Faith or Desire: The Aesthetics of Duality in La Morte amoureuse by Théophile Gautier
Keywords:
duality, Identity, La Morte amoureuse, aesthetics, Théophile GautierAbstract
This article examines La Morte amoureuse by Théophile Gautier, arguing that duality functions as a key mechanism through which the author explores the complexity of human nature. The analysis focuses on Romuald, a character torn between faith and desire, and is structured in three main perspectives : (1) the Priest, revealing that his seemingly stable and pure religious identity is built upon the repression of natural instincts, which ultimately becomes the source of psychological vulnerability; (2) the Lover, investigating the relationship between Romuald and Clarimonde - a vampiric figure who gives rise to Romuald’s new identity - through the aesthetics of paradox characterized by the coexistence of sanctity and sin, beauty and horror; and (3) the Double Life, portraying Romuald as a spiritual battleground where faith and desire continuously contest authority over the self without either achieving true victory. The study concludes that Gautier employs the supernatural as a literary strategy to demonstrate that the essence of human identity never exists as a unified whole but is fundamentally rooted in an enduring state of duality.
Keywords : duality, identity, La Morte amoureuse, Théophile Gautier, faith and desire
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