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Symbolism and Decadence
The symbolist and decadence art movements were style movements that took place over the late 19th century and early 20th. They are seen as being a part of the larger, avant-garde art movement. Symbolism focuses on using characters, props and events not to propell the plot but rather to represent complex ideas. Symbolism uses sensory experiences to explain what cannot be communicated through words. It often involved memories, dreams or supernatural/spiritual occurrences. It arose as a response to the naturalist art movement that had dominated the European art world throughout the late 19th century. It started questioning the ideas of reality, truth and normality that had been so straight forward in the naturalist art. Decadent art was focused on glorifying all forms of sensual experience. Using extreme pain and misery in a romanticized light. Decadence, along with the symbolism art movement, aposed main-stream society, and main-stream thought.

Rachilde and her husband, Alfred Vallette, were some of the most influential people in the symbolist and decadent community in Paris. They started the Mercure de France as well as a publishing company for young talent. Rachilde and her husband would host gatherings known as 'salons' every Tuesday afternoon where young artists could come and meet established writers. This helped launch the careers of many notable writers. One of the most well known writers to attend the gathering was Oscar Wilde who was inspired in part by Rachilde's book Monsieur Venus. Another famous attendee was Alfred Jarry, a successful French playwright responsible for writing the avant-garde master-piece Ubu the King. Rachilde also helped to establish the Theatre de I'Ouvre and Theatre d'Art and wrote reviews of the productions in her magazine.

Rachilde also wrote several notable plays in the symbolist world. The most well known and important of her plays was a one-act called L'Araignée de Cristal or The Crystal Spider which debued in 1892. This play shows a mother and her son, Terror-Stricken, while talking about a smashed mirror. The play is famous for its use of gender roles and mirror symbolism. In it, the mirror does not simply reflect the person in front of it but it surrounds and creates an ubiquitous abyss.