Charles Baudelaire was born in 1821 in Paris. He is regarded as a poet, critic, and essayist; his best-selling collection of poetry, Les Fleurs de Mal (The Flowers of Evil), was first published in 1857, though it was revised many times both before and after his death. It was quite the scandalous read, touching on topics like lesbianism, erotica, vampirism, and the macabre, which were very taboo at this time, and was one of the many forerunners to the Modernist movement. It caused such an uproar that he, the publisher, and the printer were all fined heavily for creating an offense against public morals, and called for the suppression and removal of six of the raunchiest poems. As well as being a critic and essayist, Baudelaire also translated Poe into French very prolifically; it is said that he alone was responsible for making the American writer accessible to Europe.
In my opinion, Baudelaire is the quintessential poet for gothic lolitas to know. He's absolutely perfect for those interested in the macabre- I mean, the man wrote a love poem about a dog carcass, for crying out loud. Common themes in Baudelaire's work include the natural vs. the man-made (he's in favor of the latter, which was crazy for his time), boredom as the ultimate agony, lost innocence, drugs, and the oppressiveness of modern living. Anyone who knows Modernism knows that these are hugely common in works of that genre.
One of Baudelaire's opinions that I find fascinating (because it's the polar opposite of my own) is that of the natural being evil and the man-made being the only good. For example: crime is natural, he says, and it is only the imposition of laws and morals that allows society to function- otherwise, we would only live by our natural urges. Nature disgusts him; he sees no reason why it should be regarded at all, let alone emulated. Another example he sites is make-up, he says that he only approves of it if it is outlandish and unnatural; natural make-up to enhance one's features is something he cannot stand. This fits well with lolita- gothic black eyeliner, sweet rhinestones and stickers under the eyes, for example. He also believes that boredom is the worst pain one can feel, but that it is only born in city-dwellers. He posits that it is only through excessive over-stimulation that boredom hits, and that because those who live in cities are so constantly bombarded by stimulation, they are also subject to a ennui more potent than anything felt by country mice. This boredom, and the many uses of doing away with it, is another big theme in his work.
Required reading:
- À une passante (To a Passerby)
- Danse Macabre
- Les Deux Bonne Soeurs (The Two Good Sisters)
- L'Invitation Au Voyage (Invitation to the Voyage)
- Les Métamorphoses du vampire (The Metamorphosis of Vampires) -- NSFW!
- Le Rebelle (The Rebel)
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