Wasteland by TS Eliot :: essays papers

Wasteland by T.S. EliotThe driving force of all life is procreation and re-birth. For mankind,vegetation, the animal kingdom, the survival of the species is thedominant factor and only the fittest survive. For millennia, distinctraces have believed that the fertility of the land depended on thesexual potency of their ruler or favour of their gods. Pagan, Roman,Greek and other gods have been invented who were believed to controlthe fertility of the land, such(prenominal) as Ceres, the Roman goddess ofagriculture, on which the survival of their populations has beenbelieved to have depended. Various superstitions and religions havefurther developed and become significant factors in the lives ofbillions of the worlds population. The Waste Land takes these themesand portrays a dead land that lacks the fertility and sexual potencyneeded to sustain and progress life. A land void of what is needed forre-birth. The 4 life-giving elements mankind, Air, Fire, Water. Earth issterile Air is t urned to brown fog Fire burns Water drowns. Thesexual imageries are unproductive sex is present as a lustfulfunctional device but lacking of the necessary fertility. Superstitionsare turned to by the society in search of the answer in the compliance ofTarot cards and religion is a constant thread as evidenced by therecurring Biblical references and themes.In The Burial of the Dead we discern that he gives us an image ofthe Earth as sterile, instead of being the foundation ofvegetation. It is only a repository for the dead. Earth is the1st. of the 4 natural elements. These 4 opening lines echo theApril, root, Lilac/flower, and rain/shower imagery ofthe 4 opening lines of The General Prologue of ChaucersCanterbury Tales. These lines are reflecting the image of lifeand death. pelting usually nurtures and strengthens plants and sustainsthem, but here we see that life even with water is slowly dying andwasting away. He later goes on to say that the trees allow give noshelter and t he crickets, no relief. This line comes from Ecclesiastes125-7 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, andfears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and thegrasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail because man goethto his long home, and the mourners go about the streets. Or ever thesilver cord be loosed, or the golden manger be broken, or the pitcher bebroken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.