Paris Spleen, 1869 Characters & Character Analysis

Paris Spleen, 1869 Characters

Charles Baudelaireappears in Paris Spleen

Charles Baudelaire is the author of "Paris Spleen", a collection of poetry from the late nineteenth century. Baudelaire attempts to mimic Aloysius Bertrand's "Gaspard de la nuit" by emulating the prose poetry in Bertrand's collection. Baudelaire writes to his editor, describing his inspiration and his view of his failure in accomplishing his goal to emulate another author's style, though, in essence, Baudelaire accomplished a separate goal by creating his own style which authors since have attempted to emulate. This creation gives Baudelaire both pride for his creation and shame for failing to accomplish his original goal.

Several of the works in Baudelaire's collection reflect both human-natured views of less fortunate people within his surroundings by acknowledging a measure of guilt for being more fortunate, while simultaneously showing his disdain for the laboring class and his fascination with the contradiction. He repeatedly displays pleasure in the...
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