Eliot Table - The Waste Land PDF

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1 Rhapsody on a Windy Night Themes in Eliot

Poems/Lines/Techniques

Death and infertility (e.g. decay, “As a madman shakes a dead old age) geranium” —> “sunless dry geranium”

Explanations

• Symbolism —> hardy plant (geranium), but even the most resilient of nature cannot survive in an industrialised modern world due to the decadent environment

“broken spring in a factory yard/ rust that clings to form that the strength has left/hard and ready to snap”

• Symbolic objects of decay —>

“old crab with barnacles on his back/gripped the end of a stick”

• Links to Prufrock —>

“you see the border of her dress / is torn and stained with sand” —> moon “a washed-out smallpox cracks her face”

• Parallels of prostitute to

descriptives “broken”, “rust”, “ready to snap” highlight fragility of elements within a modernity

metaphorical of humanity’s paralysed (upon an etherised table) condition even through to old age, where they come to regret their ‘indecisions and revisions” resulting in a less than fulfilling life (barnacles grown out of compliancy to monotonous lifestyle)

personified fading/decaying moon —> the decline/corruption of the natural world through modern inventions and ideologies

Fragmentation of life / “so the hand of a child, • Act of theft - instinctive action as disillusionment and uncertainty automatic / slipped out and child picks up the toy without no pocketed a toy / could see thought / No hope for future nothing behind that child’s eye” generation, lost childhood, corrupt nature, desperation “seen eyes in the street / trying • No effort to form relationships to peer through lighted through communication  shutters” broken community through fear of being judged by others, and thus ironically pass judgments/makes assumptions in secret

2 Damaged psyche of humanity / emotional, cultural, spiritual decay

“female smells in shuttered rooms / and cigarettes in corridors/ and cocktails smells in bars”

• Cumulative listing of decadent

“lamp sputtered, muttered: - Regard…

• Significances of the lamp —>

- Remark… - Here is the number… - “put your shoes at the door, sleep, prepare, for life “the last twist of knife”

olfactory imagery; anaphora similarly reinforces the sordid and impersonal state of human life — > closed off and superficial (extravagant night life a mask/escape for listless day-today routine)

manmade object personified as an imperative authority figure; pun on “enlightenment”, as the lamp is giving the person knowledge, but also ironic in that the knowledge the lamp imparts on them has no meaningful values/morals —> alludes to modernity industrial revolution how machines have negated humanity’s material value

• Final line metaphorical of a psychological death of modern man and possibly modernity as a whole, bounded by monotonous routine all throughout life; time trope likewise indicative of how practiced the motions are, and that there is no hope for humanity as they have already assimilated to the squalid lifestyle with no notion of generating change or individual opinion

3 Journey of the Magi Themes in Eliot

Poems/Lines/Techniques

Explanations

Death and infertility (e.g. decay, old age) —> Life, Death and Rebirth

“weather sharp / very dead of  winter / melted snow” —> contrasted with —> “wet… smelling of vegetation / running stream and water-mill beating in the darkness”

Symbolism  winter signifies death – both physically through the lack of growing life and harshness of the cold and limited body heat, and metaphorically through the stark coldness of isolation from society and nature  significant of the increasing industrialisation of society removing the material value of humanity and disregard for religious beliefs  death of faith and sense of connectedness as a community  therefore barren (infertile) in spirituality and removed from life

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Yet, similarly, just as winter connotes death, water and signs of vegetation are symbols of life (suggesting the beginning of spring – a time of rebirth and rejuvenation; also youth)  eventual hope and rebirth for modernism in their ability to thrive, create meaningful relationships and reconnect spiritually

“I had seen birth and death /  But had thought they were different; this Birth was / Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death our death.” —> “ I should be glad of another death” 

Allegory  physical and spiritual reconnection with the purpose of life; through stripping away pride and comfort in the temporary material objects of our life Similarly alludes to the stages of Christ, where Eliot encourages us to reevaluate our position in the eyes of God, of whom society has chosen to ignore/forgotten

4

Fragmentation of life / disillusionment and uncertainty

Damaged psyche of humanity / emotional, cultural, spiritual decay

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Fear of truth and judgment from a society where God might as well not exist, and similar inner doubts of the existence of something intangible  the journey and hardship of challenging beliefs  the finale to Eliot’s struggle with modern life and beginning of his search of identity

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Imperative/direct tone indicates newfound clarity and confidence, unlike previous iterations where Eliot’s social commentary is more subtle and suggestive; also reflects on the past with positive inflections instead of regret  removed of previous indecisions and monotony

“But there was no information…  finding the place; it was (you might say) satisfactory”

Irony  despite the vast amount of signs of life and information (foreshadowing renewed belief in the three magi)

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Understatement  wry tone contrasts the hyperbolised woes of Eliot’s previous protagonists from “Rhapsody “and “Prufrock”, or the plights/dissatisfaction of Preludes’s citizens with the deleteriousness of their living states and mindscapes

“...with voices singing in our ears, saying / this was all folly” —> contrasted with —> All this a long time ago I remember, / And I would do it again…set down/ this set down.”

