Gautier, Théophile | Albert B. Smith (essay date 1977)
Albert B. Smith (essay date 1977)
SOURCE: "The Function of the Fantastic," in Theophile Gautier and the Fantastic, Romance Monographs, Inc., 1977, pp. 118-38.
[In the excerpt that follows, Smith explores the fantastic in Gautier's works, including his use of various phenomena such as impossible events, dreams and hallucinations, and heightened expressivity.]
Arthur Ransome praises Gautier's art:
When [Gautier] is at his best; when he is not projecting young men with a mathematical freedom of morals into a Western society; in those moments, strung like rare beads along the life of an artist, when he is most himself, we hear clipped feathers beat against the bars. .. . As the Christian fingers his crucifix and is able to kneel upon the footsteps of the throne, so Gautier found talismans to help his dreams to their desires. A mummy's foot, a marble hand took him to the times he loved, or half...
[The entire page is 7321 words long]
Join eNotes
The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:
eNotes Pass
