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Isidore Lucien Ducasse was one of the most mysterious poets in French literature. During his literature career, he used a pen name Comte de Lautréamont and created only two works – Les Chants de Maldoror (in English, it is known as The Songs of Maldoror or just Maldoror) and Poesies. These works influenced considerably modern literature and are considered to be one of the first really surrealistic books.
The Songs of Maldoror is one of the most exciting and horrifically wonderful books in French literature, and, probably, in the whole world. Maldoror is a bright surreal image of a great philosopher and murder simultaneously. The influence of the Lautréamont’s work is really great; his idea of terrible and misunderstood human being, Maldoror, turned out to be a real shock during the times of its creation, and has even the greater power nowadays.
Maldoror is the major character of this novel and its narrator. He addresses to the reader, to his victims, and to everyone who could accidently read this story. This character is a pitiless murder, a sadist, who tries to hide behind the mask of a great philosopher. He is an outcast, who does not want to follow the general rules set by the society. However, all these characteristics do not make his a really negative hero.
He is a fighter; he has his strong point of views and is ready to prove them any time. He knows a lot about ethics and philosophy, and he also truly believes that this society is guilty because it cannot accept Maldoror as he is. “Mother, I can hardly breathe: my head aches…/See, he slumps against the back of chair, exhausted…/I hear in the distance prolonged screams of the most poignant anguish/My son!/Mother, I’m scared!” (Lautréamont and Lykiard 45)
At the beginning of the story, Maldoror even asks to forgive his intentions and ideas. He knows that what he is saying is weird, but he cannot do something to stop all this. He offers the reader to kidnap a child in order to torture him/her, enjoy the taste of his/her blood and tears.
The first lines present a new character to the reader, he is really powerful with his own ambitions and intentions. He may easily present lots of evidences and proof that his ideas are correct. He says that blood is tasteless and this is what makes it so attractive. Maldoror has a burning desire to taste everything that not every person may allow and encourage the other to follow his example.
One more idea, that deserves attention in this work, is Maldoror’s impiety. God is the creator of all beings in the world. He is the only one who has the right to create everything according to his own taste and desire. Maldoror cannot agree with such a decision to deprive him of being a normal part of the world.
His ugliness and dissimilitude with the other humans makes him feel angry with God and despise own Creator. Such anti-theism of the main character contradicts all the religious aspects of those times and makes Maldoror unique and interesting to the reader. He blames God for all his sufferings and poor understanding from the society’s side.
The character, created by Lautréamont, is rather original for the literature works at the end of the 19th century. Any other writer has never created such personalities before and never used such strong evidences to prove his correctness of such inhuman ideas and actions. “His hero (or anti-hero) Maldoror is one of the greatest rebels of literature. Satanic, sadistic and Promethean, he plunges his whole being resolutely into evil and monstrosity, breaking taboos in search of transcendence.” (Rees 266)
Another aspect that fascinated me a lot is the author’s imagery of animals. Ducasse compares humans with numerous animals, both exotic and everyday ones. In order to be like an animal, a human being should get rid of personal vanity.
Pretension to culture and a fear to go against the set social norms – this is what binds the person and does not allow him/her to enjoy the life. The choice of animals is really unique. He does not concentrate on such animals as rabbits and polecats, which are always afraid of something and cannot prove their positions in this life.
People cannot be compared to such small and cowardly creatures. Maldoror chooses such animals as sharks, eagles, wolves, turkeys, and tigers to underline their power and rights. These animals are described from a pure biological point of view, as this very standpoint cannot be disproved. Maldoror prefers to be a son of tiger or a shark. To my mind, in such case, he could easily explain his hunger and cruelty, which are so inherent to those both animals.
After I read Maldoror and the Complete Works of the Comte de Lautréamont, translated by Alexis Lykiard, I was pleasantly amazed by its violent content. The author did not afraid to use terrific words, describing the actions of Maldoror, and, even more, to encourage other people to do the same things.
I really enjoy the structure of the novel – it was like a conversation of the main character, Maldoror with me. When he asks whether we ever taste the blood after we accidently cut a finger a bit, I unwittingly nod my head. Telling the truth, I have never thought that my blood is tasteless.
Of course, it does not mean that I start searching for a knife or something to cut my finger once again and check it. However, I start thinking whether its tastelessness makes any blood unique, and, upon the whole, what is so special about blood, and why so many people want to taste it. I suddenly remember the movies about vampires and other butchers, who cannot but admire someone else blood.
The characters of these movies get unbelievable pleasure from other people’s blood, especially when people try to resist and fight for their lives. Is it possible that, inside of every person, a kind of vampire lives and tempts to break all moral norms from time to time and do something not inherent to all humans?
Maldoror and the Complete Works of the Comte de Lautréamont is a kind of time bomb that just has to blow up during these times. Modern culture and the interests of modern people, young people in particular, are quite different. Some readers may enjoy this book and be sure that it reflects a lot of burning issues, which trouble many people.
However, some reader may find this book rather aggressive and inappropriate for everyone. It is possible that the readers of young age may comprehend the essence of the book in a wrong way and follow its examples without thinking about the consequences. This is why it is crucially important to make certain limitations on those, who can read this work, and those, who cannot.
Without any doubts, the work by Comte de Lautréamont is one of the best surrealistic books of all the times. Lots of translations have been already presented to the readers, the work by Alexis Lykiard is one of the best ones. Maldoror and the Complete Works of the Comte de Lautréamont attracts many readers by its simple language and structure. From time to time, Lykiard uses long sentences in order to represent the oddness, which Isidore Ducasse wanted to underline.
This book corresponds to almost all surrealistic features: gothic style, evil main character with its “correct” philosophy, identifiable plot, and a bit epic form. For French literature, such work was not inherent. The author made an attempt to recede Romanism and lyrics, which characterized French literature of the 19th century, and presented a terrific hero, who evoked pity, fear, and misunderstanding simultaneously.
This story cannot leave indifferent any person. Someone will be fascinated; the others may feel a kind of disgust. Not every writer may present such stories in the way, chosen by Ducasse: bold ideas, awesome actions, and animal desires. Such characteristics are not about an ordinary man.
Lots of them are beyond my understanding, however, such uniqueness amazes and fascinates me with every new page read. Our life changes every day, and we cannot be always ready to these changes. However, Isidore Ducasse created this story at the end of the 19th century, and could not even guess that his story would be relevant during all the centuries.
Works Cited
Lautréamont, Comte. Maldoror and the Complete Works of the Comte de Lautréamont. Trans. Alexis Lykiard. Cambridge: Exact Change, 1994.
Rees, William. The Penguin Book of French Poetry. Penguin Classics, 1992.
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