Colour imagery in the poetry of Gautier : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in French at Massey University

Abstract

Dans son pourpoint de satin rose, Qu'un gout hardi coloria, Il semble chercher une pose Pour Boulanger ou Devéria." (Le Château du souvenir, p 109, v 40) "A rose-coloured doublet," - unforgettably the words are linked with the night of February 25th 1830, when the young revolutionaries of the Romantic movement arrived in force to support the first staging of Victor Hugo's play, Hernani, and to do battle with the traditionalists. Prominent among the revolutionaries was Théophile Gautier, wearing the famous garment, which was to become known as the "gilet rouge", a fitting symbol for a man who was above all a visual poet - a poet of colour. Years later, in describing his career as a Romantic writer, he remarked, "J'etais le peintre de la bande." 1. It is the purpose of this thesis to explore how and to what extent Gautier used colour as a means of expression in his poems, with particular reference to what is probably his finest and most mature work - the collection entitled Emaux et Camées.