Yes, but it was their fate to be superseeded by men. I think by the end of the Third Age circumstances had come together which made it more & more difficult for them to remain in ME. And i think part of the problem was that they had isolated themselves from change. When they could no longer keep up that isolation, they had to leave.
Their role in life seems to have been changing nature into art. Increasing numbers of men drove them further & further back into their 'asylums'. I think it was their desire to remain in a superior position which led to them keeping their distance from other races. There was something of the 'racial superiority' thing going on. But of course, they WERE superior in most ways. Then again they were the losers in the end, & the 'inferior' race won out. I wonder what Tolkien's point here was? The Elves clearly were the 'master race' in ME, but in the end it was that very (sense of)superiority which led to their own failing & fading.
With the Elves, Art increasingly moves towards the Machine as they decline & have to isolate themselves in order to keep up their ideal, 'superior' lifestyle. Their own attitude/aproach to life is what in the end finishes them off, in terms of life in ME. It was the appearance of men which brought it about, but men were also being true to their own nature, & not deliberatley trying to get rid of the Elves. In the end ME wasn't big enough for both the races.
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