Théophile Gautier
Théophile Gautier was a prominent French writer born on August 30, 1811, in Tarbes, who later moved to Paris, where he would develop his literary career. He was heavily influenced by Romanticism and became a key figure in a group of young writers advocating for this movement, often defending the works of Victor Hugo. Gautier's early poetic work, *Albertus: Soul and Sin*, garnered critical acclaim for its exquisite language and vivid imagery. He later ventured into novel writing, producing notable works such as *Mademoiselle de Maupin*, which explores themes of love and passion.
In addition to his fiction, Gautier was a prolific writer of theater and art criticism, recognized for his positive approach to reviewing. His travel writings, including *Wanderings in Spain* and *A Winter in Russia*, capture the essence of various cultures and locales. Gautier's most significant contribution to literature may lie in his poetry collection, *Enamels and Cameos*, praised for its focus on form, language, and imagery, which foreshadowed the Imagism movement of the early 20th century. While admired for his craftsmanship, Gautier's work sometimes faced criticism for its perceived lack of emotional depth, reflecting his unique approach to both poetry and prose. His influence extends into later literary works, underscoring his enduring legacy in the arts.
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Théophile Gautier
French poet and critic
- Born: August 30, 1811
- Died: October 23, 1872
Biography
Théophile Gautier (goh-tyay) was born at Tarbes in the south of France on August 30, 1811, but shortly afterward moved with his family to Paris, where he received his education. He avidly studied art and the literature of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Coming early under the influence of the Romantics, Gautier formed a group of young writers who denounced the classicists and defended Victor Hugo and other writers, some of whom were identified with the Romantic movement. Gautier’s second poetic work, Albertus: Soul and Sin, impressed the critics with its felicitous language and excellent description. Switching to a new medium, he then brought out a novel, the popular Mademoiselle de Maupin: A Romance of Love and Passion.
From 1836 until his old age, in order to augment his income, Gautier wrote theater and art criticism for Paris newspapers. He was a good-tempered critic, generally pointing out the good points of a work rather than its faults; he was occasionally criticized for his lack of a true critical eye. Gautier was able to travel from time to time, and in works such as Wanderings in Spain, Travels in Italy, Constantinople of To-Day, and A Winter in Russia the writer caught the individual color and atmosphere of these places. During this period he also continued writing fiction, such as the successful Romance of the Mummy and Captain Fracasse. The latter contains elements of the picaresque and contains more humor than his other works. Gautier’s most significant work, however, is probably the volume of poems titled Enamels and Cameos. The emphasis in these short poems is on form, language, and imagery, making the work a precursor to the Imagism of the first decade of the twentieth century.
In spite of Gautier’s early adulation of the Romantics, both his poetry and prose demonstrate that in many ways he was far from adhering to their principles. In his poetry, for example, he was more interested in form than in the expression of emotions. In Enamels and Cameos, especially, critics hailed the plastic quality of his verse; one called the poems “carved gems.” Through exact language and appropriate descriptive details Gautier kept his imagery under control at all times. Because of the lack of emotion and ideas in his verse, some unfriendly critics labeled his poetry “mere prettiness.” His prose also reflects this dominant interest in form. In his novels he seems more interested in the backgrounds of his stories than in the stories themselves and more interested in the physical characteristics of his characters than in the characters themselves. Still, Gautier has been noted for the Edgar Allan Poe-like craftsmanship of the interior minds of his characters, and his use of fantasy has influenced writers as late as the 1970’s.
Bibliography
Bowman, Frank. French Romanticism. Baltimore, Md.: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990. A thoughtful study which explores the importance of religion, eroticism, and psychological instability in numerous French works of short and long fiction written during the first half of the nineteenth century. Bowman’s remarks are very relevant to Gautier’s short stories.
Gordon, Rae Beth. Ornament, Fantasy, and Desire in Nineteenth-Century French Literature. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1992. A solid analysis which examines the representation of obsessive behavior and sexual fantasies in fiction by Gautier and other nineteenth century French writers.
Gosselin Schick, Constance. Seductive Resistance: The Poetry of Théophile Gautier. Atlanta: Rodopi, 1994. Schick’s exhaustive study begins with an analysis of the intextual repetition of Gautier’s poetry, the citations, imitations and transpositions which make evident the poetry’s displacement of the significant and the personal into aesthetic simulacra. The study covers each of Gautier’s five major collections and deals with the contextuality, the fetishism, and the eroticism revealed in a miscellany of poems.
Gosselin Schick, Constance. “Théophile Gautier’s Poetry as ‘Coquetterie posthume.’” Nineteenth-Century French Studies 20, nos. 1/2 (1992): 74-84. Insightful study of the treatment of death in Gautier’s late poetry. Describes the maturity that was generally lacking in his early poetry.
Grant, Richard B. Théophile Gautier. Boston: Twayne, 1975. Albeit somewhat dated, this book still remains one of the best introductions in English to the writings of Théophile Gautier. It includes an annotated bio-bibliography of primary works in French, English translations, and critical studies in both French and English.
Henry, Freeman. “Gautier/Baudelaire: Homo Ludens Versus Homo Duplex.” Nineteenth-Century French Studies 25, nos. 1/2 (1996/1997). Baudelaire dedicated his 1857 book of poetry Flowers of Evil to Gautier. This essay examines how both poets created complex poems that permit several levels of interpretation.
Majewski, Henry F. “Painting into Text: Theophile Gautier’s Artistic Screen.” Romance Quarterly 47, no. 2 (Spring, 2000): 84-102. Examines one important aspect of the complex intertextual signs informing Gautier’s poetry. He proposes to study the function of painting in Gautier’s poetry as a kind of artistic screen.
Marino, Virginia M. “The Devil’s Discourse: The Meeting of Allegory and the Fantastic.” Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts 31 (1997): 331-346. An insightful analysis of several short stories in which Gautier leaves it to the reader’s imagination whether there is a real or a supernatural explanation for strange occurrences.
Smith, Albert B. Théophile Gautier and the Fantastic. University, Miss.: Romance Monographs, 1977. A book-length study on the various types of seemingly inexplicable occurrences depicted in works of both short and long fiction written by Gautier. Includes a clear discussion of what the notion of the fantastic meant to Gautier.
Smith, Nigel E. “Gautier, Freud, and the Fantastic: Psychoanalysis avant la Lettre.” In Functions of the Fantastic, edited by Joe Sanders. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1995. A Freudian analysis of obsessive behavior and sexual fantasies in several short stories by Gautier.