Decadence was a movement that started in the late 1800s. It focused on exciting, unusual, and exaggerated experiences. It also sometimes refers to a drop in quality in areas like art, literature, science, and work habits. The term can also loosely describe behavior that is overly focused on personal pleasure.
Using the word "decadence" can sometimes mean criticizing behavior, or it can suggest that societies fall into decline in a way that people have noticed for a long time. Because of this, modern historians are careful when using the term. The word came from Medieval Latin (dēcadentia), appeared in French in the 1500s, and was later used in English. Before the late 1800s, it simply meant a decline or decrease. Later, new ideas about society’s decline helped shape its modern meaning.
The belief that a society or group is falling apart is called declinism. This belief may come from thinking the past was better than it was (called rosy retrospection) or expecting the future to be worse. Declinism has been called "a trick of the mind" and "a comforting way to feel better when the present seems hard." Other factors that might make people believe in declinism include remembering more from the past (called the reminiscence bump) and focusing more on positive memories (positivity effect) or negative ones (negativity bias).
In literature, the Decadent movement began in France during the end of the 1800s. It mixed with other styles like Symbolism and the Aesthetic movement and spread to Europe and the United States. The term "Decadent" was first used as a criticism, but writers later proudly used it. Decadents valued art and complexity over nature and simplicity. They avoided ideas that others thought were too dark or overly refined. Some writers were influenced by Gothic novels and the works of Edgar Allan Poe.
History
Decadence is a common criticism of the culture of the later Roman Empire's elites. This idea appears in many historical writings and 19th and early 20th-century artworks about Roman life. The criticism describes the later Roman Empire as enjoying luxury, with extreme examples including "extravagance, weakness, and sexual deviance," as well as "orgies and sensual excesses."
Professor Joseph Bristow of UCLA explains that decadence in Rome and the Victorian-era movement are connected through "decadent historicism." This term refers to the interest among writers in the 1880s and 1890s in the influence of "perverse personas" from the past, including the later Roman era. Bristow notes that Heliogabalus, the subject of Simeon Solomon's painting Heliogabalus, High Priest of the Sun (1866), was seen as a "decadent icon" for the Victorian movement. Bristow also says the painting "summons qualities linked with fin-de-siècle decadence" and "queerness," inspiring late-Victorian writers to imagine "sexual modernity."
Heliogabalus is also the subject of The Roses of Heliogabalus (1888) by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. According to Professor Rosemary Barrow, this painting represents "the artist's most glorious revel in Roman Decadence." Barrow explains that the painting's appeal lies in its "entertaining and extravagant vision" of later imperial Rome, even though its historical accuracy may not have been important to the artist. She also notes that Alma-Tadema used "historical, literary, and archaeological sources" in his work. The painting's use of roses instead of "violets and other flowers" from the original source highlights how the Roman world was associated with "revelry and luxuriant excess."
Decadence was a term used for a group of late 19th-century writers who valued artifice over the Romantics' simple view of nature. Some of these writers proudly called themselves Decadents. They were influenced by Gothic novels and the works of Edgar Allan Poe, and were linked to Symbolism and Aestheticism.
The concept of decadence dates back to the 18th century, especially from writers like Montesquieu and Wilmot. Critics later used it as a term of criticism, such as when Désiré Nisard used it against Victor Hugo and Romanticism. Later Romantics, like Théophile Gautier and Charles Baudelaire, adopted the term as a badge of pride, rejecting what they saw as unoriginal "progress." In the 1880s, a group of French writers called themselves Decadents. A famous work from this group is Joris-Karl Huysmans' Against Nature, often considered the first major decadent novel, though some credit Baudelaire instead.
In Britain and Ireland, the leading figure of the Decadent movement was Oscar Wilde. Other important figures included Arthur Symons, Aubrey Beardsley, and Ernest Dowson.
The Symbolist movement is often confused with the Decadent movement. In the mid-1880s, some young writers were called "decadent" by the press. Jean Moréas' manifesto was partly a response to this criticism. Some writers embraced the term, while others avoided it. Although Symbolism and Decadence share some artistic ideas, they remain distinct movements.