“lack of shelters / cities hostile…  towns unfriendly / villages dirty and charging high prices”

Metonymy  disassociated attitudes of society representative of city as a whole  fear of change causes them to shun such visitors who seek answers and look for truth, when they themselves cannot provide solutions to their own insecurities and indecisions  already given up hope of salvation

5

 There were times we regretted / the summer palaces / silken girls bringing sherbet / wanting liquor and women” —> contrasted with — >“But no longer at ease here, in old dispensation, / With an  alien people clutching their gods”

Power of literary history / cultural inheritance (all Biblical illusions)

“Journey of the Magi”

Everything related to Jesus - “three trees” (Crucifixion) - “old white horse” (Christ)

Death of old system of beliefs  Their renewed spirituality allows them to pity society instead be pitied themselves  real gods versus stone idols of modernity

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Title  allusion to the journey of the three kings in the story of the Birth of Christ (Bible)

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Poem as told by the magus  a representative for Eliot as a survivor of modernity  opposite of his previous iteration, Prufrock (prophet of modernity), who wallowed in his angst and insecurities, rather than search for solutions/take action

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Allusions to the Crucifixion of Christ  finding salvation in Christianity (intertextual foreshading  prolepsis)

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Horseless white horse emulating the imagery of a knight in shinning armor  Christ being the savior of mankind and guides modern man through the hardships of their journey

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Images of silver put humanity in the position of Judas, who betrayed Jesus for money due to his suspicion and lack of belief in Christ  much like how modern society shuns religion and retreats to their material comforts, trading away their spiritual beliefs

- “vine-leaves” (vine of Jesus) “six hands at an open door dicing pieces (Jesus clothes) of silver (Judas)”

Summer equates to prime age/paradise  for the modern man and his material possessions/significant of their indolence and indulgence

6 The Hollow Men Themes in Eliot

Poems/Lines/Techniques

Explanations

Death and infertility (e.g. decay, old age)

“dry grass / dry cellar”

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Metaphor  Dryness symbolises infertility, reflective of the ‘hollow men’s’ aptitude for indolence when living, having lived a similarly barren life – unfulfilling nor ambitious

“fading star” —> under the twinkle of a “fading star” —> “valley of dying stars”

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Biblical reference: o Star is representative of Jesus/savior and paradise, and a hope to get there, but their faith (or lack thereof) dies along with the light  fast fading as their time run closer to eternity o Valley  Psalm 23: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me"  yet there is no one to collect/meet/comfort them as there are not with God

“this is the dead land / cactus land”

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Metaphor  similar to ‘dry’ (infertile)  reinforces the lifeless, desert-like quality of the setting  nothing to eat nor drink except the cacti, which are prickly and nonnourishing  the ‘hollow men’ similarly offered no knowledge or ambitions of value within their lives

7

Fragmentation of life / disillusionment and uncertainty

“shape without form, shade without colour / paralysed force, gesture without motion”

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Paradox  in these, one technically cannot exist without the other  however, as hollow men are empty they are similarly devoid and senseless  only half existing their previously fleshed out lives  a husk of the achievements (specifically, lack thereof) they’ve accumulated

Eye motif - “those who have crossed / with direct eyes, to death’s other Kingdom”

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Synecdoche  the eyes as a gage for bravery/cowardice  ‘Hollow Men’, as non-saints nor sinners are afraid unable to meet/afraid the eyes having shunned away their whole life (i.e. lead a life of neither good nor bad actions  reflective of Guy Fawkes, Kurtz and the sinners in Dante’s Inferno, whom at least chose their fate, whereas the titular men have not fate – or faith – to speak of)  Hollow Men are similarly "sightless," but if they face the truth with dignity their sight would possibly return (but they cannot, as they are fearing the truth)

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More literary illusions: o Dante is unable to meet the eyes of Beatrice, as she is a heavenly being and he feels shamed that he wronged her by being unfaithful; likewise Marlow is unable to meet Kurtz’s wife’s eyes after telling her Kurtz’s death o The Hollow men are similarly ashamed of their inability to account for good or evil (turning a blind eye) and hence, wander around aimlessly, much like the people in the gates of hell in Dante’s Inferno, since they can't even die or have anything to remember them by

