Questions you may choose to guide you in this week’s blog response:
- What kind of relationship do Baudelaire and Poe create between individual and city? How is this related to Benjamin’s ideas about the work of art?
- Examine or close read a quote from one of the texts. Why was this quote a space of tension for you in the text?
- Can you give an example of the Work of Art in our day and age and its (your example) Mechanical Reproducibility?
Please post your response as a comment to this initial post !
While reading the poems of Charles Baudelaire, there was a certain quote that created a space of tension for me. This quote was, “It is a good thing sometimes to teach the fortunate of this world, if only to humble for an instant their foolish pride, that there are higher joys than theirs, finer and more uncircumscribed.” I believe this quote not only exemplifies Baudelaire’s message in “Crowds”- that there are simple joys in life which cannot be bought or acquired through social/monetary means-, but it also intertwines the essence of the second poem “Eyes of the Poor”. In “Eyes of the Poor”, Baudelaire describes how he is infuriated with his partner, for she does not see the beauty and touching effect of the poor father with his younger sons. Instead, she simply dismisses them and even complains about how she doesn’t want them around her. The speaker, on the other hand, was touched by this “family of eyes” as they were so stricken by the beauty of the café, even though they clearly were poor and couldn’t afford to eat there. In “Crowds”, the speaker describes “losing himself” in crowds of strangers, taking a step out of the hectic world we live in to just simply observe and experience what life and passing strangers have to offer. In doing this, the speaker enjoys a “singular intoxication”, meaning that he experiences bliss when his soul takes in the unexpected happenings of the outside world, of strangers passing him by. This is a parallel between the two works of Baudelaire; just as the speaker from “Crowds” is undergoing so much emotion and worldly experience by being in a crowd, the speaker from “Eyes of the Poor” is experiencing much emotion from observing the outside world around him, specifically the poor family and the beautiful café. This all ties back to the original quote I chose because as seen in the readings, there is much more to experience and enjoy in life than the shallow perks of being fortunate/wealthy.
Yassine Najmi
“And, as the shades of the second evening came on, I grew wearied unto death, and, stopping
fully in front of the wanderer, gazed at him steadfastly in the face. He noticed
me not, but resumed his solemn walk, while I, ceasing to follow, remained
absorbed in contemplation. “The old man,” I said at length, “is the type and the
genius of deep crime. He refuses to be alone.”
This is the quote i’ll use to answer the second question. The Author, Edgar allan Poe, is a very unique writer. There is always a sense of suspense. The build up of the story leads to this quote. It came to shock to me because of the order of events. The man looking outside the cafe window is a very curious man who judges everyone just by their appearance. This curious man places people in certain groups. The theme of stereotypes was very relevant and the narrator looks a certain qualities to place others in specific groups. In the story there’s the drunks, gamblers, upper class women, etc,. Edgar Allan Poe does this to show that everyone is apart of a community and it is no different when it came to an old man that he was following. It was mentioned that this old man wore raggedy clothes and had a diamond and a dagger. This was a clear sign of a theme Poe is trying to imply. This old man is possibly a criminal, but then again he may just be a drunk that walked around the whole city. In the quote is says that the mysterious old man was then stopped by the curious man, but then the wanderer didn’t even acknowledge him and just kept walking. The old man never roamed off by himself, implying that we are all separated in this society, but the narrator has a hard time trying to place this particular person in one. This quote definitely placed tension in my reading because of the many ways it can be interpreted. It did not conclude the story and left the readers guessing. Edgar Allan poe was truly a gifted writer. The story makes one think beyond a normal level.
In the short story “The Man of the Crowd” by Edgar Allan Poe, the narrator sits in a coffee shop and observes the crowds outside from his window. Eventually he sees a man that he becomes so intrigued by that he follows him in secrecy for almost a day, ultimately concluding that “the old man, is the type and the genius of deep crime. He refuses to be alone. He is the man of the crowd. It will be in vain to follow, for I shall learn no more of him, nor of his deeds.” This quote was a space of tension for me because it’s very open to interpretation due to the details of the story being dependent on the perception of the narrator.
