individual and society in Baudelaire s Crowds
Charles Baudelaire, in his prose poem “Crowds”, explores the themes of egoism, individualism and conformity. He delves into the idea of the artist as a philosopher and the artist’s ability to experience the world. In our modern, individualistic society, it is tempting to shift Baudelaires analysis to the common individual. It is the very individualism of modern society that allows us to reject his arguments in "Crowds” as adolescent egoism. Ultimately, however, both the modern reader and Charles Baudelaire fail in the attempt to stand apart from the conformity of the crowd. Despite twin beliefs that individualism holds them apart from the crowd, both Baudelaire and the modern reader, are ultimately consumed by the swelling mass of humanity. ... Baudelaire says of the artist’s ability to surrender to the crowd, "the ineffable orgy, the holy prostitution of the soul that gives itself entirely, poetry and charity, to the unexpected that presents itself, to the unknown passer-by.