Un acteur-fétiche de Baudelaire: Philibert Rouvière
Un acteur-fétiche de Baudelaire: Philibert Rouvière

Summary/Abstract: This article (Un acteur-fétiche de Baudelaire: Philibert Rouvière) aims at showing the importance of Rouvière (1805-1865) for Baudelaire’s esthetical thought. Baudelaire writes two studies (1855, 1865) on the great romantic actor, in order to point out the secrets of the theatre and the strange „situation” of the theatrical genius in the world. The critic high-lightens in Rouvière’s acting the visual force (the actor was also a „bizarre, ingenious, incomplete” painter) and the romantic energy (passionate diction, ample gestures, emphasis, expressivity of the body, pantomime). But Baudelaire was not the only artist Rouvière seduced by his hyperbolic style; Théophile Gautier, Champfleury, Delacroix were – on their turn – interested in legendary roles such as Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear… The present article relies on a permanent comparison between the different approaches Rouvière caused among his contemporaries, and underlines the profound originality of Baudelaire’s reflections on the actor and on theatre.

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