Skull Symbol Analysis

In his first year at university, during his friendship with Sebastian, Charles buys a skull with the words “Et in Arcadia Ego” engraved on its brow. This is Latin for “and in Arcadia I am” and symbolizes the idea that, even during youth and in moments of beauty, death and decay are always present. This is demonstrated through Charles and Sebastian’s relationship which, even at its peak, is on the verge of decline as Sebastian’s alcoholism looms. It also refers to the Catholic idea, based in medieval devotional philosophy, that life is a wheel of fortune and that, although one might be at the height of one’s beauty and power one minute, the wheel could turn and one could be at the lowest point of it, in misery and destitution, the next. This idea was extremely important to medieval Catholics because it reminded them that it is God who is in control of the world, and that they must adhere to God’s plan rather than attempting to control their own fates as Sebastian and Charles try and fail to do throughout the novel. The skull is a symbol of death, and this also reflects medieval and Catholic imagery, which frequently used images of skeletons and dead bodies to remind people of their own mortality and their need for God, who was the only way to gain access to life after death. “Arcadia” is commonly understood to represent an ancient Greek country, which was extremely lovely and bountiful, and literally translates to a “paradise” on earth. The skull in Brideshead Revisited thus suggests that paradise on Earth, like the love and joy that Sebastian and Charles share in their short-lived relationship, is ultimately unattainable—everything on Earth is subject to decay, and one must accept death and misfortune and let God into one’s life as a comfort against these realities.