Decadence
Vile Bodies focuses on the lives of what Evelyn Waugh himself called 'the bright young things', a nickname that referred to a group of young bohemians in 1920s London who were famous for indulging in excess. The group included figures such as the Mitford sisters, Cecil Beaton and Waugh himself. Waugh's novel outlines the happy-go-lucky and hedonistic attitude of its characters, notably Adam and Nina, who enjoy attending various parties and engaging in promiscuous sex. The novel is not entirely critical of Adam and Nina's lifestyle. Instead it shines a light on the attitude and activities of the Bright Young Things.
New Society
Set in the 1920s and ending on a battlefield, Vile Bodies is clearly a book that implicitly and explicitly makes reference to the First World War. Known as 'The War to End All Wars', World War One not only occasioned radical changes in societies across Europe, but images of tanks and guns killing and wounding many people at once caused people to drastically reevaluate their lives and the purpose of living. It is in the aftermath of a very bloody conflict that this novel is set, with Mrs Ape being forefront among those who want to see the rebirth of Hope in society. How the new generation will approach love and life is what the novel attempts to uncover.
Love
Big themes such as a New Society do not cloud out one of the most timeless themes in literature: love. The main plotline is Adam's desire to marry Nina and, even though Waugh parodies archetypal romantic comedy, love is most definitely at the heart of the novel. How human beings will and can love each other after there has been so much death on the battlefields of the First World War is a question raised by the author. In fact, so intertwined are the two that, as the reader begins the final chapter, they find Adam alone on a battlefield reading one of Nina's letters.
