Presentation

WEEK 5: T.S.Eliot’s The Wasteland: Modern American Literature and Global Politics
Introduction of T.S. Eliot
Slide one
 Thomas Stearns Eliot was born September 26, 1888, in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S., and
died January 4, 1965, in London, England.
 American-English poet, playwright, literary critic, and editor, a leader of the Modernist
movement.
 Eliot strongly influenced Anglo-American culture from the 1920s until late in the
century.
 He was awarded both the Order of Merit and the Nobel Prize for Literature.
 Eliot said that Pound was "more responsible for the 20th‐century revolution in poetry
than is any other individual"
 His first important publication, and the first masterpiece of Modernism in English,
was “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (1915)
Slide notes
1-4. T.S. Eliot (born September 26, 1888, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.—died January 4, 1965,
London, England) was an American-English poet, playwright, literary critic, and editor, a leader
of the Modernist movement in poetry in such works as The Waste Land (1922) and Four
Quartets (1943). Eliot strongly influenced Anglo-American culture from the 1920s until late in
the century. His experiments in diction, style, and versification revitalized English poetry, and in
a series of critical essays, he shattered old orthodoxies and erected new ones. The publication of
Four Quartets led to his recognition as the greatest living English poet and man of letters, and in
1948 he was awarded both the Order of Merit and the Nobel Prize for Literature.
5. T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound were close friends and collaborators who shared similar literary
theories and concerns. Their work influenced each other and contributed to the Modernist
movement in poetry. Eliot's poem, The Waste Land, was influenced by Pound's revisions.
7. Eliot was to pursue four careers: editor, dramatist, literary critic, and philosophical poet. He
was probably the most knowledgeable poet of his time in the English language. His
undergraduate poems were “literary” and conventional. His first important publication, and the
first masterpiece of Modernism in English, was “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (1915)

Play it
Slide 2
 Eliot changed his affinity for the English metaphysical poets of the seventeenth-century
and the nineteenth-century French Symbolist poets into radical innovations in poetic
technique and subject matter
  Gerontion & Blank Verse
 Eliot’s masterpiece is Four Quartets, issued as a book in 1943
 His work made a deep impression on the reading public, and even those who were unable
to accept the poems.
 Eliot’s plays, which begin with Sweeney Agonistes (published 1926; first performed in
1934) and end with The Elder Statesman (first performed 1958; published 1959).
 Poetic Drama & Chorus
 Personal life & Death.
Slide notes
As a poet, Eliot changed his affinity for the English metaphysical poets of the seventeenth
century (notably, John Donne) and the nineteenth-century French Symbolist poets (including
Jules Laforgue) into radical innovations in poetic technique and subject matter. His poems, in
many respects, articulated the disillusionment of a younger post-World War I generation with the
values and conventions—both literary and social—of the Victorian era.
1 For a year Eliot taught French and Latin at the Highgate School; in 1917 he began his brief
career as a bank clerk. Meanwhile, he was also a prolific reviewer and essayist in both literary
criticism and technical philosophy. In 1919 he published Poems, which contained the poem
“Gerontion,” a meditative interior monologue in blank verse; nothing like this poem had
appeared in English.
(Blank verse is a type of poetry that has a regular meter, but no rhyme scheme. Some examples
of blank verse poems include 'Fra Lippo Lippi' (1855) by Robert Browning and 'The Second
Coming' (1920) by W.B Yeats. Blank verse is closely associated with free verse. However, the
latter has no meter)
The poem concludes as
Tenants of the house
Thoughts of a dry brain in a dry season.
Which describes the monologue as the production of the "dry brain" of the narrator in the "dry
season" of his age. Hugh Kenner suggests that these "tenants" are the voices of The Waste Land
and that Eliot is describing the method of the poem's narrative by saying that the speaker uses
several different voices to express the impressions of Gerontion.
2 -3 Eliot’s masterpiece is Four Quartets, which was issued as a book in 1943, though each
“quartet” is a complete poem. “Burnt Norton” was the first of the quartets; it had appeared in the
Collected Poems of 1936. It is a subtle meditation on the nature of time and its relation to
eternity. On the model of this, Eliot wrote three more poems—“East Coker” (1940), “The Dry
Salvages” (1941), and “Little Gidding” (1942)—in which he explored through images of great
beauty and haunting power his own past, the past of the human race, and the meaning of human
history. Each of the poems was self-subsistent, but when published together they were seen to
make up a single work, in which themes and images recurred and were developed musically and
brought to a final resolution. This work made a deep impression on the reading public, and even
those who were unable to accept the poems’ Christian beliefs recognized the intellectual integrity
with which Eliot pursued his high theme, the originality of the form he had devised, and the
technical mastery of his verse. This work led to the award to Eliot, in 1948, of the Nobel Prize
for Literature.
An outstanding example of Eliot’s verse in Four Quartets is the passage in “Little Gidding” in
which the poet meets a “compound ghost,” a figure composite of two of his masters: William
Butler Yeats and Stéphane Mallarmé. The scene takes place at dawn in London after a night on
duty at an air-raid post during an air attack.
I caught the sudden look of some dead master
Whom I had known, forgotten, half recalled
Both one and many; in the brown baked features
The eyes of a familiar compound ghost
Both intimate and unidentifiable.
Eliot’s belief that even secular drama attracts people who unconsciously seek a religion led him
to put drama above all other forms of poetry. All his plays are in blank verse of his invention, in
which the metrical effect is not apprehended apart from the sense; thus he brought “poetic
drama” back to the popular stage.
4 He brought “poetic drama” back to the popular stage. The Family Reunion (1939) and Murder
in the Cathedral are Christian tragedies—the former a tragedy of revenge, the latter of the sin of
pride. Murder in the Cathedral is a modern miracle play on the martyrdom of Thomas Becket.
5 The most striking feature of this, his most successful play, is the use of a chorus in the
traditional Greek manner to make apprehensible to common humanity the meaning of the heroic
action. The Family Reunion (1939) was less popular.
6. Eliot became a British citizen in 1927. In 1948, he received the Nobel Prize for Literature.
After a notoriously unhappy first marriage, Eliot separated from his first wife in 1933 and
married Valerie Fletcher in 1956.
T. S. Eliot died in London on January 4, 1965.
 Modern American Literature
Slide 1

