Numerous References To Eliot's Theme On Time example essay topic

T.S. Eliot: The Epitome of Modernism By formulating a profoundly pessimistic image of society in the 19th century, T.S. Eliot defined the principles of a new literary trend. Although not the founder of this literary trend, Eliot flirted with his pessimism and formulated new ideals and perspectives, allowing him to become the epitome of Modernism and a main hegemon to English literature. With a purely cynical view of the United States of America's lack of cosmopolitan culture and with prevalent themes such as death, women, society, and time in his poetry, T.S. Eliot had a compelling impact upon the literary world in the 19th century. Through his usage of a myriad of rhetorical devices and unique writing style, Eliot revolutionized poetry and gained notable acclaim as a prominent and distinguished icon in English literature.

The theme of society is arguably considered to be the most dominant in Eliot's poetry. In his confessional dramatic monologue, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, Eliot creates a persona that mirrors the image of the prototypical modern man: hollow, insecure, empty, and spiritually devoid. Eliot mocks the role of society and the meaninglessness of humanity's purpose. In the purely satirical poem, Eliot's character, Prufrock experiences social anxiety disorder and ponders whether he should attend the tea of the supposed "socially superior". Eliot uses Prufrock's social anxiety disorder to demonstrate the pathetic problems society forces him to contemplate".

(They will say: 'How is hair is growing thin!' ) My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin, My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin- (They will say: 'But how his arms and legs are thin!' ) (41-44) " And apart from being overly concerned with his physical appearance, Prufrock also obsesses over his reactions with repetitive questions that answer his hypothetical situations. "And should I then presume? / And how should I begin? (68-69) " In addition to Eliot's mockery of the social gatherings that took time during this place, Eliot also tends to trivialize the role of humanity in the obviously apathetic society. Eliot says, "In the room the women come and go / Talking of Michelangelo", repeatedly in lines 13 to 14 and 35 to 36, obviously demonstrating the meaninglessness of conversation amongst the women. Also, Prufrock is evidently familiar with the people as he states: "For I have known the eyes already, known them all- The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase, And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin, When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall (55-58)...

". Prufrock also feels isolated and alienated from society, and even considers himself to be socially inferior to the rest. "I should have been a pair of ragged claws / Scuttling across the floors of silent seas". The metaphor of being an insignificant animal living at the earth's lowest possible level: the sea floor, justifies his anxiety of being socially inferior. By employing such metaphors, Eliot implies that nothing appeases the guests more than to criticize, making them hollow and empty. Also used in Hollow Men, Eliot's theme of society accompanies yet another prevalent theme: death.

Rather than creating a persona to experience the cruelty and triviality of society, Eliot uses first person, which allows the reader to gain a more personalized and truer perception of his concepts. In the poem, Eliot repeatedly refers to men of society as being "hollow" and "empty". Eliot even implies that "we" are nothing more than scarecrows, as references are commonly made. "We are the hollow men We are the stuffed men Leaning together Headpiece filled with straw (1-3)... Let me also wear Such deliberate disguises Rat's coat, crow skin, crossed staves In a field (31-34)... ".

And because Eliot's concept of the people being nothing more than scarecrows, his perspective on society does not differ from that in Prufrock. But differing from Prufrock, Eliot attempts to isolate himself from the emptiness and hollowness of society because he is afraid of associating himself with people that are so spiritually devoid. "Eyes I dare not meet in dreams / In death's dream kingdom (19-20). ". Ultimately, Eliot depresses himself with the reality that the world in which he lived in had no significant purpose and concludes his poem by saying, "This is the way the world ends / Not with a bang but a whimper (96-97)". In addition to the mere cynicism of society, the theme of death obviously dominates the poem.

Being a devout Anglican Catholic, Eliot's Christian ideals also enter the scope because Eliot found yet another problem with society: people were typically torn away from their Christian ideals during this time period. Eliot's references to the people's "eyes" and "stars" that are in "death's twilight kingdom", allude to the souls, or lack thereof, the people possess. Also the line, "For Thine is the Kingdom", which is repeatedly said, refers to God's kingdom (heaven) as Thine is the archaic meaning for yours. For further justification, "Thine" and "Kingdom" are both capitalized, as they are in the Bible and other Christian religious scriptures. In Prufrock, the ongoing timidity of women is a consistent and recurring theme.

As the original title of the poem was Prufrock Among the Women, Prufrock's central anxieties revolve around his ostracization from the females in the society, "I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each / I do not think that they will sing to me (124-125)". Eliot, however, never uses the female body as a whole to allude to Prufrock's feminine infatuations and his sexual inadequacy. Eliot cleverly uses synecdoche to alert the reader of Prufrock's female troubles, never directly referring to a female: "Arms that are bracelet ed and white and bare (63)... Is it perfume from a dress / That makes me so digress (65-66)... ". Prufrock's persona is often times considered to be a contorted image of Eliot himself, as he too, had problems with women.

