Friday, January 13, 2017
Baudelaire: weird or cool?
My feelings about Baudelaire are mixed. I think his fascination with evil is pretty cool, but the way he writes is strange. He made a whole poem about a carcass and told his lover she was going to end up rotting away just like the carcass. He also uses stark juxtapositions like life vs. death and grossness vs. attractiveness. His imagery helps relate the image of an animal carcass being over taken by animals. Some of his imagery is disturbing, which furthers my dilemma.
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4 comments:
Baudelaire definitely uses some strange imagery and creates dark scenes in his writings. I don't think that it is completely because he is weird, but I think he is trying to prove wrong the rationalists. By showing that their can be beauty in death, he is proving that not everything has to be rational and perfect. I can also see how he gets his inspiration from Poe as they both seem to include dark and gloomy imagery at times. The life vs. death and gross vs. beauty juxtapositions can serve to show that there is not always a fine line between two things, such as pain and pleasure. Baudelaire's imagery may be a little weird, but the main themes show a bigger picture.
I agree that Baudelaire is a strange guy. I can't imagine being out with a guy and him just randomly saying hey babe you're gonna die one day which is basically what Baudelaire does. However, I admire his boldness by using these seemingly dark images and making it into something beautiful. I think I actually enjoy reading Baudelaire because I enjoy reading Edgar Allen Poe. As Dylan points out they both use dark and gloomy imagery in order to make a larger point in their writing. I think Baudelaire was a cool guy who just wanted to do his own thing and not worry about what the 19th century rationalists thought.
I don't think that he made the dark images beautiful at all. His work was vulgar and just plain gross. Describing an animal carcass with the words "lecherous whore" was gross and frankly unnecessary. Especially since he was comparing the carcass to his lover. If I were her, I would not have been happy.
It's quite interesting that Baudelaire contrasts the beautiful with the grotesque. This signifies a juxtaposing element in human existence which is vividly depicted through this poem. I really enjoyed the descriptive symbolism that Baudelaire uses.
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