The disruption that takes place inÀ rebours by Huysmans and Madame Gervaisais by the Goncourt brothers should be equated with the feeling of decadence that prevailed in Western Europe at the end of the 19th century. Jean des Esseintes and Mme Gervaisais have to cope with the disorders of a disharmonious world, disorders in which music plays a part. Its presence at the heart of the novels in the form of ekphrasis betrays both a fascination for this art, sometimes considered as superior, and a competition between the arts, in which artistic writing attempts to triumph.