Home › Glossary › Letter S

Symbolic decadence

Genre
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Verse using symbols to express themes of decay, excess, and moral decline

Detailed Definition
Symbolic decadence characterizes late 19th-century poetry that uses rich, often morbid symbols—wilted flowers, jewels, decay—to express themes of moral exhaustion, aesthetic excess, and spiritual ennui in the face of modernity.
Example
Example in poetry:
Symbolic decadence: Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray” themes; Symbolist poems with decay motifs; Dark, luxurious imagery; Poems showing decline through symbol
Additional Notes
Symbolic decadence: The combination of the late 19th-century Symbolist movement (use of indirect suggestion) and the Decadent movement (focus on artificiality, perversity, and beauty); see Aesthetic movement verse (7189).
Also Known As
Aesthetic symbolism Decadent imagery Fin-de-siècle symbolism Art-movement metaphor Decadent Movement (France/England)
Skip to main content