“The old man, is the type and the genius of deep crime.” Throughout the story, it is hinted at many times that this man is likely a criminal. Upon first laying eyes on the man, the narrator’s ideas of the man include a sense of avarice, malice, and blood-thirstiness, among others. Early in the pursuit, the narrator spots both a diamond and a dagger under the man’s clothing, again hinting at his criminal origins. Poe also constantly juxtaposes the character of the man. His clothes are described as dirty and ragged, but of “beautiful texture,” implying poverty and crime but at the same time wealth. Perhaps the man is wealthy due to crime, yet at the same time his shady lifestyle has led to the condition of his clothing.
“He is the man of the crowd. It will be in vain to follow, for I shall learn no more of him, nor of his deeds.” It’s hard to say if the narrator simply thinks he’s seen enough to formulate an opinion, or if perhaps he is frightened to learn anything more of the man. Once he concludes that he is “the man of the crowd”, he seems satisfied in what he’s seen and has no desire to learn more.
In this short story, we are limited only to the perception of the narrator. Everything he says is questionable, as we are told that he is recovering from an illness. This could very well be a mental illness which might affect his perception of people. This is what creates the space of tension for me, because you cannot “trust” the narrator.
In Charles Baudelaire’s poem, Crowds, it is suggested that solitude is a skill that everyone should learn and this is illustrated when the narrator states, “The man who is unable to people his solitude is equally unable to be alone in a bustling crowd.” After reading the poem “Crowds”, this quote struck me the most because it was, at first, confusing and made me wonder how someone could not be able to be alone in a crowd. The quote also implies that there is a consequence of not being able to be in solitude, creating a tension for the reader; trying to find out what that consequence is. Solitude is the state of being alone; the central theme in the poem. The narrator mentions to be outgoing is not as common as wanting to be alone and that we should become comfortable in solitude. Before anything else, we are people; this is our foundation. Afterwards, people are categorized and with these categories that we fall into, is how we identify ourselves. Similarly, solidity is a foundation for everyone and we must strive to keep this stable.Solitude provides time to evaluate situations and being able to resolve them; finding an inner self. Being comfortable and well rested with your identity is the key and without it we cannot be ourselves when surrounded by a large group of people (crowds). We need to preserve our individuality in the crowd instead of following what everyone else is doing. The quote also reminded me of Edgar Allan Poe’s story, The Man of the Crowd, because of how the narrator in that story was use to solitary and spent his alone time in order to gain insight on the person he was watching. The narrator was then able to also learn something more about himself. According to the poem, solitude is helpful for people, however, solitary is also used as a punishment for prisoners in jail; how much solitary is needed in order to keep a balance?
The quote that immediately jumped out and created a space of tension for me was the very first line in Charles Baudelaire’s poem “The Eyes of the Poor”. The quote was “Ah! you would like to know why I hate you today”. It is an abrupt way to begin any piece of writing because most readers would assume that the author is talking about them, myself included. Of course as I continued to read, I realized that the narrator was talking about someone else, with that person being the woman by the café. The narrator criticizes the woman by saying how she is “the most perfect example of feminine impermeability that one could encounter”. The narrator believes that the woman feels a sense of entitlement, because she could not even stand the sight of a few poor people observing a new café. This is a huge turnoff for the narrator, as he wanted and expected to see some sympathy for the poor people from the woman. Instead, all he got was her telling him to go get someone to kick them away.
The poem also centralizes the division between the poor and the rich. The rich keep getting richer, as evidenced by the extreme lavishes of the café. The narrator felt a little ashamed that the glasses and containers were bigger than necessary. All of that was funded by the poor, as the father in rags outside said “one might say that all the gold of our poor world is painted on these walls”. The father believes that while the rich get richer, the poor get poorer. He feels that their money, the money that they struggle everyday to earn, is going to waste. The fact that some people refuse to see that, like the women by the café, is the main reason for the narrator’s criticism of her.
