StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot - Assignment Example

Cite this document
Summary
The poem revolves around the main theme of modern life as a waste land. He supports this theme by showing what went wrong with the society during the…
Download free paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER94.8% of users find it useful
The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot"

‘The Waste Land’ In the poem, Eliot laments on the damage and ruin made on the modern culture and she seeks the redemption in the cultural past. The poem revolves around the main theme of modern life as a waste land. He supports this theme by showing what went wrong with the society during the short comings which she talks about during the beginning of the 20th century. The short comings include corruption of life water symbol, fear of death and life, lack of communication and corruption of sex.

According to Eliot, water was a traditional symbol and an indication of life. This is because the humans are believed to exist as a result of evolution of fish. Most religions such as the vegetarian cults considered water sacred and a source of life. But in the people of waste land have lost the ancient belief. Elliot says the people have corrupted the symbol of life and turned it into something that is feared and not revered. An example of this is the Phoenician sailor who died as a result of drowning.

This certainly shows that water no longer signalled the basis of life to him anymore. The protagonist was advised to fear death by water and because he lacked faith he believed that water meant death.The people in waste land also had problems with efficient communication. This gets depicted by the hyacinth girl. She showed she was unable to speak and as a result she could not communicate with the protagonist. The lady of situation asked the girl to speak to her (Eliot 10). She wanted to communicate but she was unable to because she did not know how to.

Elliot also suggests that the people cannot communicate because of their selfishness and pride which hindered them from understanding each other.Another major theme that has been forecasted on is that of corruption of sex. Many examples are given in the poem by Eliot. This can be depicted when the persona in the poem describes a lady who has undergone a lot in her life. In the poem, there is a creation of a certain scene known as a Sylvan scene that is above her mantel on display. This scene is used to describe a change In Philomel, who had been physically abused and raped by the husband of her sister, King Tereus.

Her sister was known as Procne. It is written in line 102, “And still she cried, and still the world pursues” (Eliot 5). This is an example of forced sex that goes against the wishes of the women’s dignity. It also nears towards breaking of the family ties because the gross misconduct is performed on her by a relative, who happens to be the husband to her sister. A second corrupted sex scene is observed in a scene conducted in the pub. Albert is a man who is overcome with the desire to satisfy his sexual desire and he does not consider the status of the person he will use to satisfy himself.

He is also ignorant on the fact that the wife might die during her child birth process. A friend of his also blots out and does not care of this fact. The lustfulness of Albert has to be quenched and this therefore makes women be viewed as objects of sexual harassment.Works CitedEliot, Thomas Stearns. "The Waste land." Pennyslyvania State University (2014): 1-18.

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/literature/1643097-the-waste-land-by-ts-eliot
(The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words)
https://studentshare.org/literature/1643097-the-waste-land-by-ts-eliot.
“The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/literature/1643097-the-waste-land-by-ts-eliot.
  • Cited: 2 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot

The of T.S. Eliot on Derek Walcott & Edward (Kamu) Brathwaite.Charles E

lfred Prufrock", the waste land, and later the Four Quartets" (History of the Voice).... Derek Walcott, in "The Muse of History" - In many islands, the West Indian poet is faced with a language which he hears but cannot write because there are no symbols for such a language so his function remains the old one of being filter and purifier, never losing the tone and strength of the common speech as he uses the hieroglyphs, symbols, alphabet of the official one. … eliot recalled that, "how much Irish way of speech is needed to bring out beauties of Irish poetry" and learned after Yeats death when " The music of poetry" was read aloud by Yeats for eliot....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land

The errancy of paternal citations and the disruptions of maternal intertexts are everywhere evident in the waste land, which elaborates the conflicts evident in "Hysteria, " "Whispers of Immortality, " and "Ode.... hellip; the waste land is now primarily of interest for precisely the errant tendencies that were previously corrected, explained away, or ignored; its fragmentation, obscurity, and anti-Semitic and misogynistic representations appear as symptoms of modern aesthetic and social dilemmas....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Portrait of Modern Land in The Waste Land

The Waste Land (1922), the most influential modernist poem by t s eliot, has been significantly noted for combining the various elements from such a geographically, historically, and linguistically wide variety of cultural, literary, and spiritual settings to portray the modern world.... Eliot combines elements from such a geographically, historically, and linguistically wide variety of cultural, literary, and spiritual settings to portray the modern world in The Waste Land? The Waste Land (1922), the most influential modernist poem by t s… Eliot, has been significantly noted for combining the various elements from such a geographically, historically, and linguistically wide variety of cultural, literary, and spiritual settings to portray the modern world....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

The Wasteland by Dr Fidel Fajardo-Acosta

Fajardo-Acosta, “the waste land”).... Fajardo-Acosta, “the waste land”).... Fajardo-Acosta, “the waste land).... “the waste land.... eliot incorporated religious symbolism, allusions, quotations, philosophies, as well as ancient myths being enacted in a modern urban setting.... Only There is shadow under this red rock9 eliot noted that the fist line was part of the preacher's picture of the desolation of old age, where “fear shall be in the way…and desire shall fail....
2 Pages (500 words) Assignment

The theme of aging in the poem J. Alfred Prufrock

Prufrock is the spirit that permeates the waste land.... the waste land and other Poems.... This poem by t.... Alfred Prufrock: This poem by t.... eliot discuss many times and many ages and a specific time and a specific age, that of the protagonist, who is a slim, bald man in his middle years, singing about the travails of love, both with God and man.... eliot discuss many times and many ages and a specific time and a specific age, that of the protagonist, who is a slim, bald man in his middle years, singing about the travails of love, both with God and man....
3 Pages (750 words) Thesis

T.S Eliot The Waste Land

This is evidenced where the poet says that April is the cruelest month due to the waste land The poem is a long chain of unfolding events and the results of awful actions of nature and what it happens tothe entire human fraternity.... orks CitedEliot, Telly the waste land:England.... This is evidenced where the poet says that April is the cruelest month due to the dead land that lies around after a war catastrophe that had occurred in a recent period of time....
2 Pages (500 words) Admission/Application Essay

Should a Charge of Plagiarism Ruin Your Life

The report “Should a Charge of Plagiarism Ruin Your Life?... rdquo; seeks to evaluate the nature of influence, inspiration, and plagiarism.... If a person does not know what currently exists, then there is no way to know whether or not someone has already tried to do what this person is doing....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

To What Extent Can the Problems of Urbanisation Be Met by a Policy of Sustainable Development

This generated massive critique from sociologists and ecologists as migration patterns exponentially caused conflicts on land use with the apparent rise of ghettos against industries; of massive production with the consequential rise and quandary on waste management (Elliot, 1999, p....
6 Pages (1500 words) Coursework
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us