Decline and Fall

Evelyn Waugh’s first novel, Decline and Fall, follows Paul Pennyfeather, a theology student expelled from Oxford, as he takes up a teaching position at a chaotic private boys’ school in Wales. Among an array of eccentric faculty and rowdy students, Paul finds himself infatuated with Margot Beste-Chetwynde, the mother of one of his students, who may not be what she seems. This daring farce offers a biting satire of English morals and the educational landscape of the 1920s, reflecting the misadventures of both students and educators throughout time.