The Allure of Dark Academia

The Secret History: a book I’ve coveted for so long and only a few short years ago got my hands on. Everyone on Booktok, Tumblr, and Instagram, read this book, and therefore, it only made logical sense that I should do so as well. During winter break, of course, I had to match the aesthetic of the novel whilst also having a break from my studies.

The drama, the mystery, the aestheticization of these characters — every detail so alluring I couldn’t help but feel my eyes drawn to the Bible thin pages. People live by this book like it truly is scripture; people say that it changed their lives so that they now live the “dark academia” lifestyle. As I flip page after page, though, diving into the mind of one Richard Papen and his group of obnoxiously, elitist friends, I can’t help but notice the satire of it all.

Why are we shaping ourselves with this novel? A majority of the characters are terrible people doing terrible things. They engage in criminal activity and morally reprehensible actions. And yet, I’ve seen dozens upon dozens crave to be like Francis or Henry or Richard. (Very rarely Camilla, though that’s a conversation for another day. The intersection of sexism and academia is an essay in itself.)

Why are we falling into the same trap as Richard? He tells us he’s obsessive, that his dream to live an aesthetically pleasing academic life is one that isn’t to be wanted - it is unhealthy, but those online, including myself, could not be helped but fall into his rabbit hole. We tumble into the world of Wonderland, as maniacal as the Mad Hatter, unable to climb back to the surface.

Even as I read further, as these characters became more like flesh and blood and not the simple two-dimensional shadows that they appear to be, I fell victim to the same enticing nature of academia.

It’s gorgeous. It’s hideous. It’s breathtaking. It’s horrifying.

There was nothing more I desired than to sip tea in a darkened classroom, read Greek literature, and debate the semantics of Latin prose. (Though, I know nothing about the latter two, my knowledge beginning and ending with a singular Ancient History course and the Iliad). The same obsession Donna Tart warned me of became my one goal. I wanted to be the perfect student, to dress like a tired grad student, immerse myself in a world unlike our modern one.

In a way, all readers are Richard Papen, pretending that they are perfect when we all know everyone is anything but.

Perhaps this obsession stems from that aspiration to be perfect. We’re constantly berated by perfect people online, living free of troubles, free of stress. Individuals living a life I wish I could achieve. The number of academia blogs and StudyTok creators I follow certainly doesn’t help. I became a monster of my own making.

It doesn’t help that Dorian Gray lives perpetually in my mind, the want to exhibit the same academic nature of Victor Frankenstein - without the reanimation of course, that if I see a book with “dark academia” in the notes I’m highly likely to read it. (See If We Were Villains, Babel, Katabasis, and Ace of Spades.)

I read the brutalistic antics of the Hampden students and find a way to aestheticize it - just as they have done themselves. I’m just as obsessive as Richard Papen without a single mode of escape.