Analysis Of Charles Baudelaire And Haussmann's The Eyes Of The Poor

From artists to romantics, the wide boulevards of Paris have been seen as an inspiration for generations. It is hard to imagine that is wasn’t long ago that the city was a series of closed off neighborhoods. Under the rule of Napoleon, Georges-Eugène Haussmann worked to redo the city into the modern metropolis that we see today. It was in the writings of Charles Baudelaire that the author shows that the roads were more than just an literal expansion, but also an expansion of modernity in the city.
One aspect of modernity that I can see in today 's society is one that Berman reviewed in his writings of Baudelaire. When discussing the boulevards from “The Eyes of the Poor” I found myself pondering the same question over and over. Is this modernity, as reflected in the boulevards, good for all? As modernism closely relates change with progress it would be expected than this progress would bring an equal amount of positivity to all people. Baudelaire shows that the couple are faced with the people who represent that progress for them doesn’t automatically mean that …show more content…
This can still be seen in urban cities today with the prevalence and importance of public locations for meeting instead of all interacting taking place in private settings such as a person’s home. The importance of the cafe in “The Eyes of the Poor” is one that can still be easily understood by current society. We can look at the couple in the writing and see a a modern couple, like the ones that frequently are at present day Starbucks’ and other coffee houses. These cafes have expanded the private spaces of a person, at one time only that of one’s own home. A person had to entertain within the four walls of their own residence, but the new modern city opened up public spaces for all to