action begins with the title, Paris Spleen. Since the original writing was in French it would be harmless to say that he lived in Paris and named the book after the city. According to Webster’s, a Spleen is an “…organ that is located… near the stomach or intestine…and is concerned with final destruction of red blood cells, filtration and storage of blood…” (Spleen, Entry 1). By this definition the reader obtains the understanding that Baudelaire is connecting Paris with a function of the body that
during the 19th century (Haviland, screens 5-10). By comparing three of his poems, “Spleen,” “Elevation,” and “To One Who Is Too Gay,” from his masterpiece The Flowers of Evil, three evident commonalities can be found throughout the works in the influence that the three 19th-century styles of Romanticism, Parnassianism, and Symbolism had on his poetry. Charles-Pierre Baudelaire was born on April 9, 1821 in Paris, France to the parents of Francois Baudelaire and Caroline Defayis (Christohersen, Biography)