Costumes of the Flesh: The Male Body on Display in Flaubert's Salammbô

AbstractWhile Salammbô's costumes have elicited much critical comment, and provoked readings which question the binary oppositions that structure Flaubert's novel, this article proposes a new reading of the male costumes and bodies also on display throughout Salammbô. With specific reference to a little studied secondary character, the Suffète Hannon, this essay offers a close reading of the unusually detailed descriptions of his body and dress, to expose hidden symptoms of his flesh that his elaborate disguises try to cover up, but which have a metaphorical significance for the wider body politic.