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How did Charles Baudelaire spend his inheritance after 1842?
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Charles Baudelaire
French poet and critic Charles Baudelaire, photograph by Étienne Carjat, 1863.
After receiving his inheritance in April 1842, Charles Baudelaire quickly spent his fortune on the lifestyle of a "dandified man of letters." He allocated his funds toward various luxuries, including:
- Personal items: Expensive clothes, books, and paintings.
- Consumables: Fine food, wines, and drugs, specifically opium and hashish.
His extravagant spending exhausted half of his inheritance within two years. Furthermore, he fell victim to moneylenders and cheats, which created a cycle of debt that persisted throughout his life. By September 1844, his family intervened by placing him under a legal arrangement that restricted his access to his remaining inheritance, effectively designating him a legal minor and providing him only a modest annual allowance.1