The Painter of Modern Life by Charles Baudelaire

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In a nut shell, the word ‘flaneur’ can be simply described as ‘an idle man-about-town’ (Flaneur) or a type of loafer. This loosely holds true to a more in-depth definition by Charles Baudelaire in The Painter of Modern Life. Baudelaire delves deeper into the essence of a flaneur, describing it somewhat as a person driven by curiosity. One who is hungry for knowledge and experiences, in constant pursuit of the unknown. These factors, along with others, may force us to perceive the flaneur as a loafer. The persona in Song of Myself by Walt Whitman teeters on the line of ‘he is flaneur’ versus ‘he is not flaneur’, in accordance with Baudelaire’s definition that is. Whitman’s persona in Song of Myself undoubtedly has an abundance of experiences to share, and is therefore indeed an observer of the world; a man of the world, but whether he has pursued these experiences with the attitude, curiosity and hunger characteristic of a flaneur or merely had them by means of existing hinders his qualification to be flaneur.
Baudelaire’s flaneur definition spans even wider. Much of the definition being communicated through the behavior and characteristics of his main character Monsieur G. who he describes as ‘a man of the whole world, a man who understands the world and the mysterious and lawful reasons for all its uses…’(Baudelaire 7). An interpretation of this suggests that Baudelaire’s idea of a flaneur is someone with an openness and appreciation for much of every and anything unfamiliar to him. Baudelaire’s flaneur craves to be a part of a greater whole; ‘a spiritual citizen of the universe’, ‘a passionate spectator’ (Baudelaire 7). A cursory observation of Whitman’s persona reveals that he is ‘a man of the world’; he professes to contain ev...

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...er if the definition encompasses the globe he is definitely a flaneur. A final analysis of the poem as a whole reveals that the persona can be considered flaneur again due to the manner in which he relates the poem to us the readers. The poem is told in what feels like chunks of recollected experiences, quite pell-mell, much like how Monsieur G. absorbs the world. The persona in song of myself maintains a duality; he is a flaneur while not being flaneur according to Charles Baudelaire’s definition in The painter of Modern Life.

Works Cited
Baudelaire, Charles, and Jonathan Mayne. "The Artist, Man of the World, Man of the Crowd and
Child." The Painter of Modern Life, and Other Essays. London: Phaidon, 1964. N. pag. Print.
"Flaneur." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2014.
Whitman, Walt. Song of Myself. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, n.d. Print.

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