"The Wasteland" by T.S. Eliot

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes T. S. Eliot's the epic poem, "The Wasteland." It describes the scenes of loneliness and oppression, sexual gratification and the inability to feel emotions that can be found in the poem. The paper shows how T.S. Eliot wanted us to not only take a closer look at human nature and the relevance of the negativity that come along within life, but also for society to take a closer look at itself and examine our own lives and our own mortality.

From the Paper:

""Death by Water" is the fourth section of this poem. It once again gives us a scene of humankind facing its own mortality. "Phlebas the Phoenician, a fortnight dead, / Forgot the cry of gulls, and the deep sea swell/and profit and loss. /A current under sea/Picked his bones in whispers" (Eliot, ll. 312-316). Here we encounter Phlebas the Phoenician as he has just died. He floats through the underworld of the sea and is losing everything that once mattered to him, including his body. Even though this is the shortest section of this poem, what we have to notice is that it takes a turn from the other three that started it. This section introduces up to a man who is in reality dead. Before, Eliot alluded to the fact that the people within the previous three sections were dead on the inside and alive in reality. "Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you" (Eliot, l. 321). Yet, with this sudden change of reality, the reader takes notice to the fact that Eliot seems to be asking the reader to not only consider their own mortality, but also consider the lives that they are entangled in and at the same time numb too."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bolton, Matthew J. "Eliot's The Waste Land." Rev. of The Wasteland, by T S Eliot. Explicator 66.1 (Fall 2007): 25-29.
• Cuddy, Lois A. T.S. Eliot and the poetics of evolution : sub/versions of classicism, culture, and progress. London: Associated University Presses, Bucknell University Press , 2000.
• Eliot, T S. "The Waste Land." Rev. of The Waste Land. http://eliotswasteland.tripod.com/. 4 Apr. 2008
• Ensslin, Astrid. "Women in Wasteland - Gendered Deserts in T. S. Eliot and Shelley Jackson." Rev. of The Wasteland, by T S Eliot and Shelly Jackson. Journal of Gender Studies 14.3 (Nov. 2005): 205-216.
• Johnson, Anthony L. "'Broken Images': Discursive Fragmentation and Paradigmatic Integrity in the Poetry of T.S. Eliot." Poetics Today 6.3 (1985): 399-416 .

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• Poem Review # 107444 : "Pessimism in "The Wasteland"
• Analytical Essay # 42328 : "The Wasteland" and " The Love Song of Alfred J. Prufrock"

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