T.S Elliot Convey the Bleakness and Desolation of the “the Wasteland” Essay Example
T.S Elliot Convey the Bleakness and Desolation of the “the Wasteland” Essay Example

T.S Elliot Convey the Bleakness and Desolation of the “the Wasteland” Essay Example

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  • Pages: 2 (329 words)
  • Published: March 26, 2017
  • Type: Analysis
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One of the indications of T. S Elliot's bleak and pessimistic approach to “The Wasteland” is the brief citation he opted to use to initiate the poem. To underline the decayed and diminished state of a formerly thriving world, Elliot borrowed a quotation from Petronius Arbiter's “Satyricon”. This sets the poem's tone when Elliot selects a quote from Sybil: “For I once saw with my own eyes the Cumean Sibyl hanging in a jar and when the boys asked her, 'Sybil, what do you want?' she answered, 'I want to die.'”

The decision to use a quotation about a woman condemned to age forever but never die mirrors Elliot's own circumstances living in a world that is impoverished and ruined, showing no signs of recovery. This effectively establishes a desolate and grim opening tone for “The Wasteland”. Moreover, by consistently

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associating negative connotations, Elliot underscores the desolate and lifeless landscape of "The Wasteland". The audience is led to visualize the land as decayed and barren, incapable of supporting life. Elliot's vivid portrayal of grim and stark imagery such as: “And the dead trees give no shelter, the cricket no relief, And the dry stone no sound of water," clearly projects an atmosphere of negativity.

The frequent use of the negative word “no” along with the grim imagery it relates to, presents a concept of lifelessness and suffering. In his work “The Wasteland”, Eliot makes a parallel between the desolate and barren land and what he perceives as the state of human society in the aftermath of World War I. The harsh landscapes in Eliot's works mirror the distressing condition the world is enduring. Even though h

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initially uses summery imagery, he relates it to a sense of despair in: “Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee With a shower of rain;”. Eliot employs irony by linking summer – usually associated with warmth and joy – with rain, thereby heightening the sense of desolation and bleakness.

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