The Symbolist Movement in Literature

"The Symbolist Movement in Literature" by Arthur Symons is a study of the Symbolist literary movement of the late 1800s. It argues that Symbolism created a new way of writing by expressing a connection between the physical and spiritual worlds. The book looks at important Symbolist writers like Baudelaire and Flaubert, noting how they contributed to this change in literature. The book starts by explaining how essential symbols are to language and thought, and how humans use them to understand the world. Symons refers to thinkers like Carlyle and Comte Goblet d'Alviella to show where Symbolism came from and how it is used. He explains that French Symbolism moved away from simply describing the material world, striving to show deeper, spiritual ideas. The opening prepares the reader for an investigation into the writers that gave birth to Symbolism.