god… or some other actual person” (Qtd. in Kellie 220). In other words, allegory is given meaning and shape by the subject evoking it. In nature becomes mere “Correspondences,” allegory that becomes interchangeable with artificial (9). The stimulating agent, “Odours” whether it is natural or artificial, is irrelevant, for it is simply a means to conjure or reflect upon internal experience, for example a state of consciousness. In short, allegory has no meaning outside of the experience that the subject uses it to evoke, whereas a symbol arguably does have objective meaning. Baudelaire’s use of allegory as a device to elucidate how external representations can become self-reflexive mirrors to examine inner states has significant implications for discourse on madness. Namely, it shows how the correspondence between sensual and psychological experience creates the conditions for an understanding of mental illness as a total pathology, one that engulfs both the physiological and psychological self. This, as we shall see, is most fully realized in Baudelaire’s description of ennui in his series of poems, where external “Spleen” objects lose any independent meaning and become empty signifiers, upon which the poet imposes and reflects upon his own tormenting experience of ennui—a state that elicits a parallel physical deterioration. Thus, analogy as it is presented in becomes a device “Correspondences” to understand how sensual and psychological stimuli are arbitrated and given meaning by the self, reflecting upon experience. In sum, Baudelaire ironically undercuts the Romantic view of nature as a path to transcendent spiritual experience in order to illustrate a view of the psyche that synthesizes both Positivist and Romantic features. It is Positivist in that Baudelaire describes a correspondence between mind and body where physical and psychological states interact and are coterminous. Psychological experience is one rooted in physical sensation, and physiological experiences
god… or some other actual person” (Qtd. in Kellie 220). In other words, allegory is given meaning and shape by the subject evoking it. In “Correspondences,” nature becomes mere allegory that becomes interchangeable with artificial “Odours” (9). The stimulating agent, whether it is natural or artificial, is irrelevant, for it is simply a means to conjure or reflect upon internal experience, for example a state of consciousness. In short, allegory has no meaning outside of the experience that the subject uses it to evoke, whereas a symbol arguably does have objective meaning. Baudelaire’s use of allegory as a device to elucidate how external representations can become self-reflexive mirrors to examine inner states has significant implications for discourse on madness. Namely, it shows how the correspondence between sensual and psychological experience creates the conditions for an understanding of mental illness as a total pathology, one that engulfs both the physiological and psychological self. This, as we shall see, is most fully realized in Baudelaire’s description of ennui in his series of “Spleen” poems, where external objects lose any independent meaning and become empty signifiers, upon which the poet imposes and reflects upon his own tormenting experience of ennui—a state that elicits a parallel physical deterioration. Thus, analogy as it is presented in “Correspondences” becomes a device to understand how sensual and psychological stimuli are arbitrated and given meaning by the self, reflecting upon experience. In sum, Baudelaire ironically undercuts the Romantic view of nature as a path to transcendent spiritual experience in order to illustrate a view of the psyche that synthesizes both Positivist and Romantic features. It is Positivist in that Baudelaire describes a correspondence between mind and body where physical and psychological states interact and are coterminous. Psychological experience is one rooted in physical sensation, and physiological experiences