Critical Anthology - The Bloody Chamber - Task Four:

Researching Baudelaire:

During which years was he alive?

Born: April 9, 1821 - Paris, France

Died: August 31, 1867 (aged 46) - Paris, France

Where did he live and work?

Baudelaire lived and worked in Paris, France.

How is he unlike his poetic Romantic predecessors?

He was unlike his romantic predecessors because "In his works we see the rejection of the belief in the supremacy of nature and the fundamental goodness of man as typically espoused by the romantics and expressed by them in rhetorical, effusive and public voice in favor of a new urban sensibility, an awareness of individual moral complexity, an interest in vice (linked with decadence) and refined sensual and aesthetical pleasures, and the use of urban subject matter, such as the city, the crowd, individual passers-by, all expressed in highly ordered verse, sometimes through a cynical and ironic voice."

How is he like the Romantic poets?

Even though he was heavily influenced by the Romantic poets, he was still very honest and real which did make him quite different to all of the other poets who were involved in the Romanticism movement.

What is his most famous poetry collection called and when was it published?

His most famous collection was called 'Fleurs de Mal' or 'The Flowers of Evil'. It was first published in 1857.

What are the themes of this collection which has been called both ‘putrid’ (by Habas) and ‘unyielding as marble’ (by Flaubert)?

Baudelaire included many controversial themes in his work, Fleurs de Mal, such as 'the principal themes of sex and death (considered scandalous). He also touched on lesbianism, sacred and profane love, metamorphosis, melancholy, the corruption of the city, lost innocence, the oppressiveness of living, and wine.'

Find out two more interesting facts about Baudelaire

• He was a big user of the drug laudanum - This is also what what of the poets and writers of the romantic genre were doing as well such as Wordsworth and Coleridge.
• In 1841, Baudelaire's stepfather sent him on a voyage to India, hoping that it would open his mind and redirect his energy. The use of the sea, sailing and exotic ports inspired much of Baudelaire's work.