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Charles Baudelaire Case

Essay by   •  April 22, 2013  •  Case Study  •  558 Words (3 Pages)  •  2,066 Views

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Charles Baudelaire is one of the most compelling poets of the 19th century. Few writers have had such impact on succeeding generations as Baudelaire was called the "first modern poet" and the "father of modern criticism. Baudelaire stands out in his unprecedented expression of a complex sensibility and of modern themes. Baudelaire's reputation as a scandalous writer, who blatantly used eroticism and open fascination with evil, outraged all right-thinking people. He uses attitudes towards beauty, death, pleasure, and the body is reflected in his poetry.

In Correspondences, we see a very bright side from Baudelaire as he sees beauty with nature. I feel it is in this moment of recollection where he is remembering the old Paris with its beauty, just as the nature he is describing here. I can also see him ruptured in the ideal world that is dominated now by evil. It is possible that Baudelaire simply emphasizes the profound advantages of nature, even when surrounded by a corrupt world and the tainted natural beauty, but I believe his intent is more personal. I believe that he aims to show that one should not be impacted by the morals of those around them, but rather to simply live by the morals that one has established. Live in a nature, a temple that is free from the corruption of society, even if it may not be the most comfortable of living conditions as it is the essence of beauty and happiness.

In A Carcass, Baudelaire introduces us to his particular views of death, beginning the poem with an account of a lovely stroll down a sunlit path in the summertime: "Remember, my love, the object we saw that beautiful morning in June: By a bend in the path a carcass reclined on a bed sown with pebbles and stones; her legs were spread out like a lecherous whore sweating out poisonous fumes, who opened in slick invitational style her stinking and festering womb" Baudelaire goes on to describe the carcass in grotesquely detailed form while interspersing bright, lively images, blurring the lines between life and death.

In his most famous work, The Flowers of Evil expresses the changing nature of beauty in modern, industrializing Paris during the 19th century. With his explicit sexual content, urban beauty, and decay, Baudelaire gained his reputation as a cursed poet. It is clear that in The Flowers of Evil, which is also a provocative corpse poem, I feel that he takes in the pleasure by pointing out the fact that life and death are one: where there is death, there is also life, but where there is life, so too must there be death.

In his poem, Her Hair, Charles Baudelaire romanticizes a luxuriant feature of the body of his mistress. Baudelaire is infatuated with the hair of his mistress: "A long time! Always! My hand in your hair will sow the stars of sapphire, pearl, ruby, that you be never deaf to my desire, my oasis and gourd whence I aspire to drink deep of the wine of memory!" This poem

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