 American Modernist Literature 1915-1945

 Key themes of social change, individualism, disillusionment, and the effects of
modernity.
 Characterized by a departure from traditional forms and conventions, embracing new
styles
 Key features: Stream of consciousness, Experimentation with form, Themes of
alienation, and Rejection of realism.


Slide notes
1-2-3. The eventful period that followed the war left its imprint upon books of all kinds. Literary
forms of the period were extraordinarily varied, and in drama, poetry, and fiction the leading
authors tended toward radical technical experiments.
Modern American literature refers to works of fiction, poetry, and drama produced in the United
States from the early 20th century to the mid-20th century, often focusing on themes of social
change, individualism, disillusionment, and the effects of modernity. It is characterized by a
departure from traditional forms and conventions, embracing new styles and exploring complex
human experiences, often in the context of the rapidly changing society of the time.

4 Key features of Modern American literature include:

 Stream of consciousness: A narrative technique that explores a character's inner

thoughts and emotions, as seen in works by writers like William Faulkner.
 Experimentation with form: Authors often broke with traditional narrative structures,
exploring fragmented or non-linear storytelling.
 Themes of alienation: Many works reflect the sense of disillusionment and isolation felt
by individuals in the modern world.
 Rejection of realism: Modernist writers moved away from realistic depictions of life,
often using symbolism, irony, and ambiguity.

Some notable writers and works in Modern American literature include:

 F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby (1925)

 Ernest Hemingway: The Sun Also Rises (1926)
 William Faulkner: The Sound and the Fury (1929)
 T.S. Eliot: The Waste Land (1922)
 Zora Neale Hurston: Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)
Slide 3:

Fragmentation and Disjointed Structure

Alienation and Disillusionment

Use of Myth and Allusion

Stream of Consciousness and Internal Monologues

Crisis of Identity and the Loss of Meaning

Embrace of the Unconscious and Symbolism

Existential Despair and Spiritual Crisis

T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land (1922) is a quintessential example of Modern American literature,
embodying several key features of the movement. Here's a more detailed justification based on
specific aspects of the poem:

1. Fragmentation and Disjointed Structure

The Waste Land is fragmented in its structure, presenting a disjointed collection of images,
voices, and perspectives. This mirrors the disillusionment and chaos of the modern world.

