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Meredith Sheena Kayhani

Dr. Ozge Ozbek Akiman

AKE 290 Selected Texts IV

25th May 2023

Response Paper V

The Contrast of The Two Rooms of “The Double Room”

Gothicism, dark romance, horror and uncanny are the underlying themes of the poems

of Charles Baudelaire. “The Double Room” is another poem of his that was published on

Paris Spleen in 1869 (the poem itself is said to have been written in 1862). The poem is

categorised within the same aforementioned genres in addition to Baudelaire’s habit of

highlighting existentialism and using language that is based on observation of real life.

The poem describes two contrasting rooms: one that is real and one that is apparently

just a dream. The poem starts with the descriptions of a pleasant room, where objects are

likened to the beauty of the elements in nature. There are detailed description of the furniture

and the objects in the room. The colour coordination plays an important role in setting the

scene – the colours are described as “the lightest pinks and blues” – and are later associated

with human feelings such as regret and desire (Baudelaire). It is in here that the reader finally

realises that the room is indeed a dream.

While describing the room, the poet brings inanimate objects to life by relating human

actions to objects and remarking that “Hangings speak a silent language” (Baudelaire). There

is a comparison drawn between hangings, flowers and the sky and it is implied that their

beauty is so great that it is as if they speak to the soul. The importance of art is also

emphasised as it is mentioned that the room contains the “right” form of art, which is
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harmonious. This brings the taste of the poet into surface by clearly contrasting between

different types of art and deeming some acceptable enough to be put in such a beautiful room.

There are also descriptions of tastes and fragrances; this is to signify that the beauty of the

room is not just physical but rather spiritual and the atmosphere of the room is not just

limited to its shape.

What is interesting about the room is that the beauty of it is associated with reverie

and idleness. It is implied that a beautiful life is in fact a life asleep; the most glamorous

feelings are those that are felt when one remains in a state of limbo. The feelings of regret,

idleness and desire are catalogued as pleasant feelings that one can only sense when he or she

is asleep and dreaming. The relation between beauty, sleep and dreams are highlighted in the

absence of time. Time is described as something dreadful and the apparent hatred towards its

presence is significantly emphasised. When one is asleep or dreaming, time disappears and

the absence of it is seen as something desirable for the poet. The detestation of time brings

about escapism and rejection to conform. The narrator escapes to the realm of dreams in

order to break out of his own reality. Since time symbolizes schedules and responsibilities,

this escape from the reality would also mean that the narrator refuses to conform to the norms

of the society and since he is unable to do so, he finds comfort in sleeping away his time. The

mentions of drug abuse and that Laudanum is the only thing that takes the narrator away from

his reality, contribute more to the idea of living in limbo or existing in a trance. This makes

the reader contemplate upon the fact that perhaps drug abuse is what takes the narrator to the

dream-like room in the first place.

There are three instances in the poem that certain feelings, actions or objects are

deemed as women or female in the least. The first description of a woman appears in the

dream-like room. The poet questions her existent in the room and later comments on her eyes

and denotes that they contain malice. It is possible that the poet associates her enticing and
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attractive appearance with sin as it compels men to wrongdoings. What brings him back to

reality is also described as something feminine; she enters his reveries and draws the magic

away. Here the reader is introduced to the other room for the first time and the fact that the

other room is in fact placed in reality.

There is a clear contrast drawn between the descriptions of the two rooms. Horror and

ennui and adjectives such as sad and stupid are words used to describe the second room. The

room is not only ugly in shape and by objects, but also by its taste and smell. The distasteful

fragrances in the room are represented through Tabaco smells and dampness of the room.

In the final sections of the poem, time and its relation with Laudanum is emphasised.

The use of Laudanum – which is also described as female – stresses the existence of time and

brings the narrator’s focus back to its hateful presence. In here time seems to represent life

and that brings about the idea of existentialism. The poet questions the reasons behind life

and his detestation of time is associated with his hatred of life itself. In the last lines of the

poem, time and life are also associated with labour and the working life with the use of

vocabulary such as “sweat” and “donkey”.

There is indeed a deeper meaning to “The Double Room” than what immediately

meets the eye. In the poem, subjects of existentialism, the meaning behind life and the

meaning of time are explored through the image created by the use of uncanny. The contrast

between the rooms and the words used to describe the two as well as the symbolization of the

rooms and their concepts are notions that are explored in the poem and further analysis can

shed light on deeper or rather controversial understanding of the text to come into surface.
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Work Cited

Baudelaire, Charles. “The Double Room”, Paris Spleen, 1869.