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'''''Decline and Fall''''' is a [[novel]] by the English author [[Evelyn Waugh]], first published in 1928. It was Waugh's first published novel; an earlier attempt, entitled ''[[The Temple at Thatch]]'', was destroyed by Waugh while still in manuscript form. ''Decline and Fall'' is based in part on Waugh's undergraduate years at [[Hertford College, Oxford]], and his experience as a teacher in [[Wales]]. It is a social [[satire]] that employs the author's characteristic black humour in lampooning various features of British society in the 1920s. |
'''''Decline and Fall''''' is a [[novel]] by the English author [[Evelyn Waugh]], first published in 1928. It was Waugh's first published novel; an earlier attempt, entitled ''[[The Temple at Thatch]]'', was destroyed by Waugh while still in manuscript form. ''Decline and Fall'' is based in part on Waugh's undergraduate years at [[Hertford College, Oxford]], and his experience as a teacher in [[Wales]]. It is a social [[satire]] that employs the author's characteristic black humour in lampooning various features of British society in the 1920s. |
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The novel's title is a contraction of [[Edward Gibbon]]'s ''[[The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire]]'', " in which Gibbon describes how Rome eventually succumbed to barbarism..and Waugh was not the only author at this time to invoke Gibbon's six volume ''magnum opus'' to underscore a profound sense of cultural deterioration. ' I feel as if the whole thing were coming to an end - the whole of England, of the Christian era: as if ours was the age only of Decline and Fall,' [[D H Lawrence]] had written in November 1915." <ref> Introduction, p.xviii david bradshaw, Penguin edition ISBN 978-0-14-118090-8, 2001 </ref> |
The novel's title is a contraction of [[Edward Gibbon]]'s ''[[The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire]]'', " in which Gibbon describes how Rome eventually succumbed to barbarism..and Waugh was not the only author at this time to invoke Gibbon's six volume ''magnum opus'' to underscore a profound sense of cultural deterioration. ' I feel as if the whole thing were coming to an end - the whole of England, of the Christian era: as if ours was the age only of Decline and Fall,' [[D H Lawrence]] had written in November 1915." <ref> Introduction, p.xviii david bradshaw, Penguin edition ISBN 978-0-14-118090-8, 2001 </ref> The title alludes also to the German philosopher [[Oswald Spengler]]'s ''[[The Decline of the West]]'' (1918-1922), which first appeared in an English translation in 1926 and which argued, among other things, that the rise of nations and cultures is inevitably followed by their eclipse. Waugh read both Gibbon and Spengler while writing his first novel. <ref> David Bradshaw, Introduction p.xviii Penguin 2001, ''Decline and Fall'' ISBN 978-0-14-118090-8 </ref> Waugh's satire is unambiguously hostile to much that was in vogue in the late 1920s, and " themes of cultural confusion, moral disorientation and social bedlam...both drive the novel forward and fuel its humour."<ref> David Bradshaw xxv/xxvi introduction 2001 Penguin edition </ref> This, " undertow of moral seriousness provides a crucial tension within [Waugh's novels], but it does not dominate them." <ref> Ian littlewood, ''The Writings of Evelyn Waugh'' Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1983 </ref> Waugh himself stated boldly in his 'Authors Note' to the first edition: 'Please bear in mind throughout that IT IS MEANT TO BE FUNNY.' |
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In the text of the 1962 Uniform Edition of the novel Waugh restored a number of words and phrases which he had been asked to suppress for the first edition. |
In the text of the 1962 Uniform Edition of the novel Waugh restored a number of words and phrases which he had been asked to suppress for the first edition. |
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==Plot summary== |
==Plot summary== |