Reference: The poem opens with an epigraph in multiple languages and includes sections that
shift rapidly between various voices, literary allusions, and cultural references, such as the
transition from the "fire sermon" to "What the Thunder Said." This fragmented approach reflects
the breakdown of traditional forms and society's fragmentation in the modern era.

2. Alienation and Disillusionment

Eliot explores themes of spiritual desolation, existential alienation, and the loss of meaning in a
modern, post-WWI world. These themes of disillusionment and isolation are characteristic of
Modernist literature.

Reference: In the first section, "The Burial of the Dead," the line "April is the cruellest month"
symbolizes the disillusionment with life and growth, presenting spring — traditionally a time of
renewal — as something that brings suffering and death, rather than hope. This suggests an
alienated perspective on the world.

3. Use of Myth and Allusion

Modernist writers, including Eliot, often rejected traditional narrative forms and turned to
mythology and literary allusion to convey complex ideas. Eliot uses a vast array of cultural,
religious, and literary references to depict the loss of spiritual and cultural coherence.

Reference: The title "The Waste Land" itself invokes the myth of the Fisher King, which is
explored throughout the poem. In the section "The Fire Sermon," the myth of Tiresias — the
blind prophet — is used to convey the cyclical nature of human suffering and the barrenness of
modern existence. Eliot also references works such as The Canterbury Tales, The Divine
Comedy, and The Bible, weaving these allusions into the poem’s critique of modern society.

4. Stream of Consciousness and Internal Monologues

Eliot incorporates stream-of-consciousness techniques, allowing readers to access the fragmented

thoughts and feelings of the characters. This style of narration, which emphasizes inner
experience, became a hallmark of Modernist literature.

Reference: The second section, "A Game of Chess," presents a highly fragmented dialogue
between two voices, illustrating internal struggles and alienation. The conversational tone and
erratic transitions between thoughts reflect the fragmented consciousness of individuals in
modern life.

5. Crisis of Identity and the Loss of Meaning

The poem reflects a broader crisis in identity, with individuals struggling to find meaning in a
world that seems broken and devoid of purpose. This loss of meaning is a central theme in
modern literature, where traditional sources of knowledge and stability (e.g., religion, morality)
have lost their relevance.

Reference: The famous lines in "The Fire Sermon" — "What are the roots that clutch, what
branches grow / Out of this stony rubbish?" — express the struggle for meaning in a barren,
spiritually bankrupt world. This is echoed in the "unreal city" of "The Burial of the Dead," where
the speaker expresses the sense that the modern world has lost its way.

6. Embrace of the Unconscious and Symbolism

Modernist writers frequently explored the unconscious mind and used symbols to evoke
emotions, rather than explicitly describing them. Eliot, in particular, utilizes dense symbolism to
evoke complex ideas about decay, renewal, and the human condition.

Reference: The recurring symbol of water in The Waste Land represents both cleansing and
destruction. In the line "I had not thought death had undone so many," water evokes both the
baptismal idea of purification and the drowning force of despair, showing how symbols can offer
multiple interpretations within the same text.

7. Dismantling Traditional Values

The poem challenges established norms, critiquing societal and religious values, and reflecting
Modernist anxiety about a world that no longer adheres to tradition or structure.

Reference: The poem’s reference to the "Hollow Men," with lines like "We are the hollow men /
We are the stuffed men," portrays the emptiness of individuals who no longer hold to the
traditional beliefs or moral compass that once guided them. This speaks to the broader critique of
a society that has lost its direction.

8. Existential Despair and Spiritual Crisis

Modernism often engaged with existential questions about human existence and the crisis of
spiritual meaning. Eliot’s The Waste Land exemplifies this with its portrayal of a society in
spiritual decay.

Reference: The final section of the poem, "What the Thunder Said," concludes with the words
"Shantih shantih shantih," a Sanskrit word meaning "the peace which passeth understanding,"
evoking both a sense of spiritual longing and despair. The cry for peace amidst confusion
symbolizes the search for meaning in an otherwise meaningless world.