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GCSE English Literature · key term
Moral or cultural decline, often associated with excessive comfort and self-indulgence.
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Paper 1
Revise: Human complacency and humilityIn Book Two Chapter 10, the Epilogue, the narrator argues that the invasion “has robbed us of that serene confidence in the future which is the most fruitful source of decadence”. “Robbed” initially suggests loss, yet what has been removed is a dangerous certainty. The repetition of “serene” recalls humanity’s assurance in the opening: the ending revisits and revises the attitude with which the novel began.
Component 2
Moral or cultural decline, associated in this novel with excessive comfort and unquestioning confidence in the future.
Either question: connect fin-de-siècle anxiety to the narrator’s discussion of decadence rather than adding an unrelated paragraph of historical background.
Connect context to the passage: the language of “empire” questions assumed superiority, while “decadence” connects security with fears of decline.
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In the Epilogue, Book Two Chapter 10, the narrator argues that the invasion “has robbed us of that serene confidence in the future which is the most fruitful source of decadence”. “Serene” recalls the opening’s untroubled assurance, creating a structural connection between the beginning and end. What initially seemed reassuring is now identified as dangerous.
