Decadence, according to the no. 2 definition in Merriam-Webster [1], is marked by decay or decline. How is it then that decadence is now used to describe the richness of a dessert or the indulgence of luxury?

the Etymology of Decadence

Decadence is derived from the Latin word decadere, where de–, a Latin prefix, means “down”, “off”, or “away”; and cadere means “to fall”.

It is often associated with the Roman Empire—namely their elites, where criticism of their hedonistic inclination and conspicuous luxury were traditionally portrayed as symptoms of the empire’s social decline. Some go further by calling to light the unbridled perversion during the ancient empire, advertising "free love" through orgies and discrediting virginity [2]. Sex, of course is just one of the many self-indulgent luxuries the Romans associated themselves with.

the Fall of Rome

Silks, spices, banquets, sculptures, and roman columns displayed a visible symptom of decay that screams: I have what I want and no longer have the need to conquer anything. Rome didn’t just fall; it leant, softly at first, towards the salience of opulence. Until it sank into the comfort of their cushions, hidden behind their delicate canopies.

then Came the French

Stereotypically speaking, what do we (and maybe this is more of "I" thing) know of the French? Artistic expression, the virtue of sensuality, and pleasure refined from prejudice.

It comes not as a surprise that french literary writers such as Baudelaire, Huysmans, and Moreau [3] accepted the criticism of being called a decadent not as an insult but as a mere description for what their craft stands for. That is, artifice over nature and sensation of health.

the Symbolist Movement

Now comes the turning point from insult to honour. By rejecting realism and naturalism as the sole subject, poets, writers, and artists explored the dark realms of art. Decadence distrusted the ordinary when they appeared unrefined or insufficiently intense; Symbolism transformed the natural world into a system of signs.

Decadents turned away from nature, and gravitated towards craft that were curated and perfected by human hands. Artifice then represents the domination of human creation, stemming from the decay of natural life.

The birth of the movement captured emotional states and ambiguous metaphors. Sensations such as neurosis, melancholy, and opium’s psychological effects [4] was of their main interest, as opposed to the naturalistic focus on prioritising health.

of Friedrich Nietzsche

It is at this point of the essay that suspicions of the author's insanity arises. Questions such as 'what the hell is going on' and 'what is even the point of all of this' starts to cloud the readers minds. Worry not for I am with you on that one.

I was reading Nietzsche and came across the word decadent. And—at the expense of explaining myself, as one does at this time of their life—I had the urge to look up its etymology, and found myself falling down a path that which Alice is quite familiar with. And so here we are.

“For, apart from the fact that I am a decadent, I am also the reverse of such a creature. Among other things my proof of this is, that I always instinctively select the proper remedy when my spiritual or bodily health is low; whereas the decadent, as such, invariably chooses those remedies which are bad for him.”

Nietzsche’s distinction reframes the narrative on decadence. No longer is it a complex unity of luxury and decay, but rather a simple pattern of choosing weakness through comfort again and again.

Existential Dread

The inevitable succumb of nature to decay calls for preservation of life. The words care, medicine, and conservation often come to mind as a synonymous equivalent: to protect we must care, to heal we must medicate, and to keep we must conserve. All of which leads to the assumed preservation of life. What we all fail to understand is that life only runs faster towards death the more we try to hold on to it. Try it—hold your breath and see where it takes you.

Decadence calls for habits, interventions, and beliefs that lure a seeker into the familiarity of comfort. We find ourselves falling deeper into the depths of pleasure from which coming out is close to—if not entirely—impossible.

Foolish girl, why come out of pleasure at all? If the French Decadents made pleasure into an aesthetic, and Nietzsche warns that the decadent chooses, as remedy, that which is harmful, then pleasure itself becomes suspect. It becomes the very thing that accelerates decay. Because what is pleasure if not damnable; for without pain, pleasure cannot exist.

Drugs. Sex. Alcohol. And the what-have-yous of this modern society are nothing but damnable pleasures: narcotics that births irreversible neurosis and hopeless depression. But of course, this may well just be the semantics of a frightful, underdeveloped twenty-something brain.

(Note to self: must find out if I still feel the same at thirty-something-plus).

Chocolate Cake

Which brings me to my initial question: if decadence means decay, why is it used to describe chocolate cake?

In Merriam-Webster [1], the first sense of decadent is characterised by self-indulgence. Ah! There we go. A decadent chocolate cake is not just rich; it is a miniature (and edible) rehearsal of the same logic. Self-indulgence that tastes like preservation while pointing, however lightly, toward decay.

Drugs. Sex. Alcohol. And the what-have-yous of this modern society are nothing but damnable pleasures indeed; where the path of relaxing self-indulgence leads to hell-on-earth decay.

Love,
g.