The Question of Intent

Abstract

This chapter examines how the poet employs a range of conflicting voices, opinions, and personas throughout Le Spleen de Paris. It discusses how this polyphony has been variously interpreted as a reflection of contemporary political debates, as deliberate mystification, and as a form of antagonism. The chapter argues instead for an implied ambition to wean readers from reliance on authoritative pronouncement so that they may become lawgivers themselves—and thereby enjoy the beauty of perplexity and conjecture. The question of authorial intent is discussed with reference to Baudelaire’s dedicatory letter to Arsène Houssaye, and it is proposed that the unifying voice within the polyphony of Le Spleen de Paris is that of ‘l’Étranger’. The chapter closes with a discussion of ‘Le Mauvais Vitrier’ as an example of how the poet seeks to elicit multiple readerly responses in imitation of a kaleidoscope, etymologically ‘the means of seeing beautiful forms/ideas’.