Charles Baudelaire: The Father Of Modernism In Franz Kafka

Charles Baudelaire a French poet has become well-known for his obsession with death and sex, distressed works, and his unconventional, yet reflective writing style. Charles is known as the father of modernism because of how he paved the way for a new genre of writing with anti-romantic ideas, modernist views and his creation of symbolism. Charles’s work with modernism influenced a whole generation of writers and among them was Franz Kafka. After learning about Charles Baudelaire and reading Kafka’s works it’s obvious that Baudelaire’s modernistic philosophies has influenced Kafka in more ways than one.

April 9th, 1821 Charles Baudelaire was born in Paris, France. He was the son of Joseph-Francois Baudelaire and Caroline Archimbaut Dufays. Charles’s father was about thirty years older than Charles’ mother and died when Charles was just six years old. It was his father, Francois, who introduced Charles to the arts, because he was avid painter and poet himself (Burton 2).The loss of his father at such a young age was what initiated the extremely close relationship Charles had with his mother. In 1827, the following year after Joseph’s death, Caroline married Lieutenant Colonel Jacques Aupick. The marriage of Charles’s mother to Jacques extremely troubled Charles (Burton 2). This was a life changing experience for Charles because he was no longer the primary focus of his mother and later in his adulthood it became evident in his writing how it deeply affected him.

In 1832, shortly after the marriage, Charles’s family moved to Lyon where he was sent to a military boarding school. Charles was said to be very inconsistent in his studies, at times hardworking, at other times uninspired to do work. Charles was described as a gifted stude...

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...he needs of society are egotistical, however still fascinating. Gregor also later thinks about how his pride at the beginning was so great because of how his parents leaned on him for supporting his family and how it faded once his parents began to expect him to care for the family and as a result he became a recluse.

Charles Baudelaire and Franz Kafka were exceptional writers who both had family troubles that profoundly affected their writing. They were both extreme revisers, hesitantly giving their work and they were both men who looked at the world and noticed that problems that surround them. They were isolated and thoughtful who took time to watch what was happening around them and let it inspire their work. Without Charles Baudelaire and his eccentric yet contemplative style the world would never has been introduced to the many wonderful works of Kafka.