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The novel tells us the story of Paul Pennyfeather, student at [[Balliol College, Oxford|Scone College]], [[University of Oxford|Oxford]], who is [[Expulsion (academia)|sent down]] for running through the college grounds without his trousers, having been inadvertently immersed in the activities of the [[Bullingdon Club|Bollinger Club]]. Having defaulted on the conditions of his inheritance, he is forced to take a job teaching at an obscure [[public school (England)|public school]] in Wales called Llanabba, run by Dr Fagan. Attracted to the wealthy mother of one of his pupils, Pennyfeather becomes private tutor to her boy, Peter, and then engaged to be married to her - the Honourable Mrs Margot Beste-Chetwynde (who later becomes "Lady Metroland," and appears in Waugh's other novels.){{fact|June 2010}} Pennyfeather, however, is unaware that the source of her income is a number of high-class brothels in South America. Arrested on the morning of the wedding, after running an errand for Margot related to her business, Pennyfeather takes the fall to protect his fiancée's honour and is sentenced to seven years in prison. Margot marries another man with government ties and he arranges for Paul to fake his own death and escape. In the end he returns to where he started at Scone. He studies under his own name, having convinced the college that he is the distant cousin of the Paul Pennyfeather who was sent down previously. The novel ends as it started, with Paul sitting in his room listening to the distant shouts of the Bollinger Club. |
The novel tells us the story of Paul Pennyfeather, student at [[Balliol College, Oxford|Scone College]], [[University of Oxford|Oxford]], who is [[Expulsion (academia)|sent down]] for running through the college grounds without his trousers, having been inadvertently immersed in the activities of the [[Bullingdon Club|Bollinger Club]]. Having defaulted on the conditions of his inheritance, he is forced to take a job teaching at an obscure [[public school (England)|public school]] in Wales called Llanabba, run by Dr Fagan. Attracted to the wealthy mother of one of his pupils, Pennyfeather becomes private tutor to her boy, Peter, and then engaged to be married to her - the Honourable Mrs Margot Beste-Chetwynde (who later becomes "Lady Metroland," and appears in Waugh's other novels.){{fact|June 2010}} Pennyfeather, however, is unaware that the source of her income is a number of high-class brothels in South America. Arrested on the morning of the wedding, after running an errand for Margot related to her business, Pennyfeather takes the fall to protect his fiancée's honour and is sentenced to seven years in prison for traffic in [[prostitution]]. Margot marries another man with government ties and he arranges for Paul to fake his own death and escape. In the end he returns to where he started at Scone. He studies under his own name, having convinced the college that he is the distant cousin of the Paul Pennyfeather who was sent down previously. The novel ends as it started, with Paul sitting in his room listening to the distant shouts of the Bollinger Club. |
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The novel was dramatized for [[BBC Radio 4]] in 2008 by [[Jeremy Front]] and starred [[Alistair McGowan]] as Pennyfeather, [[Jim Broadbent]] as Grimes, [[Andrew Sachs]] as Prendergast, [[Edward Hardwicke]] as Dr. Fagan, [[Jonathan Kidd]] as Philbrick, [[Joanna David]] as Margot Beste-Chetwynde, [[Emma Fielding]] as Flossie and [[Richard Pearce (British actor)|Richard Pearce]] as Peter. |
The novel was dramatized for [[BBC Radio 4]] in 2008 by [[Jeremy Front]] and starred [[Alistair McGowan]] as Pennyfeather, [[Jim Broadbent]] as Grimes, [[Andrew Sachs]] as Prendergast, [[Edward Hardwicke]] as Dr. Fagan, [[Jonathan Kidd]] as Philbrick, [[Joanna David]] as Margot Beste-Chetwynde, [[Emma Fielding]] as Flossie and [[Richard Pearce (British actor)|Richard Pearce]] as Peter. |
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==Themes and Attitudes== |
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==Critical reception== |
==Critical reception== |
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Revision as of 20:40, 6 July 2010
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2009) |
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| Author | Evelyn Waugh |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Evelyn Waugh |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Satire |
| Publisher | Chapman and Hall |
Publication date | 1928 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| ISBN | NA Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character |
| Followed by | 'Vile Bodies |
Decline and Fall is a novel by the English author Evelyn Waugh, first published in 1928. It was Waugh's first published novel; an earlier attempt, entitled The Temple at Thatch, was destroyed by Waugh while still in manuscript form. Decline and Fall is based in part on Waugh's undergraduate years at Hertford College, Oxford, and his experience as a teacher in Wales. It is a social satire that employs the author's characteristic black humour in lampooning various features of British society in the 1920s.