- “The eyes are not here…” - “Sightless, unless / the eyes reappear”

8

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Metaphor  Shadow prevents things that should naturally follow from one another from happening  ironic in that ‘hollow men’ have elements that allow them to act, but are prevented from doing so  they are entirely suck in the inbetween  regret of how their previous (short) life was devoid of meaning

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Contrast of the beginning and the end (of which the ‘hollow men’ fail to complete): o “ideas" that cannot be brought "reality." o "move[ment]" that cannot be coordinated into "action” o "Concept[s[" that cannot transform into "creation" o "emotion" that cannot translate into ‘response’ o sexual "desire” deprived from the "spasm"  sexual satisfaction (orgasm) o "potency" (potential for existence) and "essence" that cannot "descend" or come into tangible existence

“We are the hollow men /  stuffed men / leaning together / headpiece filled with straw” —> hope only of/empty men

Introduction of the ‘hollow men’ as oxymoronic beings  however similar in meaning when thought of as empty and soulless (lacking a brain and heart)  like hollow effigies stuffed with straw  their self-sustaining opinions nonexistent  lost of hope for modern society as a whole (filled mostly of ‘hollow men’)

between the… - idea/reality - motion/act - conception / creation - emotion / response - desire / spasm - potency / existence - essence / descent Falls the Shadow

Damaged psyche of humanity / emotional, cultural, spiritual decay

9

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Symbolism  Stone images are representative of idols  lifeless objects that are unable to grant them miracles, yet society worships them anyway  no spiritual identity implied to have turned

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Lips  reference to Romeo and Juliet  however their worship of idols corrupt/reverse the original lines, where instead of saints, they are blasphemous, god-questioning beings  their soulless prayer are not accepted by God, hence, in their lost hope, they turn elsewhere

“we grope together / and avoid  speech”

Pathos  mourning the lost of their fate  collectively (together) forever in between the land of living and death, having done nothing  not good/saintly enough to enter heaven; not evil/vile enough to enter even hell

“here the stone images / are raised...they receive / the supplication of a dead man’s hand” —> “Lips that would kiss/form prayers to broken stone”

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Symbolism  society similarly bound by their inaptitude for change  doom ironically brings them closer together

10

Power of literary history / cultural inheritance

Epigraphs: - “Mistah Kurtz - he dead.” - “A penny for the Old Guy”

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“death’s dream Kingdom” “death’s other Kingdom” “twilight kingdom” “tumid river”

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Epigraph 1: a quote from Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness  a servant telling Marlow that Kurtz has passed  Kurtz being hollow in a sense that that he’s lacking a moral and human nature  foreshadowing of the titular ‘hollow men’

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Epigraph 2: Commonly said on Nov 5th (Guy Fawkes’s Night)  where stuff straw man (effigy) are blown up and fireworks goes off (money for funds)  reference to the Gunpowder plot (Fawkes’s plan to blow up parliament  day as a kind of poetic justice) // Similarly in Greek mythology souls need to pay the “old guy” (Charon, the ferryman”, in order to cross the River Styx into ‘death’s kingdom”  however, hollow men cannot cross as they are not eligible to pass into the land of the dead

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References to Dante’s Divine Comedy o Death’s kingdoms  heaven (dream), hell (other) and judgment day (twilight) o Tumid (swollen) river Archeron where souls cross into the land of the dead (specifically hell, due to God’s justice, as Virgil explains to Dante, but ‘hollow men’ cannot even get there)  overflowing water contrasts the dryness and desert

11

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Sermon  deliverance from a divine being, however ‘hollow men’ unable to finish prayer  significant of their lack of spirituality  no hope/ savior for modern man

Parody of the Nursery rhyme,  “here we go round the mulberry bush”: - Here we go round the prickly pear...at five o’clock in the morning - This is the way the world  ends...not with a bang but a whimper

Dark parody  the isolation has driven them insane and all sense of time is lost and insignificant  condemn to neither enter heaven nor hell

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Five o’clock  traditional time of Christ’s resurrection  ‘hollow men’ ironically unaware about the importance of this time (as they are singing a children’s nursery rhyme)

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Catharsis  lost hope for modern man and future civilisations  the world/humanity disappears without a trace, having not learnt values, morals or love (at least, for those who live like the ‘Hollow Men’

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The end of the world is similarly anticlimactic

[Matthew 6:13] – For Thine is the Kingdom/Life is very long  contrasted with  “For Thine is/Life is/For Thine is the

Prickly pear  the word alone carries connotation of a nonnourishing fruit; actually a cactus  reinforces the desert setting and their existence in a barren wasteland...