Decadence

In today’s modern society, everyone follows a set of defined rules and it is well known that it is your actions that define who you are. In John Updike’s A&P, each of the main character’s actions reveals their true intentions and purpose in the story. While Queenie may represent sin, temptation and the power of sexuality, the stern Lengel contradicts her, representing the Christian ideals of conformity and the expulsion of rebellion. Furthermore, through the use of herring snacks and skimpy…

Dorian uses to numb his feelings of helplessness, serve to symbolize Dorian’s escape from reality and hedonistic tendencies. Dorian first embraces drugs as a way to experience the surreal world around him, however after becoming trapped in a realm of decadence, he uses them to distract himself from the impending doom of absolute corruption (Bisht). As Dorian’s state of mind degrades, craving the reality he’s been numbing himself from, leads him to murder Basil as he blames him for the painting…

Thousands of people protested all throughout the country; the civil society was enraged at the prospect of the approval of law 61, which intended to make a sexual education curriculum compulsory to all Panamanian students. What is the reason behind this law? Basically, to decrease the rate of teenage pregnancies, STDs, and defend a somewhat progressive look on polemic matters as gender identity and gender roles. This was the spark that ignited and kept these protests on for a long time. In…

Doolittle’s American Dream She has been described as a “frenetic” traveler, an “innovative” author, but most of all, an American whose bond with her nation “was fundamental in her literary imagination” (Kelly 394). Hilda Doolittle, otherwise known as H.D., was all of these and more. From her poems, “Sea Rose” is a fine example of modernist writing in an age where new literary sights had become conceivable and American authors were set on its experimentation. Before this movement, traditional…

his demise because he allows his ambition to debase all that he stands for; the noble man, who is looked upon as the most powerful warrior to roam the Earth, allows his own greed to turn him into a cold-blooded tyrant. Macbeth’s role in his own decadence is best described, “Once the witches’ promise him the crown, he can no longer silence the voice of his ambition, which leads him first to regicide and from thence to a number of unforgivable, brutal murders” (Bloom…

Like Lord of the Flies, the experiment presented set rules and morals that stated how an individual should act towards one another, causing not only the guards, but the prisoners to fall into internal decadence. Through the sickening experience, the power the “guards” had most definitely got into their heads. “The Stanford Prison Experiment degenerated very quickly and the evil and inhuman side of human nature became apparent very quickly.” Also proven…

Even though it was being done for the good of France, this sexuality was still seen as "dangerous" and "sinful," simply because it fell outside of what was considered proper sexuality. This once again enforced the ideas of sexual hierarchy that was based on sexual negativity. These conundrums of what to do with women after the war based on social change and population crisis were, in fact, baseless. This is because, contrary to popular discourse of the day, the postwar birthrate was considered…

other words, he belongs to the lower class. The color gray also represents the destruction of something and in this case it would be the destruction of society due to all the spending, drinking and partying happening during this era. “It symbolizes decadence, bleakness, corruption, and disillusionment and represents moral decay spiritual emptiness and death” (Haibing). Not only does the color gray represent poverty but it also symbolizes the poverty in people’s…

the two, as the source story heavily borrowed from Freud’s theory of life (Eros) and death instincts (Thanatos). The task of transporting the overall historical, cultural and artistic context from the 1926 Viennese decadence to the postmodernist world of New York City was no mean feat – an adaptation requires functioning like a successful organ transplant, and Kubrick…

proved so popular that it was soon followed by an even more extreme art style known as neoplasticism. Klimt’s use of golden entwined couples in his ‘Golden Period’ collection and the sumptuousness of his highly decorated pieces have a hint of opulent decadence about them, proclaiming the end of the century (fin de siècle). This collection exhibits a mixture of ambition and hope for the new century. The message within these texts is without ambition, there is no desire. If you truly desire…