Villiers de l’isle-adam and his cruel short stories

Abstract

Villiers de l’Isle-Adam (1838-1889) is always remembered and admired for his books: Contes cruels, L’Ève future and Claire Lenoir- which summarize the main worries of the writer, his satire of the triumphant Positivism, his metaphysical theory and his aspiration for the Ideal. He is one of the greatest artisans of the French literature style of the XIX century and, in spite of some individual and particular characteristics, he shares with other writers from his time – Joris-Karl Huysmans, Barbey d’Aurevilly, Leon Bloy, among others – the same sorrow and fury towards Positivism and Mercantilism. Having as a starting point the collection Contes cruels, the purpose of this article is to reveal the author’s writings who, by searching for the Ideal and by taking refuge in art, is able to unite the poet, the ironic and the idealist philosopher. Through his writings, the writer moves away from the world’s mediocrity and can express a mix of revolt, reaction, rebellion and also, his hopes expressed in his beliefs in the “Au-delà” and in the salvation by the Ideal.

Keywords: Villiers de l’Isle-Adam. Contes cruels. Symbolism. Poetic prose. Fantastic. Irony.