top of page

FLOWERS OF EVIL

Charles Baudelaire entitled his most famous book of poems "Flowers of Evil". Many understood "evil" as meaning "bad/weaked", while the poet was playing on the double meaning of the French word "mal", which also refers to sickness and disease. Thus Baudelaire draws on the long tradition of genius creators which artistic sensitivity takes its root in mental disorders. In this sense, his poems are, literally, what grows out of his inner sickness, les fleurs de son mal.

bottom of page