Concetti Chiave
- The Waste Land is a modernist poem by T.S. Eliot that explores themes of cultural and spiritual sterility, chaos, and the decay of Western civilization post-World War I.
- Eliot uses myths, including ancient and romantic ones, to highlight the lack of values in modern society, creating a contrast with the fragmented modern world.
- The poem is influenced by works like "The Golden Bough" by James Frazer and "From Ritual to Romance" by James L. Weston, which discuss pagan myths and fertility rites.
- The language in The Waste Land is diverse, incorporating six foreign languages, reflecting the intellectual depth of the authors and drawing inspiration from figures like Dante.
- Tiresias, a character in the poem, symbolizes the connection between past and present, witnessing the mundane reality of modern life contrasted with the adventures of past heroes.
American, educated in Harvard, soon after That moved to Europe and studied at the Sorbon with the philosopher.
Interested in foreign languages, culture as many other modernist.
- Ezra pound sees in fascism the restoration of the old good values against the disintegration of modern culture. He also had a radio programme, because fascism had to acknowledge that he was a good figure . When USA come to italy he was considered a traitor, they put him in a cage for 90 days in Pisa until he collapse and they put him to a prison for insane people for many years till many intellectuals pressed the governor to liberate him.
THE WASTE LAND
- free verse modernist poem
- Cultural and spiritual STERILITY
- CHAOS, RUINS, DESOLATION, INFERTILITY, DECAY, DECAY OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION, FRAGMENTATION OF THE POEM( reflexion of the society)
---> World War I
USE OF MYTHS
Myth is used to contrast the lack of values of the modern society
-Ancient, oriental, romantic myths
Authors have a vast culture, they know many foreign languages
-Anthropology: the study of all mankind.
WORK THAT INFLUENCES
- " The Golden Bough" James Frazer, pagan myths and fertility rites
- " From Ritual to Romance" James L. Weston, ancient fertility rites and early Christian rituals
- Medieval Romances, stories about " The Holy Grail", Bare= spoglio
LANGUAGE
Six foreign languages ( they were very intellectuals):
-italian, provenzal, german, english
-The japanese idioms convey words that give a clear idea of something
- one of the ispirator of Ezra Pound but also of Joice is DANTE -> the richest language between Petrarch and Bocaccio.
Upanishad-> Testi sacri dei Vada (Sanskrit)
Shantih-> Pace che sorpassa l'intelligenza:
- positive message that contradicts the poem?
- peaceful message
NIHILISM
He try to find his personal way out nihilism
- each person should find his own way in this Chaos, that's why he turned to Christianity and he was accepted in the Anglican Church
UNREAL CITY
Under the brown fog of a winter noon
Mr Eugenides, the Smyrna merchant
Unshaven, with a pocket full of currants 210 = trasandato
C. i. f. London: documents at sight,
Asked me in demotic French
To luncheon at the Cannon Street Hotel = to have lunch
Followed by a week-end at the Metropole.
FRAME
From the Cannon Street we understand he's talking about London. The city is unreal, made of a brown fog which is lingering even at noon.
- FOG distorts the perception of the way we see.
THE CHARACTER: Mr Eugenides, which is a turkish man, defined as a merchant, an old word to define those people who really shaped European
- there is a contrast between the word MERCHANT and this Mr Eugenides, who has this pocket full of dry food. This figures of a unshaved, scruffy man is also rich, how could he be rich?
-> he asked the interlocutor symbol of any modern city. In this landscape ( western modern city) they have no sense
At the violet hour, when the eyes and back
Turn upward from the desk, when the human engine waits
Like a taxi throbbing waiting,
I Tiresias, though blind, throbbing between two lives,
Old man with wrinkled female breasts, can see
At the violet hour, the evening hour that strives
Homeward, and brings the sailor home from sea,
The typist home at tea-time, clears her breakfast,
-the first line is a reference to the Odissey to Penelope who At the sunset tried to see Ulysse's ship coming back. But what happens at the violet hour in the modern city when they are all employees, when our body waits the hour to go home and our body is al little shaking.
Tiresia was punished by Gods and turning into a blind woman, but he was able to forecast. The typist is a low level job, symbol of exploitation. Its an image of lost tradition, she has left her small apartment in a hurry to go to work. She has gained her independence but at the price of loneliness and exploitation. Tyresia was the fortune teller called by Edipo re.
The typist home at tea-time, clears her breakfast, lights
Her stove, and lays out food in tins.
Out of the window perilously spread
Her drying combinations touched by the sun’s last rays,
On the divan are piled (at night her bed)
Stockings, slippers, camisoles, and stays.
This reminds to the adventures of the past heroes, here the adventures are that some clothes would spread around by the wind
--> image of sadness.
I Tiresias, old man with wrinkled dugs
Perceived the scene, and foretold the rest—
I too awaited the expected guest.
He, the young man carbuncular, arrives,
A small house-agent’s clerk, with one bold stare,
The contrast is that he's young but he has a visible, physical difects ( the acne), a low level job, Nontheless he's bold, self confident, this thing is visible in the new rich.
One of the low on whom assurance sits
As a silk hat on a Bradford millionaire.
The time is now propitious, as he guesses, 235
The meal is ended, she is bored and tired,
Endeavours to engage her in caresses
Which still are unreproved, if undesired.
He tries to caress her, with determination and this caresses are not rejected, even if they might be undesired.
Flushed and decided, he assaults at once;
Exploring hands encounter no defence; 240
His vanity requires no response,
And makes a welcome of indifference.
(And I Tiresias have foresuffered all
Enacted on this same divan or bed;
I who have sat by Thebes below the wall
I have experienced the same thing on the same , now he's remembering the good past.
Enacted on this same divan or bed;
I who have sat by Thebes below the wall 245
And walked among the lowest of the dead).
Bestows one final patronizing kiss,
And gropes his way, finding the stairs
They gave a summa.
He wrote a poem about Thomas Beckett.
THEATRE
He wrote later on also theatre work, complex works about society and religion.
Free verse: comes from the French " verse libre" .Free Verse is a form of Poetry composed of either rhymed or unrhymed lines that have no set fixed metrical pattern. The early 20th-century poets were the first to write what they called "free verse" which allowed them to break from the formula and rigidity of traditional poetry.
Domande da interrogazione
- Qual è il tema principale del poema "The Waste Land" di T.S. Eliot?
- Come viene utilizzato il mito nel poema "The Waste Land"?
- Quali influenze letterarie sono presenti nel lavoro di T.S. Eliot?
- Qual è il significato del personaggio Tiresia nel poema?
- Come viene rappresentata la città di Londra nel poema "The Waste Land"?
Il tema principale del poema "The Waste Land" è la sterilità culturale e spirituale, il caos, la desolazione e la decadenza della civiltà occidentale, riflettendo la frammentazione della società moderna.
Nel poema "The Waste Land", il mito viene utilizzato per contrastare la mancanza di valori della società moderna, facendo riferimento a miti antichi, orientali e romantici.
Il lavoro di T.S. Eliot è influenzato da opere come "The Golden Bough" di James Frazer e "From Ritual to Romance" di James L. Weston, che trattano di miti pagani e riti di fertilità, oltre a racconti medievali sul "Santo Graal".
Tiresia, nel poema, rappresenta la capacità di vedere oltre il presente, nonostante la cecità fisica, e simboleggia la perdita di tradizione e l'indipendenza ottenuta a costo di solitudine e sfruttamento.
Londra è rappresentata come una "città irreale", avvolta da una nebbia marrone che distorce la percezione, simbolo della modernità e della mancanza di senso nella vita urbana occidentale.