The Ideal by Charles Baudelaire

Gavarni was a highly regarded French illustrator and caricaturist in the mid-19th century, famous for depicting stylish Parisian women — typically portrayed as pale, delicate, and sentimental. Baudelaire references him to emphasize his rejection: he's not merely dismissing a vague notion of beauty, but rather a particular, well-respected artist whose work he considers lacking depth.

Night is a marble sculpture Michelangelo created for the Medici Chapel in Florence, finished around 1534. It depicts a large, muscular female figure lounging in a restless, twisted pose — she appears to be trapped between sleep and consciousness. Baudelaire was captivated by her immense physical presence and the deep sorrow that seems to emanate from her.

He truly intends it as a sincere compliment. For Baudelaire, Lady Macbeth's eagerness to chase power regardless of the moral implications grants her a certain dreadful magnificence. She is "lovely" not in spite of her darkness but because of it — her beauty and her ruthlessness are intertwined.

Baudelaire suggests that Lady Macbeth embodies the scale and tragic intensity of a character from ancient Greek drama, like Electra or Clytemnestra. However, she originates from Shakespeare's imagination, grounded in the chilly, shadowy landscape of Scotland. She's a figure of classical magnificence reimagined in a contemporary northern context.

Not in any traditional way. There's no particular individual being referred to or sought after. It's more about an aesthetic viewpoint — a statement of what Baudelaire thinks beauty truly is, alongside a dismissal of what is considered beautiful in mainstream culture. The desire exists, but it's aimed at an ideal rather than a specific person.

It’s a sonnet—fourteen lines—following the Petrarchan style with an octave (eight lines) and a sestet (six lines). The octave expresses a rejection of conventional beauty, while the sestet reveals Baudelaire's true desires. This turn, known as the volta, occurs right at "Lady Macbeth."

Chlorosis was a 19th-century medical term for a type of anemia, often referred to as "green sickness," which was linked to pale, lethargic young women. Baudelaire employs this term to ridicule Gavarni's subjects, portraying them as literally bloodless — more sickly than beautifully delicate.

The collection explores the conflict between spleen (feelings of boredom, disgust, and despair) and ideal (the soul's desire for something transcendent and beautiful). "The Ideal" clearly articulates Baudelaire's vision of this ideal: it’s not about sweetness or prettiness, but instead about a force that is both overwhelming and, at times, frightening.