![]() ![]() ![]() The 20-something protagonists of Sally Rooney’s two novels ask their lovers to hit them in bed. Lately, however, Tolstoy and Flaubert have had stiff competition on the self-harm front, thanks to women novelists intent on exploring their female characters’ propensity to act out their unhappiness on their bodies. For Emma, dumped by a conscience-free bachelor with whom she has an extramarital affair - and unable to repay the debts she accrues on account of her shopping addiction - a spoonful of arsenic ultimately beckons. For Anna, guilt over having abandoned her husband and child, paired with a jealous nature, compels her to destroy the love she shares with Count Vronsky - and head for the train tracks. ![]() For generations, Anna Karenina and Emma Bovary have loomed as the nonpareils of self-loathing literary heroines. ![]()
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