

An example of metonymy is Emile who represents all the individual who are given a proper education to make them civilized individuals. An example of synecdoche is Sophie whoose character alludes towards Rousseau's views about women.

Education, moral values, influence of others, spiritual enlightenment and virtues have been personified in the book.