SOURCE: "Summary and Conclusion," in Ideal and Reality in the Fictional Narratives of Theophile Gautier, University of Florida Press, 1969, pp. 49-58.

In the following essay, Smith examines the changing ideal in Gautier's short stories and discusses the autobiographical aspects of his work.

Study of Gautier's narratives shows that the character of the ideal which his heroes posit as a potential source of happiness changes gradually but radically from the early to the later works. The evolution which takes place is visible in the heroines, who either symbolize a given ideal or, as in the case of Lavinia, reside in the ideal milieu and thus are able to describe its pleasures. The early ideal, summed up in Madelaine de Maupin, is conceived as the material embodiment of essential beauty. It is thus an object, enjoyment of which is sought in the present. Although d'Albert finds his ideal realized, Mademoiselle...