While reading, “Eyes of the Poor”, there were multiple quotes that provoked deep thought and created a space of tension for me. In this text, we experience three completely viewpoints on a mutual topic. It was said in the beginning of the text that the two lovers had sworn that all their thoughts would be in common with one another, which was later contradicted. The quote regarding this that caused a space of tension for me was, “How difficult it is to understand each other, my dear angel, and how much thought is incommunicable, even between people who love each other!”. Since the genders of the lovers were never clarified, it leads the reader to broaden their horizon and create an image of them based on their own unique perspective. While one of the lovers was greatly touched by the sight of the poor family admiring the beautiful café and experienced a sense of gratefulness, the other was unappreciative. Instead of being touched by the poor family, the lover was almost disturbed and wished for the unfortunate family to be sent away. The two lovers here had opposite thoughts and feelings towards the same family, they had proved to themselves the impossibility of communicable thought. When the goal of having common thoughts was first introduced, I had already known that an event would take place and lead to the contradiction of such an oath. The quote that I picked portrayed a resolution to what the lovers had sworn upon and hit them with a sense of reality. As readers, we see this revelation that the speaker comes to as not a twist, but a reached expectation. It is exposed to us as readers that even though there might be a strong feeling of love between people, we will always be our own individual with our own perceptions of what we experience.
The lines “By far the greater number of those who went by had a satisfied, business-like demeanor, and seemed to be thinking only of making their way through the press” highlights the fundamental idea of crowds. Crowds move, and most of the times those crowds attract attention towards the mass of people, and not to individuals. For example, Poe gave up reading his newspaper to observe his surroundings “descending to details” in the hotel. He grouped individuals based on clothes, hair, eyes, and approximate age. He couldn’t pin point an interest in anyone simply because no one appeared to “excite my [Poe’s] attention”, at least he thought that until he saw an unhealthy and weak countenance bared by a man who looked about sixty to seventy years old. The lines “He refuses to be alone” and “Here a change in his demeanor became evident.” exists almost symbiotically due to the observed behavior of the old man. His change of his demeanor causes Poe to generalize the man refuses to be alone. Similarly, being able to be himself of someone else, as he chooses from Charles Baudelaire’s crowds condenses Poe’s perception of the old man. In Eyes of the Poor, Charles Baudelaire reaches the level of interpreting the man and boys, like Poe and the old man, but with a trace of compassion instead of narrow-mindedly declaring him unworthy of following.
Knowing Poe’s survey probably took place between 1825-1849, Walter Benjamin’s line “The manner in which human sense perception is organized, the medium in which it is accomplished, is determined not only by nature but by historical circumstance as well” clarifies the transition of sensual experiences over time. As individuals who live in the 21st century, following anyone would reveal little meaningful knowledge of a person, especially if the followed person travels for fun during free time. Poe references the aura of D- hotel and D- Coffee-House as a significant place that gives his narrative a setting.
“Ah! You would like to know why I hate you today.”
Charles Baudelaire opened his poem “Eyes of the Poor” with this quote causing immediate tension for the reader. Baudelaire claims he can explain his reasoning easier than a person can understand it but, the quote still poses a large amount of tension for me by the end of the stanza. Baudelaire leaves the reader questioning for the rest of the poem as he does not address this quote again until the end of the poem.
Baudelaire tells the story in a way that the reader can imagine the grand café and can imagine the less fortunate gazing at the grand café, knowing that they cannot afford to eat there yet, still admire its beauty. The reader can then reflect on a past experience of when they admired something they couldn’t have or afford.
“How difficult it is to understand each other, my dear angel, and how much thought is incommunicable, even between people who love each other!”
Baudelaire readdresses the quote about hate in his last stanza, making it about love. Baudelaire claims that even if two people love each other, thought is still incommunicable. This quote created tension for the reader once again as it completely contradictory about what was going on in the beginning of the poem. This relates to the quote in the very beginning about hate since love and hate are polar opposites yet, have so much in common. Whether you hate someone or you love someone, you will never be able to fully communicate with each other.
The conflict and tension from the quotes about love and hate are resolved when the connection about communication is made. Baudelaire also relates the love and hate quotes to those less fortunate than those that are fortunate and how greed can relate to hate yet, care can relate to love.
