How did Charles Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal get reviewed when it was published in 1857?
Charles Baudelaire’s mother had reservations about Les Fleurs du Mal. Theophile Gautier warned the poet of its “scabrous nature.” M. Bourdin, writing for Le Figaro (a newspaper largely reflecting government views), was scandalized: There are times when one doubts Monsieur Baudelaire’s sanity; there are those when there is no longer any doubt; most of the … Read more