Berlin's "fertile culture" continued until Adolf Hitler rose to power in 1933, ending all resistance to the Nazi Party. Right-wing groups criticized Berlin as a place of "degeneracy." During the 1920s, Berlin developed a rich culture, including architecture (Bauhaus), literature (e.g., Berlin Alexanderplatz by Alfred Döblin), film (e.g., Metropolis by Fritz Lang), painting (e.g., George Grosz), music (e.g., The Threepenny Opera by Brecht and Weill), and philosophy (e.g., Carl Jung). This culture was seen as decadent and disruptive by rightists.
Berlin's film industry made major technical and artistic advances during this time, leading to the influential German Expressionism movement. "Talkies," or sound films, also became popular across Europe, with Berlin producing many of them.
In the 1920s, Berlin became a home for English-language writers like W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender, and Christopher Isherwood. Their works, such as Spender's The Temple, captured the atmosphere of the city. These writings inspired the play I Am a Camera, which later became the musical Cabaret and an Academy Award-winning film.
The philosophy of decadence is linked to the work of German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, but Friedrich Nietzsche expanded the idea of modern decadence. Nietzsche saw decadence as a condition that limits what something or someone can become. He used his ideas about nihilism to critique traditional values that he believed were harming art, literature, and science. Nihilism is the rejection of moral principles, believing life has no meaning. For Nietzsche, nihilism was the fate of Western civilization as old values lost their influence. He predicted that creators would reject beauty and embrace chaos. Art movements like Cubism and Surrealism, which challenge traditional views, are connected to nihilism.
Paintings such as Degas' L’Absinthe (1875–76) and Malevich's Black Square (1915) reflect these ideas. L’Absinthe was criticized for showing a woman with a glass of absinthe, a drink seen as immoral. Degas used decadence to express uncertainty and despair. Black Square represented a new form of art called Suprematism, which focused on abstract shapes rather than realistic images. Malevich described this art as a way to experience "white emptiness of a liberated nothing." These works show how decadence and nihilism influenced art, leading to the term "Decadent Nihilism," which describes a focus on ideas beyond the physical world and traditional values.
Decadent aesthetics
Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita (1955)
Artistic styles that fall under the category of decadence often cause debate. One example of a controversial style influenced by decadent literature is the novel Lolita, written by Vladimir Nabokov, a Russian-American author. Lolita uses the perspective of a character who is a pedophile to explore themes connected to decadent writing. According to Will Norman, a professor at the University of Kent, the novel includes references to important historical figures linked to decadence, such as Edgar Allan Poe and Charles Baudelaire. Norman explains that Lolita brings back ideas from a European literary tradition that focuses on themes like moral failure and the clash between old and new values. The story shows a decline in moral standards while ignoring the ethical standards of Nabokov’s time. The book’s place in history reflects a moment when decadent literature was changing. Norman notes that Nabokov’s character, Humbert Humbert, represents the tension between American regional culture and modern global ideas. The story allows readers to decide for themselves whether the actions in the book are right or wrong. Norman also says that Lolita joins other American books, such as William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury (1929) and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender Is the Night (1934), which include themes like family conflict and troubled relationships in their decadent style. These books show how European ideas about time and culture clashed with American modern life. Nabokov uses Lolita to explore the difficult choices that come with decadent art.
Not only do the artistic choices in decadent literature cause ethical questions, but the roles of women in these works also create political controversy. Viola Parente-Čapková, a teacher at a university in Prague, Czech Republic, says that women who wrote in the decadent style were often ignored because their work was connected to the feminist movement. Some people believed that women could not separate their moral views from their writing, as they used their stories to support women’s rights. This belief led to the idea that men excluded women from being considered part of the decadent tradition because they feared women might want to change society.
Decadence is a worldview that began with a specific group of people and became a style popular among the upper-middle class. As Europe changed with more factories and cities, new groups like the working class, families with parents and children, and business owners appeared. The values of decadence developed as a reaction to older ideas held by the middle class. In decadent art, progress is seen as decay, work becomes play, and art becomes a way of life. For people who saw changes in society after rapid industrialization, the idea of progress became something to resist, as real-world changes seemed to leave them behind.
