À rebours: Difference between revisions

* [[Aristocrats Are Evil]] - The novel begins with a description of portraits of some of des Esseintes' ancestors, one of whom inhabited a [[Deadly Decadent Court]] and sounds very much like this. Desdes Esseintes himself is something of an aversion.

* [[The Hermit]] - Desdes Esseintes goes to great lengths to avoid human contact where possible. For example, his two servants (of ''course'' he has servants) live and work on a separate floor of the house to him and he usually communicates with them by ringing bells. He even has the woman wear a nun-style coif to avoid being put off by her silhouette seen through his windows.

* [[Jerkass]] - Desdes Esseintes' misanthropy can lead him into this territory, notably when he meets a young boy whom he corrupts with visits to the best brothel in Paris, the plan being that in order to be able to afford this, the boy will inevitably become a criminal and hopefully murder someone. Desdes Esseintes sees this as his revenge on society. It's also unlikely PETA would be overly impressed when he buys a tortoise and has its shell gilded to set it off against his carpet. {{spoiler|The animal dies as a result, albeit this was not the intention}}. And yes, there is a lengthy and clearly heavily researched part about exactly what jewels Desdes Esseintes will buy to encrust the shell with (see below).

* [[Intelligence Equals Isolation]] - Desdes Esseintes' basic problem. He considers himself to be alienated from a materialistic modern society by his preference for intellectual and aesthetic activities.

* [[Lonely Rich Kid]] - Desdes Esseintes' childhood was like this, with few friends, an invalid mother and a father who largely ignored him.

* [[Mundane Made Awesome]] - Desdes Esseintes' "hobbies" (the word seems inadequate) are described by Huysmans in lavish style and as if they are of epic importance, which to the central character, they are. He spends three pages choosing the colour of his walls, an entire chapter contemplating Latin literature of the post-Augustan and early medieval period and another chapter making perfume. This aspect is one of those followed by Wilde in ''[[The Picture of Dorian Gray]]''

* [[Orange-Blue Contrast]]: In the first chapter Desdes Esseintes redecorates his salon, seeking out interesting and unusual colors. He comes up with this combination:

* [[Raised Catholic]] - Desdes Esseintes was educated by Jesuits and is strongly drawn towards Catholicism as the solution to all that he despises in modern life. He surrounds himself with ecclesiastical regalia and obsesses over obscure religious writers, but is ultimately unable to bring himself to believe. In this he strongly resembles Huysmans, who eventually converted to Catholicism and spent time as a monk.