Passionate Attitudes: The English Decadence of the Eighteen Nineties

by Matthew Sturgis

Oscar Wilde said "It is personalities, not principles, that move the Age". This was never more true than of the Decadent movement of the 1890s, which remains one of the most vivid periods of English culture. Wilde was its prophet, Dowson its poet, Symons its critic and Beerbohm its satirist. This book analyzes the movement through the eyes and ideas of the people involved observing their achievements and the destructiveness of their ideals in this study of the end of the last century. From its early roots in France, Stugis describes the flourishing of Decadence in this country to its self-fulfilling and inevitable decline.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Research

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[C. B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting narrative looking at many of the huge figures of the era like Wilde, Beerbohm, and Beardsley, as well as lesser-known ones, such as Ernest Dowson, Lionel Johnson, and Richard Le Gallienne. I suppose it was for these latter figures that the book most intrigued me, by virtue of their obscurity. I was also previously unaware of the significance of the publisher John Lane.

Sturgis does well at creating something readable and coherent, although the book is, in the end, slightly disappointing somehow; it feels almost half-hearted — too short. Maybe this comes from my general exaltation of analysis over narrative (not that the book is entirely lacking it). In any case, this has given me a good framework for future reading.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got what I wanted: putting Oscar aside to look at the long parade of minor, ridiculous, vain and financially chaotic people who in their own leeching and grasping ways tried to live with conviction. Buy the ticket, take the ride.