The novel's title is a contraction of Edward Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, " in which Gibbon describes how Rome eventually succumbed to barbarism..and Waugh was not the only author at this time to invoke Gibbon's six volume magnum opus to underscore a profound sense of cultural deterioration. ' I feel as if the whole thing were coming to an end - the whole of England, of the Christian era: as if ours was the age only of Decline and Fall,' D H Lawrence had written in November 1915." [1] The title alludes also to the German philosopher Oswald Spengler's The Decline of the West (1918-1922), which first appeared in an English translation in 1926 and which argued, among other things, that the rise of nations and cultures is inevitably followed by their eclipse. Waugh read both Gibbon and Spengler while writing his first novel. [2] Waugh's satire is unambiguously hostile to much that was in vogue in the late 1920s, and " themes of cultural confusion, moral disorientation and social bedlam...both drive the novel forward and fuel its humour."[3] This, " undertow of moral seriousness provides a crucial tension within [Waugh's novels], but it does not dominate them." [4] Waugh himself stated boldly in his 'Authors Note' to the first edition: 'Please bear in mind throughout that IT IS MEANT TO BE FUNNY.'
In the text of the 1962 Uniform Edition of the novel Waugh restored a number of words and phrases which he had been asked to suppress for the first edition.
Plot summary
The novel tells us the story of Paul Pennyfeather, student at Scone College, Oxford, who is sent down for running through the college grounds without his trousers, having been inadvertently immersed in the activities of the Bollinger Club. Having defaulted on the conditions of his inheritance, he is forced to take a job teaching at an obscure public school in Wales called Llanabba, run by Dr Fagan. Attracted to the wealthy mother of one of his pupils, Pennyfeather becomes private tutor to her boy, Peter, and then engaged to be married to her - the Honourable Mrs Margot Beste-Chetwynde (who later becomes "Lady Metroland," and appears in Waugh's other novels.)[citation needed] Pennyfeather, however, is unaware that the source of her income is a number of high-class brothels in South America. Arrested on the morning of the wedding, after running an errand for Margot related to her business, Pennyfeather takes the fall to protect his fiancée's honour and is sentenced to seven years in prison for traffic in prostitution. Margot marries another man with government ties and he arranges for Paul to fake his own death and escape. In the end he returns to where he started at Scone. He studies under his own name, having convinced the college that he is the distant cousin of the Paul Pennyfeather who was sent down previously. The novel ends as it started, with Paul sitting in his room listening to the distant shouts of the Bollinger Club.
The novel was dramatized for BBC Radio 4 in 2008 by Jeremy Front and starred Alistair McGowan as Pennyfeather, Jim Broadbent as Grimes, Andrew Sachs as Prendergast, Edward Hardwicke as Dr. Fagan, Jonathan Kidd as Philbrick, Joanna David as Margot Beste-Chetwynde, Emma Fielding as Flossie and Richard Pearce as Peter.
Themes and Attitudes
Critical reception
The Guardian praised the book as "a great lark; its author has an agreeable sense of comedy and characterisation, and the gift of writing smart and telling conversation, while his drawings are quite in tune with the spirit of the tale". The newspaper also compared the superficial presentation in the novel to that employed by P. G. Wodehouse.[5]
References
- ^ Introduction, p.xviii david bradshaw, Penguin edition ISBN 978-0-14-118090-8, 2001
- ^ David Bradshaw, Introduction p.xviii Penguin 2001, Decline and Fall ISBN 978-0-14-118090-8
- ^ David Bradshaw xxv/xxvi introduction 2001 Penguin edition
- ^ Ian littlewood, The Writings of Evelyn Waugh Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1983
- ^ Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh (classics) The Guardian. 12 October 1928