Representations of the Grotesque in the Early Verse of Arthur Rimbaud

The article attempts to situate the Rimbaldian conception of the grotesque in the wider context of nineteenth century literary definitions of the term. Comparing and contrasting Rimbaud's sense of the grotesque with that displayed in the work of others such as Baudelaire, Poe and Hugo, the paper offers analysis of a number of poems from the poet's early verse. Beginning with the comic distortion of unattractive characters such as the King in Le Forgeron and the religious hypocrite in Le Châtiment de Tartufe , it proceeds to discuss the essential component of the horrific in Rimbaud, as seen in Bal des pendus and Venus Anadyomène , and to link it to features of Gothic literature found in Stoker's Dracula and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Continuing with a juxtaposition of Les Assis and Accroupissements , where authority figures are presented in a grotesque and darkly humorous manner, the article emphasises how the Rimbaldian vision of the grotesque is inextricably linked to a developing lexicon designed to capture horror, disgust and alienation. In its conclusion, the paper considers a range of illustrations of vulgar, rare and tecnical terms. The Rimbaldian grotesque is thus seen to challenge the reader in terms of both vision and language.