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"To
console ourselves for all those things, happily we still have adultery!
Maryland tobacco! And Spanish cigarette paper!"
from Borel's
Rhapsodies, c. 1850
"The Lycanthrope,"
as Borel called himself, means "the man-wolf," and though he did
not call himself a Bohemian - he and his circle had another name
for themselves - he certainly lived the lifestyle. Below Hugo, Borel
was a leader of the youth of the Romantic movement, and an integral
part of the success of the Battle of Hernani.
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Though he was
neither Bohemian nor Dandy, Borel and his followers were connected
to them in several ways:
- Like many Bohemians,
Borel left behind the career originally chosen for him (architecture)
when he realized that poetry was his true calling (Starkie 24)
- He lived an impoverished
lifestyle, sharing poorly furnished housing with his circle of
friends and followers
- He and his circle
rebelled against the mainstream culture, despising all that was
Bourgeois, materialistic, and Classical
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Poet and
Romantic
Borel was born into a
large family and his father was an ironmonger who worked hard to
put all his sons through a decent education. Borel was apprenticed
to an architect, but during those years he came to realize his interest
was really in literature. It wasn't long before he had taken the
leadership position among an eccentric and wild group of students
who dedicated themselves to the fight against Classicism, this group
called themselves 'Le Petit Cénacle' (Starkie 26). One of this group
was poet Théophile Gautier, and Borel's charisma is evident in what
Gautier had to say about him: he was "the living incarnation of
the spirit of poetry, not an ordinary mortal" (Starkie 28).
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A Bohemian
Lifestyle
Like so many
Bohemians, Borel's lodgings were less than magnificent. In 1831,
he and his followers moved from the Latin Quarter to Rochechouart,
and since they could not afford an entire house, they rented a room
which opened into a garden.
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| This
was one of the frescoes painted on Gautier's wall to help spruce up
his room. |
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group was the former members of Le Petit Cenacle, but "they
were soon however to change their name to Les Jeunes France,
intending to indicate that they were the youngest, most advanced and
adventurous spirits in France. They
declared that they were pledged to fight against philistinism in all
its aspects, and against the new order of Louis Philippe" (Starkie
89). In these new lodgings, there was a gaping absence of furniture,
but the members of this Les Jeunes France made up for it by using
their artistic instincts. Some painted the walls with murals, others
added sculptures, and the vases of the room were always filled with
flowers. (89). |
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Borel
and Hernani
As Borel had made something
of a name for himself among Romantic circles as the leader of a
younger, less experienced group of Classical rebels, Hugo naturally
turned to him when building his "Romantic Army." It was Borel's
job to hand out the infamous tickets to his young acquaintances,
and to school the rebels in the text of the script, so they would
all know the proper times to "boo" and when to cheer. It was Borel
and his group who provided some of the most outlandish costumes
at the Battle of Hernani.
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| Borel's
friend Theophile Gautier at Hernani.
Note his
fluffy hair, a far cry from the mainstream fashion of the day. |
| Borel
was an important part of the Romantic movement and an interesting
link between Bohemia and Romanticism. He and his circle made a big
impact on the arts of the time, showing the true power of the exhilaration
of youth. |
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