Abstract

The article attempts to situate Rimbaud's concept 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, Hugo, and Poe, the paper offers analysis of a number of poems from the poet's early verse. Beginning with the comic distortion of unattaractive characters such as the king in 'Le forgeron' and the religious hypocrite in 'Le Châtiment de Tartuffe', it proceeds to discuss the essential component of the horrific in Rimbaud, as seen in 'Bal des pendus' and 'Vénus Anadyomène', and to link it to features of Gothic literature such as 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 technical terms. The Rimbaldian grotesque is thus seen to challenge the reader in terms of both vision and language.