Modern-day perspectives
About 100 years after the supposed end of the decadent period, the ideas and energy of that time continued into the next century. Without realizing it, postmodernists followed the same habits as the decadents before them. Both groups felt tired from the many new experiences of society but still tried hard to take in everything. Postmodernists wanted the breakdown of modernist ideas but also enjoyed the results of the old ways. This strong interest in new things was similar to the lives of the decadents, who also enjoyed the new experiences of their time. Both periods were connected to the growing influence of globalization. Just as decadents explored new ideas in literature and visual art, postmodernists also had more global connections and experiences. During the rise of postmodernism, powerful and wealthy groups supported globalization, which changed the desires of postmodernists. This new global view led to more interest in different types of art.
Modernism often looked down on popular culture by treating it as less important, which can seem elitist and controlling. It valued certain art over others. Because of this, postmodern artists and writers rejected traditional ideas and the belief that some things are more important than others. This attitude spread to philosophy, science, and politics. Pierre Bourdieu explained how a new group, often from wealthy families, began exploring art in school after being limited by strict academic rules. They were affected by systems that used reason and science to stop people from gaining power. They criticized science, power, and the way technology used science to justify itself. Postmodern thinking avoids institutions and competition, which makes it hard to label postmodern art. To challenge rules and old ideas, postmodernists took aspects of everyday life, like street art, personal choices, and even how people relate to nature, love, and death. Their work became a way to criticize modernist ideas and give artists and writers a new sense of freedom through rebellion.
Jacques Barzun, a historian who lived from 1907 to 2012, defined decadence without using moral judgment. In his book From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life (2000), he described decadent times as periods when "art and life seem to have no more new ideas, and institutions struggle to work." He said "decadent" was not a negative word but a specific term.
Ross Douthat, a New York Times writer, described decadence as a time of "economic stagnation, weak institutions, and cultural and intellectual tiredness" even when a society is wealthy and technologically advanced. He believes the West is in an "age of decadence" today, marked by little progress and stagnation. He wrote a book called The Decadent Society (2020).
Pria Viswalingam, an Australian filmmaker, believes the Western world has been in decline since the late 1960s. She created a six-part documentary series called Decadence: The Meaninglessness of Modern Life (2006–2007) and a film titled Decadence: The Decline of the Western World (2011).
According to Viswalingam, Western culture began with the Magna Carta in 1215 and continued through the Renaissance, the Reformation, the founding of the United States, the Enlightenment, and the social changes of the 1960s. Since 1969, which saw events like the moon landing, the My Lai massacre, Woodstock, and Altamont, Viswalingam says "decadence" shows the West's decline. She lists signs of this decline as rising suicide rates, increased use of antidepressants, extreme individualism, broken families, loss of religious faith, and "treadmill consumption," growing income gaps, weak leadership, and treating money as the only measure of value.
Use in Marxism
According to Vladimir Lenin, capitalism had reached its final stage and could no longer meet the needs of society. He believed that economic activity would become weaker, and problems like inequality and unfair practices would increase. These issues showed that capitalism was becoming less able to support society, which he thought would lead to a socialist revolution in Western countries. Politically, World War I proved to Lenin that advanced capitalist nations were declining, as they were destroying their own past achievements rather than continuing to progress.
José Ortega y Gasset, in his book The Revolt of the Masses (1930), disagreed with Lenin’s idea of capitalism’s decline. He argued that people in modern society strongly believed in material progress and scientific development, seeing it as something expected. He also claimed that today’s progress is different from the true decline of the Roman Empire.
The idea of decadence is important in modern left communist theory. Like Lenin, left communists, who came from the Communist International, began with the theory of decadence. However, they also believe that the theory of decadence is central to Marx’s ideas, as shown in works like The Communist Manifesto, Grundrisse, Das Kapital, and especially Preface to the Critique of Political Economy.
Modern left communist theory says Lenin made mistakes in his definition of imperialism, though different groups disagree on how serious these errors were and how much of his work on imperialism remains valid. They agree with Rosa Luxemburg’s view that capitalism is a global system, and no capitalist country can avoid being part of it. However, different groups have varying ideas about capitalism’s decline. For example, the International Communist Current follows Luxemburg’s theory, focusing on the global market and its expansion. Other groups support views closer to Lenin, Nikolai Bukharin, Henryk Grossman, and Paul Mattick, emphasizing monopolies and the decreasing rate of profit.