Abstract: In the work of Barbey d’Aurevilly, Flaubert, and Hugo, the ambivalent rapport between description and the sacred leads to an analysis of the ambiguities of the heart and reason. This article interrogates the poetics of these three authors’ descriptions in cases where we can link the study of the motifs of the actions and sentiments of characters with that of their perception of objects. Numerous novels could be called De l’amour, and a cut-out heart rapidly unfolds from their centre, irrigating the plot as a whole.
