A Frenchman, a Romantic, and though not part of sapphic culture himself, his decadent imagination and openness to erotic ambiguity influenced later queer and symbolist writers.
Gautier's (1811–1872) principle was l'art pour l'art (art for art's sake, beauty above morality); his writing often played with gender disguise, cross-dressing, and unconventional desire. The historical woman who inspired his novel "Mademoiselle de Maupin” reportedly set fire to a convent for the love of another woman.
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