Théodorede Banville
Théodore de Banville was a significant French poet and playwright born on March 14, 1823, in Moulins, France. He began his literary journey at a young age, publishing his first poetry collection, *Les Cariatides*, in 1842, which marked his entry into the French literary scene despite limited initial recognition. His friendship with notable poet Charles Baudelaire influenced his artistic development, and throughout the 1840s and 1850s, Banville continued to evolve his style, experimenting with meter and themes in works such as *Les Stalactites* and *Odelettes*. He later became associated with the Parnassian movement, which emphasized technical precision and aesthetic form in poetry.
Banville's works often incorporated satire, evident in his collection *Odes funabulesques*, which critiqued established literary figures. Despite personal struggles with anxiety and depression in the late 1850s, he produced notable pieces like *Améthysts* and *Les Exilés*, showcasing his lyrical talent. By the time of his death in 1891, he had gained a reputation for his wit and contributions to French verse, influencing both the Parnassians and Symbolists. His legacy remains significant in the context of 19th-century French literature.
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Théodorede Banville
Poet
- Born: March 14, 1823
- Birthplace: Moulins, France
- Died: March 13, 1891
- Place of death: Paris, France
Biography
Étienne-Claude-Jean-Baptiste-Théodore Faullain de Banville, known as Théodore, was born to Claude-Théodore Faullain and Zélie Denozier Huet de Banville in Moulins, France, on March 14, 1823. He spent a pleasant childhood at home and was especially close to his sister Zélie. He attended the College de Bourbon in Paris in 1834, and in 1836, the entire family moved to Paris. In 1839, he began studying law at the University of Paris, although he continued to write poetry, a practice he began in childhood.
Banville clearly preferred poetry to law. In 1842, he left the University and in the same year, his first volume of poetry, Les Cariatides (the caryatids) was published through the sponsorship of his father. While the poems were largely ignored, they demonstrated Banville’s Romantic inclinations and paved his way into the contemporary French literary scene. During this same period, Banville began a friendship with Charles Baudelaire. The two poets shared many similar ideas about art and literature, and any study examining either writer must include mention of the other. Banville’s second volume of poetry, Les Stalactites (stalactites), was published in 1846. In this volume, Banville grew dramatically as a poet, experimenting with meter, rhyme, lyric, and theme.
For the next ten years, Banville concentrated on theatre, writing satire and comedies in verse as well as theatre reviews for newspapers. After publishing the collection Odelettes (little odes) in 1856, Banville next produced Odes funabulesques (acrobatic odes), a collection of satiric poems that had appeared in newspapers earlier. The volume received mixed reviews; as an attack on established writers, it naturally came under fire from traditional critics and writers. Nevertheless, this collection proved to be one of Banville’s best-remembered works.
The period between 1856 and 1861 was a difficult one for Banville; he suffered from anxiety and depression. Nevertheless, during this time, he wrote Améthysts: Nouvelles odelettes amoureuses composées sur rhythmes de Ronsard (1862; amethysts: new short romantic odes composed using Ronsard’s rhythms). These, along with his 1866 Les Exilés (the exiled ones), demonstrated Banville’s skill with strict poetic forms as well as his talent for lyricism and musicality. In the 1860’s, in a movement away from his youthful Romanticism, he also became associated with a group called the “Parnassian” poets who stressed careful description and restraint as well as technical virtuosity. They also experimented with verse forms and meters, and believed in “art for art’s sake.”
Throughout his life, Banville continued to write drama, short stories, reviews, and poetry. In addition, his poems and his essays on the art of poetry were highly influential among the Parnassians and the Symbolists. By the time of his death in 1891, Banville was highly regarded by the Parisian literary community for his wit, his poetry, and his contribution to the revitalization of French verse.