Before I start, I would like to link you to the website Curious Expeditions, which I think is very great and you might think so too.
Mal du Siecle is closely related to Weltschmertz (though the latter seems to have started a little earlier. The most famous sufferer of Weltschmertz is Goethe’s Young Werther.) Both conditions seem to generally occur in sensitive gentlemen who become very sad or passive because they do not feel at home in the current society.
“Mal du siècle, which can be roughly translated from French as “pain of the century,” is a term used to refer to the hopelessness, sadness, disillusionment, and melancholy experienced by primarily young adults of Europe’s late 19th century, when speaking in terms of the rising decadent movement. This may also simply be termed the “ennui.”” (Wikipedia)
“Mal du Siecle is a mood of melancholy and pessimism associated with the poets of the Romantic era that arose from their refusal or inability to adjust to those realities of the world that they saw as destructive of their right to subjectivity and personal freedom—a phenomenon thought to typify Romanticism.” (Encyclopedia Britannica)
The sufferers of Mal du Siecle felt that the world was now dominated by money and fame and older aspects, for example honor and beauty, were therefore lost.
Weltschmertz is related to Melancholism, of which Friedrich is a famous protagonist.
A very interesting article on romanticism in France, in French.
An article on Baudelaire’s degeneration theory.
Hi! My name is Geerte, I'm a researcher of Nineteenth century history from the Netherlands. This blog is where I write about my favourite subject. Feel free to browse around! 
Re: The sufferers of Mal du Siecle felt that the world was now dominated by money and fame and older aspects, for example honor and beauty, were therefore lost.
The “Depressive” to the Bohemian revolution’s “Manic”?
Appearantly both phenomenon came from the same sosiological symptoms.
And looking at Goth and Emo culture today, I’d say disillusionment is of all ages.
I think I am a suffer some of the time…
And Basje/19th Century,
thanks for sharing the Curious Expeditions site. I’ve added it to my blogroll.
Somehow i missed the point. Probably lost in translation :) Anyway … nice blog to visit.
cheers, Acacia!
Acacia, I’m sorry! I’ll restructure the post soon to make it all a bit more clear! I hope other posts are better, thank you for stopping by :)
such a nice one!!!!!
OP: I might be daff (lord knows I have been told lol) but that made totally no sense what so ever…
Hey Finlandtraveler! It’s not as complicated as it looks, all terms are just a state of mind that occurred in the nineteenth century, where people felt kind of sad, and really romanticized their sadness! Like there were books about tragic heroes, who spend their time pining and sighing and mourning spring, things like that. Does that clear it up a little?