After reading the two first paragraphs from “The Eyes of the Poor” by Charles Baudelaire, I was able to deduce that the author is describing his relationship between a lover or a spouse. The author describes the feelings and compassion he has towards his lover at the end, however he seems to substantiate throughout the entire piece that some things, feelings or thoughts cannot be shared or understood by one another even though they love each other. The couple seems to be dining at a lavish café, where only the premier class of wealth can afford. He then sees a middle aged man in rags with two younger kids; possibly his own children. He observes their eyes and expressions as they near this extravagant café. The three are vanquished by the beauty and elegance and the quote goes: “The eyes of the father were saying: “How beautiful it is! How beautiful it is! One might say that all the gold of our poor world is painted on these walls.”—The eyes of the little boy: “How beautiful it is! How beautiful it is! But this is a house that only grants entry to people who are not like us.”—As for the eyes of the smallest, they were too fascinated to express anything but a mindless and profound joy. I find this quote absolutely unique and also empowering. The father states that these fancy ornaments, exorbitant lights and luxurious amenities in the cafe are wasted on this “beautiful façade,” when it could be used to better the lives of people like him and his sons. The older son’s view is a little less complex than that of the father’s, nonetheless admitting that this is no place for destitute peasants like themselves. The youngest son is just bewildered by the beauty of the café and does not speak. (He is also too young to develop a perspective.) I would say my favorite part of this text, and holds very true is the last line. He seems to cope with and praise their differences (him and spouse.) The spouse asked that the poor should be escorted out, but the man seems to understand the hardships of these paltry people and is not affected by their presence. (Perhaps he himself has faced these conditions before his wealth.) He then goes on and says my “dear angel, how much is thought is incommunicable, even when two people love each other.” Even when in love, something’s or feelings cannot be mutually felt.
The eyes of the poor
“Ah! You would like to know why I hate you today?”
Through out this piece you feel a sense of connection. The introduction starts off as if you believe to know each other. The author already establishes a bond. But how he establishes that you dislike each other, too early for you to understand what is happening he establishes tension. You are forced to continue to read (this is the hook) to get to the root of the tension. He continues to talk about the complexity of the situation on why we dislike each other (not a small little fight about nothing) and that we aren’t on good terms creating a greater suspense and a desire to see what was done to the author. The author creates a situation where we believe we are the cause of the problem and humans action shows that we desire to know everything. The author puts himself at a higher level than you as the reader. Your problems are very significant compared to other daily things. He also makes Baudelaire further talks about how we spent the whole day together and how we both think alike and that could be a source of why we hate each other. It was on this day that we had did something to each other to create this tension. In the third paragraph we get an immense amount of back round information. Great detail of setting and the environment. How each little detail is very descriptive but still no direct establishment of the reason of “why I hate you today.” The authors intension is to use human’s natural instincts on our self. From starting an argument in the first paragraph, to making us the “bad guy” in the second to a small sample of what we have actually done to have hurt the other person in the third. Baudelaire is a very manipulative writer.
In the essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” by Walter Benjamin, one of Walter’s main theme’s was the concept of tension relating to photography. For example, take the quote “The authenticity of a thing is the essence of all that is transmissible from its beginning, ranging from its substantive duration to its testimony to the history which it has experienced. Since the historical testimony rests on the authenticity, the former, too, is jeopardized by reproduction when substantive duration ceases to matter. And what is really jeopardized when the historical testimony is affected is the authority of the object.” Throughout the essay, Walter notices the way humans analyze works of art in comparison to how they analyze photography, and then examines how it is a detriment to our perception of originality.
When we are looking at a piece of art at it’s purest form, it is at that stage where we can come up with our most original observations. When we take photos of such fine art, we are filtering it’s craft from its original meaning and its indigenous roots, which in turn is where Walter’s biggest sense of tension arises. His biggest problem lies in the idea that the aura of fine art is being lost by the filtration of photography. Observers are not able to idealize their true ideas and beliefs of a piece of art during its native time period. Instead, these things are influenced by the one behind the camera. What if the camera is focusing on a specific part of the art that stands out to him? There might be another piece that an observer might be in awe with but he or she won’t have the opportunity to access such art because of the way the picture was taken. Hence, the differences between the observance of art and photography is unfair to individuals who do not have access to the unfiltered version of art, which creates the space of tension.
