The Science of Decadence

Abstract

The study of decadent literature reveals a complicated relationship between science, nature, and decadence. Many writers of the fin de siècle appeared to reject the natural world in favour of an 'artificial paradise' of their own making (Symons, 1893: p. 866). Arthur Symons, for example, defended the artificiality of decadence by asking, '[I]s there any "reason in nature" why we should write exclusively about the natural blush if the delicately acquired blush of rouge has any attraction for us?' (Symons, 1896: p. xiv). Yet, decadence itself is an organic metaphor, extending the natural processes of decline and decay to societies and the arts. Rather than a