The aim of this paper is to analyse how and why Evelyn Waugh as a late modernist writer voiced social criticism in his satire Decline and Fall. To do so, I will firstly demonstrate Evelyn Waugh’s representativeness for the literary genres of modernism and satire. Furthermore, I will examine exemplarily Waugh’s attacks on the education system and the penal system, both represented in the novel by Scone College, Llanabba Castle, Blackstone Gaol and Egdon Heath Prison. I do so based on the assumption that for Waugh it is in those systems that the flaws and faults of British modern society originated.
In the early 20th century, Britain went through a process of change and became more modern. Industrialisation and its rapidly growing cities led society to shake off Victorian ideals and principles. And the Great War from 1914 to 1918 changed the British people forever. Although it was firstly considered as a great adventure and brought about the empowerment of women, it left the country and its society in a profound crisis and raised endless questions. New ways of coping with reality in this age of uncertainty were needed. The literary genre which today is called modernism dealt with this era particularly through experimenting with literary forms and styles. Late modernism on the other hand was more focused on social criticism and preferably used satire as a means of expression.
Evelyn Waugh was a late modernist writer who wrote a number of famous social satires to criticise and to pillory the British society of the 1920s. For him, it was made up of indifferent, overly class conscious people who were incapable of having profound feelings and who placed more importance on status and money than on anything else. Moreover, an overall lack of piety, morals and most importantly boundaries, has led to a self-indulgent, mercenary society in constant decline.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Evelyn Waugh as a representative of (late) modernism and satire
3. Social criticism in Decline and Fall
3.1 The education system
3.1.1 Scone College
3.1.2 Llanabba Castle
3.2 The penal system
3.2.1 Blackstone Gaol
3.2.2 Egdon Heath Prison
4. Conclusion
5. Bibliography
5.1 Primary Sources
5.2 Secondary Sources
Objectives and Research Focus
This paper aims to analyze how and why Evelyn Waugh, as a late modernist writer, employs social criticism in his first novel, Decline and Fall, focusing on the satire of British social institutions in the 1920s.
- The representativeness of Evelyn Waugh for the literary movements of modernism and satire.
- An examination of the education system through the lens of Scone College and Llanabba Castle.
- An analysis of the penal system as represented by Blackstone Gaol and Egdon Heath Prison.
- The critique of British modern society, specifically regarding its loss of moral principles, status obsession, and indifference.
Excerpt from the Book
3.1 The education system
Evelyn Waugh who had worked at a Welsh boarding school uses Decline and Fall to liberate himself from “the unhappy experience of feeling totally out of place” (Ker, 2003: 152). In the novel, he particularly attacks the English education system and its figures of authority to voice his social criticism of the indifferent English society of the 1920s. With their irresponsibility and hypocrisy, the authority figures “feather[…] their own nest by encouraging the disorder [they] should be suppressing” (Heath, 1982: 67). In Decline and Fall, Waugh describes schoolmasters and university personnel as exaggeratedly unfit and too grotesque, their actions simply too absurd, to be teaching society’s adolescent the right values and boundaries. This essentially is the reason for society’s decline and decay since “[g]iven the contemporary absence of direction, order, and restraint, youth had only ‘one thing left to rebel against - the idea of mere decency’” (Waugh coted in Carens, 1966: 15). And although the subject of religion is touched more lightly in this novel than in his following social satires, Waugh also uses Decline and Fall to criticise that society no longer beliefs in the one order that could restrain it, namely God. Besides not teaching pupils and students the right values and boundaries, the masters do not teach them respect before God
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Outlines the historical context of Britain in the early 20th century and the shift toward modernism and satire as tools for social critique.
2. Evelyn Waugh as a representative of (late) modernism and satire: Explores Waugh’s position within the modernist movement and discusses the function and traits of satire as a literary mode.
3. Social criticism in Decline and Fall: Provides an overview of the novel and its critique of post-war British society, establishing the core institutions that will be analyzed.
3.1 The education system: Examines the failure of educational institutions and their authority figures to provide moral guidance to the youth.
3.1.1 Scone College: Analyzes the Bollinger Club as a symbol of upper-class excess, arrogance, and the amorality of university personnel.
3.1.2 Llanabba Castle: Discusses how the school acts as an allegory for modern society and critiques the incompetence and indifference of the teaching staff.
3.2 The penal system: Contrasts boarding schools with prison systems, suggesting that prison is often ironically better organized and more honest than the academic institutions.
3.2.1 Blackstone Gaol: Looks at the irony of a prison offering better living conditions than a boarding school and criticizes the superficiality of its director.
3.2.2 Egdon Heath Prison: Analyzes how class status and money continue to influence the lives of inmates, revealing the persistence of injustice.
4. Conclusion: Summarizes Waugh's cynical yet humorous approach to social criticism and affirms his role as a key representative of late modernist literature.
5. Bibliography: Lists the primary and secondary sources utilized for the research of this paper.
Keywords
Evelyn Waugh, Decline and Fall, Modernism, Satire, Social Criticism, British Society, Education System, Penal System, Class Consciousness, Indifference, Institutions, 1920s, Morality, Status, Modernist Literature
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core subject of this paper?
The paper focuses on the social criticism present in Evelyn Waugh's novel Decline and Fall, exploring how the author uses satire to expose the flaws of British society in the 1920s.
What are the central themes of the work?
Key themes include the critique of societal indifference, the moral decay of education and penal institutions, class consciousness, and the loss of metaphysical and religious values.
What is the primary research goal?
The goal is to demonstrate how Waugh employs modernist narrative techniques and satiric devices to analyze the systemic failures of social institutions in the early 20th century.
Which scientific method does the author apply?
The author conducts a literary analysis of the novel, utilizing theoretical frameworks of modernism and satire to interpret the text and the behavior of its characters.
What is covered in the main body of the text?
The main body examines the education system through Scone College and Llanabba Castle, and the penal system through Blackstone Gaol and Egdon Heath Prison, highlighting the incompetence of authority figures.
How would you summarize the work using keywords?
The work is defined by terms such as satire, social criticism, modernism, British society, institution critique, and class consciousness.
Why does Waugh focus on the Bollinger Club at Scone College?
Waugh uses the club to represent the arrogance and unchecked behavior of the upper class, creating a preface that establishes the tone of decay for the rest of the novel.
What role does the character of Paul Pennyfeather play in the analysis?
Pennyfeather is portrayed as a somewhat passive witness whose experiences with failing systems allow the reader to see the societal flaws that the author intends to highlight.
How does the prison experience contrast with the school experience in the novel?
The paper argues that prison is ironically depicted as a more orderly and better-equipped environment, which serves to emphasize the extreme negligence found in the boarding school sector.
What conclusion does the author draw regarding modern society?
The author concludes that Waugh maintains a cynical and pessimistic view, suggesting that modern society, trapped in its own circular patterns of indifference, lacks the ambition or capability to actually change.
- Citar trabajo
- Friederike Lang (Autor), 2018, Forms and Functions of Social Criticism in Evelyn Waugh’s satire "Decline and Fall", Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1459301