“How difficult it is to understand each other, my dear angel, and how much thought is incommunicable, even between people who love each other!” The quote caught my attention in the sense that as I continued to read the text Baudelaire created a sense of irony and also highlighted the gap between the rich and poor. Baudelaire describes a scene where a couple of wealth are in a cafe and the man notices a poor family who are admiring the cafe that they were in. The man feels sympathetic for the family and hoping that his loved one would feel the same she feels disgusted and requested that the family should leave. Although he had hoped for her to feel sympathetic with him, he gets a response that in a way makes him feel sorry for her. From his lover’s reaction he realizes that the poor family were able to have a connection that even he a wealthy man could not have with his lover which can be described as the irony. From the mini excerpt in the beginning of the text it describes how Paris was going through a transformation during the 1850’s-60’s. It can be said that from the “Eyes of the Poor” Baudelaire was trying to convey that the gap between the rich and poor was growing bigger. As the gap grows bigger, people’s attitude and perception of each other also changes as well as the fact that now they aren’t able to hide from each other and are faced to cope together in the same society. When the family were staring at he cafe, the woman was appalled by the fact that they even have the audacity to be staring at such an lavish cafe. The man also points out that it was surprising that even his lover of such great wealth would even have such a opposite reaction to his and how vulgar his lover was. But from both opposite reactions, I can sense that Baudelaire is trying to say that times are changing and that it has become inevitable that people of different social classes are now being force to live together.
There are three types of people in this world: those who join the crowd, those who watch the crowd, and those who isolate themselves from the crowd. Baudelaire describes those who engage themselves with the crowds of the city as poets with open minds. Quoted from Crowds he says, “The poet enjoys the incomparable privilege of being able to be himself of someone else, as he chooses. Like those wandering souls who go looking for a body, he enters as he likes into each man’s personality. For him alone everything is vacant; and if certain places seem closed to him, it is only because in his eyes they are not worth visiting.” For the poet everything is empty and open to adventure, and the places closed off are the ones he/she finds solemn. Those who watch the crowd make their lives boring. They see others having fun and decide to deprive themselves from enjoyment and live like “mollusk in a shell”. He describes them as people who enjoy the delights the crowd brings but are too arrogant to join; instead, they keep their feelings locked inside. And last there are those who detach themselves from a crowd that will never know the excitement that may await them from a crowd. Overall I think Baudelaire posits that people’s attitudes toward a crowd determine how interesting their lives will be and not the crowd itself.
In both the poems written by Charles Baudelaire, there was a theme of Rich vs. Poor. The author was most likely influenced by the time period that he resided (series of revolutions after the French Revolution). During this time period, France experienced a period of financial crisis and it was probably during that era where he developed his views on poor people. I connected the quote “It is a good thing sometimes to teach the fortunate of this world, if only to humble for an instant their foolish pride, that there are higher joys than theirs, finer and more uncircumscribed.”, from Crowds with “Not only was I touched by that family of eyes, but I felt a little ashamed of our glasses and carafes, much larger than our thirst.”, from The Eyes of the Poor. The quotes created a space of tension for me because I can relate this to what happens around me. Whenever I come from Penn station and I walk down 32nd street, I always see poor and homeless people and I also see how people who are better off react to these people. There are definitely feelings of sympathy as well as disgust, and everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I can relate with Charles Baudelaire’s view of poor people and to some degree I would have to agree with him. Poorer people generally place more value on certain things and give certain items or things greater appreciation. This can be seen in The Eyes of the Poor where the family looks at the wall with admiration, while a wealthy person just sees it as a wall and actually asks to remove the family from their sight. The poem is very relative to our political issues of our nation in modern times and I believe that the principals of the poems will continue to serve as a basis for challenging the issues of poor vs rich.
Baudelaire and Poe create a connection using an individual, the city he lives in, and his perception of the city. It is the latter portion that is essential, something as vast and unique as a city is perceived differently depending on the individual. The perception is not limited to the individual’s physical senses such as sight, smell, and sound but less tangible influences such as history, culture, and community.
