| In 1427, a band of Gypsies arrived at the gates of Paris. Their unusual dress as well as the enigma of their origin invited a curiosity that manifested itself almost immediately in the visual arts. The literary Gypsy, however, did not come into being until the seventeenth century with the publication of La Gitanilla by Cervantes. Largely idealized, the role of the Gypsy lends itself to the romantic imagination and is therefore most prominent in the literature of the nineteenth century.;Toward the middle of the century Bertrand, Merimee, Pouchkine (treated here because of his affinities with Merimee), and George Sand portrayed a Gypsy vitalized by an energy which determined his character and passions. At the same time his freedom and primitive state of being now represented certain philosophical and artistic concepts which formed the basis of the works discussed.;A generation of poets--Baudelaire, Gautier, Verlaine, and also Erckmann-Chatrian--characterized the Gypsy by the instinct or force which motivated his thirst for freedom. While retaining his newly acquired verisimilitude, he was again idealized as he was endowed with a nobility of mind and an artistic sensitivity which set him apart from common man. The poet assimilated himself with this role and therefore the Gypsy had become a symbol of the poet, of the lack of understanding from which he suffered, and of the creative imagination.;At the end of the century the Gypsy is found in a variety of works but in only a few important ones. Zola, Cros, Lahor, Richepin, Lemoyne, Mendes, and some popular novelists determined his role by basing it upon the desire to escape from an all-encompassing drabness. Thus the Gypsy symbolized both an idealized perception of reality and the created or imagined reality which supplants the one that we observe.;The first writers of the nineteenth century to have realized the literary possibilities of the Gypsy theme were Beranger, Sue, Hugo, and Nerval. Their interpretations varied from one of idealism in the case of Beranger to one of evil with Sue and Hugo, and to one of mystery with Hugo and Nerval. The cohesiveness of this group of writers stems from the lack of verisimilitude which surrounds the role of the Gypsy in their works.;From the beginning of the century to the end, the role of the Gypsy, however varied in its attributes, depended on the concept of freedom and its exterior manifestation, the bizarre. In fact, his role underlines the presence of a romantic idealism, or perception that does not accept reality, in the esthetic ideals of the age. Embodying a longing for the unknown and characterized by an assertive independence, the Gypsy represents not only the individual artistic imagination, but also a creative current particular to the nineteenth century. |
