Madame Bovary's Ovaries: A Darwinian Look at Literature.

MADAME BOVARY'S OVARIES: A Darwinian Look at Literature DAVID R BARASH AND NANELLE R. BARASH

What can the works of John Steinbeck, William Shakespeare, and Jane Austen tell us about human biology and evolution? A lot, according to authors David F. Barash, an evolutionary psychologist, and his daughter Nanelle R. Barash, a biology-and-literature student. This is a whimsical and unique analysis of the forces motivating literary characters. More often than not, the protagonists in novels, plays, and movie scripts reflect the same natural forces that drive not only humans but other species as well, the Barashes write. For example, it's easy to identify with Othello's rage at the suspected infidelity of his wife Desdemona because men across cultures and males across species are prone to sexual jealousy. The tragedy of The Scarlet Letter and Madame Bovary, among countless other tales of loose women and cheating wives, addresses universal notions of female sexuality and fidelity. Famous literary works are filled with other examples of behaviors identified by sociobiologists as common in many animals, from females' preoccupation with the selection of a suitable mate (reflected in Austen's love stories) to the notion of altruism (demonstrated famously in Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers). This well-researched and humorous narrative will appeal to lovers of evolutionary science and as well as of literature. Delacorte, 2005, 272 p., hardcover, $24.00.