The Eyes of the Poor, literally, is told from a perspective of a poor person. The narrator sees the cafe as gluttony of the fortunate. On the road, outside of the cafe, there are street urchins. Although the man is said to be forty years of age, his description nearly forces the reader to imagine a much older man.
The Man of the Crowd takes place in a setting much similar to The Eyes of the Poor, in a coffee shop. Also about the narrator’s perspective expect that there is a focus on stereotypes. The narrator goes about classifying individuals based on physical appearance alone. The individuals and their unique characteristics (the Jewish merchant’s hawk eyes and the alcoholics’ muted eyes) allow the reader to paint the city in their minds. It provides a deeper understanding of the author’s words.
Benjamin’s “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” shares a common theme of perception. However, Benjamin argues that technology is changing, a changing art form. Most of the art in the world is able to be reproduced but the replica will always lack what the original has. In terms of photography, the viewer experiences the second-hand view of the mountains. We do not actually get to glimpse the sheer magnitude of how far or tall the mountains are.
In Baudelaire’s poem “Eyes of the Poor”, this quote evoked a space of tension for me: “The eyes of the father were saying: “How beautiful it is! how beautiful it is! one might say that all the gold of our poor world is painted on these walls.”—The eyes of the little boy: “How beautiful it is! how beautiful it is! but this is a house that only grants entry to people who are not like us.”—As for the eyes of the smallest, they were too fascinated to express anything but a mindless and profound joy.” One central theme in the poem was the idea of Wealth versus Poverty. This quote serves to show the great disparity between the two. The father is quite bewildered and mesmerized by the sight of the café, but is left with a bitter feeling. The wealthy have the ability to pour their money to build glamorous showy buildings but do not even bother to spare some aid to the less fortunate. Even his older son, despite being a young child, knows that there is inequality in the world, stating that the café is no place for people such as themselves although the youngest seems to not have realized that cruel truth yet. I believe Baudelaire’s point in writing this poem was to show one aspect of our society. In New York City, a large bustling metropolis, we often see many homeless out on the streets. We feel sorry for them but ultimately there is nothing we can do ourselves to eliminate poverty. In the poem, even the narrator is turned off by the gaudy nature of the café and feels shame for enjoying a lavish life, “Not only was I touched by that family of eyes, but I felt a little ashamed of our glasses and our carafes, much larger than our thirst.” Perhaps one day this inequality in our society will disappear, and becoming aware of these issues is one small step of many towards the end goal.
Jessica Acero
Even the title says it all “Eyes of the Poor.” Charles Baudelaire uses this title to perfectly summarize his poem along with a theme in this poem. There’s the view of the narrator, the narrator’s love, a poor man, and the poor man’s children. The poor man and his children stand outside causing the narrator to feel disappointed in him for being at a new costly cafe.
The narrator’s love doesn’t feel the same way; she wants them out of her sight. The narrator dislikes this mindset that she feels disgusted or superior to those in a lower social economic level than her. He says, “How difficult it is to understand each other, my dear angel, and how much thought is incommunicable, even between two people who love each other!”
How can two people love one another but have distinct views? This tells that everyone comes up to his or her own conclusions. Perceptions and interpretations are individualized thus no two people can have the same thoughts. Yes, they can be identical but not exactly the same. This couple appears to be from the same social economic class and love each other but some how don’t share the same views on feeling compassion towards the poor. This situation occurs then and now.
The narrator’s love can reports the rest of the high class people that share the same feeling she has towards the lower class people. The narrator can represent the smaller population that would feel ashamed of having the luxury to enjoy coffee at such a beautiful place.
Eyes of the poor can be those that are blinded by having the means to enjoy luxuries. It could also be those whom see luxuries but know that all they can do is enjoy it from a far. The poet leaves this up to the readers to determine. It’s funny how this poem is about perception when the title it’s self is led to our own interpretation be created.
Everyone creates their own perception and interpretation on life views. The narrator integrates the reader in his views and along with others to show different perspectives.