Another familiar theme, time, occurs in both poems but more heavily expressed in Prufrock. However, Hollow Men does have numerous references to Eliot's theme on time. Because the main theme in this poem is death, time revolves around that central idea. Eliot makes references to the time "between conception / And the creation (76-77)... Life is very long (82) " And even more obvious, actual times are used: "At five o'clock in the morning (69)... At the hour when we are / Trembling with tenderness (46-47)".

More heavily emphasized symbolically, however, the theme of time in Prufrock is more evident. Prufrock himself is afraid of time and aging. Prufrock can arguably be considered a middle-aged man experiences an infamous mid-life crisis. Prufrock can neither be a young man nor an old man because a young man does not have the need to adjust himself to the youth of society, because he himself is a component of the youth. Prufrock cannot be an old man because an old men typically have already accepted their aging and recognized the life they " ve lived.

A middle-aged man experiencing a mid-life crisis, on the contrary, is excluded from both categories and will usually obsess over regaining his youth. In lines 120 to 122, Prufrock states: "I grow old... I grow old... I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.

Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare eat a peach?" During that time period, it was trendy for men to roll the bottoms of their pants and part their hair in that particular fashion. Also, although entirely subjective, the peach may represent a daring task for an old person. Without proper dental care in the 19th century, it was common for elderly people to lose their teeth, therefore eating a peach, which contains a hard pit, might be a daring or risking task on Prufrock's part, a desperate attempt to feel socially accepted. In addition, Prufrock is constantly reminding himself that "there will be time", which serves almost as a reassurance that his life will remain to go on. Eliot's prevalent themes employed throughout his poetry allowed the reader to gain knowledge of his ideals and concepts.

The rhetorical devices, however, cannot be disregarded as they too aid the reader in grasping a greater understanding for Eliot's writing style. The tense shifts, for instance, cannot be ignored. The shifting of the verb tenses confirms many notions of his poetry, especially in Prufrock. In the poem, for example, it is highly debatable whether or not Eliot decides to attend this "toast and tea". Evidently, Eliot decides not to. In lines 99 and 100 Eliot states, "And it would have been worth it, after all, / Would I have been worth while", and because Eliot used the past tense ("would have been") rather than questioning "is it worth it", which confirms the notion that Eliot does not attend this tea.

Also in Prufrock, Eliot has an extensive use of literary allusions. References were constantly made to past literary works, obvious or not. A more obvious allusion would be to Shakespeare's Hamlet, "No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be (111)... ". and because Eliot alludes to Hamlet, the reader can arguably know what the "overwhelming question" in line 10 actually is ("to be or not to be"). Apart from Shakespeare, Eliot also alludes to Andrew Marvell's poem To His Coy Mistress: "to have squeezed the universe into a ball (92)".

By making that allusion, Eliot is also confirming Prufrock's anxiety towards women and his sexual inadequacy because in Marvell's poem, a man's young mistress will not engage in sexual intercourse with him. Despite the many more allusive statements, symbolism is heavily used in both Hollow Men and in Prufrock. In Hollow Men "the eyes" of "the hollow men" symbolize the souls of men because they are found "in death's dream Kingdom" and in "death's other Kingdom", which also symbolize Heaven and Hell. And in Prufrock such metaphors such as "the yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes (15)... ". are commonly used. Repetition, also a key rhetorical device, is used in both poems, for different reasons, however. Because Prufrock is being told through his perspective and he speaks to himself, repetition is used to demonstrate the overwhelming ness of Prufrock's thoughts due to his anxieties.

In Hollow Men, however, repetition is used to emphasize the terror of death: "This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends (94-96)... ". With an array of many more rhetorical devices contained in his poems, Eliot's variety of the usage can easily allow more or better knowledge for his superior level of writing. Although Eliot's writing style had no formality or consistency, making his writing quite peculiar.

And even though rhyming is commonly used throughout both poems, there is no formal rhyme scheme and the rhyming, when analyzed, is actually random, but not rare. The fragmentation and non-congruity of Eliot's writing was what defined the Modernism movement. Likewise, Eliot's utilization of humor / dry wit and irony created the peculiarity of Eliot's writing style, which needs to be taken into account if one finds his writing to be too difficult. It most cases, Eliot's writing is very difficult. As an undergraduate student from Harvard and graduate student from the Sorbonne and Oxford, Eliot was not the typical person with the typical IQ.

In fact, Eliot even added footnotes in his epic poem, The Wasteland, because he knew his writing was not for the common people to understand, but at the same time, he wanted everyone to enjoy his writing. Due to the uniqueness and allure of his writing form, Eliot was able to galvanize changes in perspectives and revolutionize poetry itself. With his writing, Eliot enforced a radical shift in the literary tradition, as he broke the rigid standards of the Victorian style, the previous literary trend, which propelled a new individualistic concept for a newly found literary trend, Modernism. Due to the prestige and intrigue of his writing, Eliot not only became a prominent figure in literature and winner of the Noble Prize for Literature in 1948, he became the epitome for Modernism. Ackroyd, Peter. T.S. Eliot: A Life. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1985.

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