# Decadence and Fin de Siècle in Là-Bas

> Theme guide for Là-Bas by J.-K. Huysmans.

The book embodies the decadent movement, portraying a sense of cultural exhaustion, disgust with modernity, and a fascination with the morbid, the perverse, and the historical past as an escape from the vulgarity of contemporary life.

## Where it surfaces

- [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/chapters/ii): The portrayal of literary society as decadent, with Durtal's escape into the medieval past as a reaction.
- [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/chapters/iii): Carhaix's lament for the lost art of bell-ringing and the degradation of sacred music reflects the fin de siècle sense of decline and cultural decay.
- [Chapter IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/chapters/iv): Gilles de Rais is compared to Des Esseintes, embodying the decadent ideal of extreme refinement and perverse mysticism.
- [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/chapters/xiii): The chapter embodies decadent tropes: ennui, the failure of sensual pleasure, and the grotesque reality behind romanticized desire.
- [XXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/chapters/xxii): The conversation dwells on the decay of society, the loss of spiritual and artistic values, and the vulgarity of the contemporary crowd.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/themes/decadence_and_fin_de_siecle
- Themes index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/themes