Ageing and decay
What Ageing and decay means in English Literature A-Level, as defined for Pearson Edexcel.
Definition of Ageing and decay
Check what you remember
Read the wording for your board, then hide it and explain Ageing and decay in your own words. Rough notes are fine. This is a self-check, with no mark or grade.
Reference: Pearson Edexcel
The state of an elderly, disillusioned speaker whose decayed house and dry brain reflect a civilisation devoid of vitality.
Topics that use Ageing and decay
- Component 3: Poetry – Section B: Specified Poetry Pre- or Post-1900 – Post-1900 – The Modernist Period – T S Eliot: Selected Poems (Faber, 2009) (Pearson Edexcel A-Level)
Related terms
- Breakdown of communication
- Class disparity
- Cultural fragmentation
- Death and mortality
- Dissociation of sensibility
- Intellect versus physicality
- Modern alienation
- Modern spiritual decay
Using Ageing and decay in the exam
Check the command word and mark scheme for your exact question. After comparing your explanation with the reference, use the term in an answer on the linked topic. This practice does not predict an exam mark.
Practise English Literature questions
Create a free account to answer exam-style questions on this topic and get feedback on your answers.
A week of Premium from your first lesson · Then the free plan continues · No card, no charge