Eliot s The Waste Land - 998 Words

In T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, the use of multiple speakers and both obvious and obscure references are techniques utilized to condemn the culture around him at the time in which he was living. His pretentious criticism of this disconnected, immoral, and uneducated society allows us to see that Eliot values unity, morality, and a quality education in a way that the people around him do not. Eliot uses a substantial amount of fragmentation in The Waste Land to symbolize the brokenness of the society around him. We see this in many aspects of the poem: content, the use of multiple points of view, and style. Although Eliot thinks the population used to be united, he seems to feel that they are now scattered and dying, expressing that life on earth is practically hell because the people are essentially zombies. In the first section of the poem, â€Å"The Burial of the Dead,† the unidentified speaker says: A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many I had not thought death had undone so many. Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled, And each man fixed his eyes before his feet. (62-65) By referring to their similarities to dead people, the speaker at this point is showing that these people have no meaningful existence. They are just moving around, looking down, not communicating with each other at all. They are fractured members of civilization with no purpose and no structure. He also shows this fragmentation formally in the style of his writing. By only rhyming certain coupletsShow MoreRelatedEliot s The Waste Land1798 Words   |  8 PagesEliot’s â€Å"The Waste Land† was written to seek order in a disturbed world. Eliot’s publication caused a significant impact on modern society and the literary world. Initially, the poem seems to be incoherent and fragmented; after readers have observed his poem, they are able to recognize Eliot’s brilliantly unique and nontraditional use of techniques. His unconventional style, graphic imagery, and sheer inconsistency of the poem has greatly mystified and fascinated readers. While Eliot was writin g â€Å"TheRead MoreThe Waste Land by T. S. Eliot2649 Words   |  11 Pages A wasteland [weyst-land] is defined as: land that is uncultivated or barren; an area that is devastated as by flood, storm, or war; something as a period of history, phase of existence, or locality that is spiritually, or intellectually barren; one of the most important poems of the twentieth century (Dictionary.com). The Waste Land, by T.S. Eliot, has puzzled its audience and been tossed aside by the general population since 1922, when the poem was published. To a reader not committed to delvingRead MoreAnalysis Of Eliot s Poem The Waste Land 1401 Words   |  6 PagesThomas Stearns Eliot, an American scholar, sophisticated, diverse, and also poetic genius claimed by both the United States and England, is the twentieth century s touchstone author. Thomas had a problem with religion, as noted by his poem â€Å"Journey of the Magi,† and eventually converted from Anglicanism (â€Å"T. S. Eliot: Hi s Religion, His Poetry, His Roles†). First published in 1922, T.S. Eliot s poem The Waste Land is a major work of modern literature. His poem is written in the aftermath of theRead MoreT. S. Eliot The Waste Land Essay1551 Words   |  7 Pages17 Oct 2017 Progressivism as a Project of Humanity: Roosevelt, Wilson, the Great War These fragments I have shored against my ruins Why then Ile fit you. Hireronymo’s mad againe. Datta. Dayadhvam. Damyata. Shantih shantih shantih --T.s. Eliot, The Waste Land (1922)[1] I. THE AFTERMATH of the Industrial Revolution revealed new realities born of the marriage between technology and capitalism. Central to the Progressive motivation was the human relationship with Capital, an invisible entity whoseRead MoreAnalysis of The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot1571 Words   |  7 Pages(post)modern counterpart. The message this phrase bears, resonates throughout the entire poem: from its title, â€Å"The Waste Land†, to its final mantra â€Å"Shantih shantih shantih†. All words, phrases and sentences (or just simply images) which make up this poem seem to, in Levi-Strauss’ words, â€Å"be a valeur symbolique zero [and the signifier] can take on any value required †, meaning that the images Eliot uses do not have one fixed signification and consequently conjure up thought-provoking ideas that need toRead MoreAnalysis Of. Eliot s The Four Quartets And `` The Waste Land ``1784 Words   |  8 PagesIntroduction to T.S Eliot T.S. Eliot wrote poems that communicated his antagonistic perspectives of life, mankind, and his general surroundings by exemplifying and escalating particular angles and analogies in his written work. T.S. Eliot was born in 1888 and lived during early 1900 s and was a part of Modernist Period. He lived throughout two world wars and struggled with poverty and oppression which impacted his writings. Eliot wrote The Four Quartets and The Waste Land which are importantRead MoreAllusion In The Waste Land By T. S. Eliot921 Words   |  4 Pages These lines are from the poem The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot. Though Eliot is purposefully obscure and vague in the poem, this stanza is pretty clear when analyzed. In this stanza, it represents the literal translation about the aftermath of World War 1 and the feelings that are reverberated by it. In the lines, â€Å"After the agony in stony places / The shouting and the crying† (388). The stony places are to represent the destruction of Europe. This is accompanied by the great sadness and pain thatRead More The Power of T.S. Eliots The Waste Land Essay1528 Words   |  7 PagesThe Power of T.S. Eliots The Waste Land       T. S. Eliot, perhaps one of the most controversial poets of modern times, wrote what many critics consider the most controversial poem of all, The Waste Land.   The Waste Land was written using a fragmented style.   This is a style that is evident in all of Eliots writings.   There are several reasons for his using this approach, from a feeling of being isolated, to a problem articulating thoughts (Bergonzi 18, Cuddy 13, MackRead MoreEssay on Influences on T.S. Eliots Poetry1063 Words   |  5 PagesT.S. full name is Thomas Stearns Eliot. He had written a total of 68 poems, dramas, etc. in total (Wikipedia). There are many influences, but I think that Vivienne Haigh-Wood, Eliot`s first wife, Ezra Pound, his mentor and religion are one of the biggest influences on T.S. Eliot. I think the first influence on his poetry was his first wife Vivienne Haigh-Wood. Eliot had married Vivienne to stay in England. Their relationship became the storyboard for a play called, Tom and Viv which was made in 1984Read MoreEssay on Water and Religious Motifs in The Waste Land, by T.S. Eliot1525 Words   |  7 PagesThe Waste Land: Water and Religious Motifs In his poem The Waste Land, T.S. Eliot employs a water motif, which represents both death and rebirth. This ties in with the religious motif, as well as the individual themes of the sections and the theme of the poem as a whole, that modern man is in a wasteland, and must be reborn. In the first section, Burial of the Dead, water (or the lack thereof) has a primarily negative meaning. It is first mentioned in lines four and nine