Death and Rebirth
The Wasteland embraces death by engaging the reader in desolation, which is something that is often tied into death itself. Death brings with it the desolation of loneliness. He uses death to allude to the death and rebirth of Christ, using the death of Christ as a symbol of the death of religion in the modern world. Death is used to allude to Luke 24: 13-35, saying that people no longer recognize religion, and that it is dead to them. This death brings a religious wasteland to the people in western civilization. In Part 5, What the Thunder Said, Eliot uses the lack of water to symbolize death, as water is a life giving substance, and without it there is no life.
Sexuality
An underlying theme in The Wasteland, is the theme of sexuality and it's hollowness. In Part 3, Mr. Eugenides invites the speaker to a weekend with homosexuals. Homosexuals cannot reproduce, so it terms of having offspring naturally, it is the futile sexually. Without reproduction, there is no life, something that is apparent in the wasteland, where there is no life giving water. In Part 2, two women are at a bar talking about one of the women’s husband, Albert. If she does not please him sexually, the other woman says that she expects him to get it from someone else. This shows the futility in Lils, situation, where if she does not want to have sexual relations, her efforts are fruitless in stopping her husband from getting it elsewhere.
Religion
One of the main themes of The Wasteland is religion and how the modern world is not impacted as much as it once was by it. Religion no longer is a driving force in the modern world, and Eliot makes many biblical references in The Wasteland, using religion as a way to get away from a wasteland. Religion in the past answered many questions people had about life, guiding people in the way the church felt was the way to truly live life with God. Eliot describes the new wasteland of western civilization without religion, and it is making people depressed and saddened. Without religion, these people have no guiding light, and are in a slump of repetition in their lives. Eliot uses biblical allusions to describe the people in the modern world.
Who is the third who walks always beside you?
When I count, there are only you and I together
But when I look ahead up the white road
There is always another one walking beside you
Gliding wrapt in a brown mantle, hooded
I do not know whether a man or a woman
—But who is that on the other side of you?
In this passage, Eliot describes two Disciples of Christ that no longer recognize him, now that he has been resurrected from the dead. This relates to the people Eliot talks about in The Wasteland, because he is saying that without religion and Christ, the people of the world are blind.
Nihilism:
A believer in the philosophy of nihilism would believe that most things are meaningless; one would almost deny existence. Another belief in this philosophy specifically is that there is no afterlife to take you after life. Typically being a more negative viewpoint on the world, it can definitely be seen as communicated by T.S. Eliot in The Waste Land. His use of figurative language, allusions, and imagery throughout all five parts can be seen as an individual who doesn't have much hope for the future. Being a postwar scene throughout the whole poem, one of the main ideas brought to the table by Eliot is the thought of modern decay; streets have been turned upside down, houses and buildings destroyed, and many people dying off. However, the underlying message that may not be as obvious as the desolation shown is the idea of an afterlife. There are no examples in the poem showing any release form this terrible phase the world is going through. Each speaker is left to live their life with the consequences of actions or in Death by Water, there is no rescue from death itself; the sailor is left there to suffer and once he was dead, he was gone forever with no afterlife to aid him. Similarly in the final part of this poem, What The Thunder Said explains that we are what we are and there is nothing waiting for us at the end; even if we wait it out, once we're gone, thats the end. What Eliot described related to the theme of nihilism because of the negativity and pessimist viewpoint of what's left even if the waste land were to disappear and things were to return to normalcy.
Power of Connections in History, Religion, and Literature:
Firstly, because T.S. Eliot wrote based off of World War I and what he thought contemporary society consisted of in this postwar state, there is a huge connection to history and its effects on us. The Waste Land wasn't a poem shone in a positive light, and because of that, the society after the war, from what Eliot described, was a waste land and there was no simple way to return to the normalcy state. What happened in true life, however was nothing like what The Waste Land described. Yes, the war was terrible and many of the repercussions were addressed because of it. Yet we lived through it, plus another war, and continue to live life with unfortunate events happening everywhere around us. What Eliot described wasn't something like the real world. Postwar society was something that the world was stuck in; it could slowly become normal again, but only in fragments as he described in What The Thunder Said.
Second off, the idea of religion is very prominent in this poem and provides the power of imagery for the readers. According to Eliot, the bible was a reference in modern society that was underused. That fact alone can describe many of the biblical references frequently popping up throughout his poem. With straight lines taken from the bible like "and the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief", Eliot shows that even though religion isn't a key idea in this poem, some of the thoughts and ideas presented by the bible in particular add to the waste land and what it stands for.
Lastly, the idea of connecting other literature (poems, tragedies, other stories, etc.) to ideas in The Waste Land was something that really worked for Eliot. Quoting Shakespeare, Dante Alighieri, John Milton, and even Ovid, much of his poem comes from what others have already written. He isn't so much stealing their ideas and thoughts on the world but adding to his own by showing the different views that can come from individual people. There is no single view, no single voice, and no clear answer throughout this poem and this could be because of all the different stories and characters and ideas Eliot brought in from other places.
Sexuality:
Sexuality is evident in this poem without question but the type of sexuality is empty and fruitless. Particularly in The Fire Sermon, intercourse is shown as something that has been changed because of society and it’s wasteland state postwar. That whole part shows that what the idea of sex used to be was now turned upside down and was basically used as a passage of time; “’Well now that’s done: and I’m glad it’s over.’” Even the reference to the sylvan scene was a reference to Philomena from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. This ultimately shows the idea of sexual activities being forced and not meaning anything. Setting majority of the history of Philomena behind, it can simply be explained as King Terrus raping his queen’s sister, Philomena, in the woods because he fell in love with her. Following the unwanted intercourse, King Terrus cut off Philomena’s tongue so she could not speak of it. Obviously not a pleasant scene to imagine, the idea of sexuality brought in from another piece of literature allows for more of the forced idea and the thought from Eliot that in a wasteland, sexuality is fruitless.
Lust/Sexuality:
T.S. Eliot depicts the idea of lust and modern sexuality as a lost beauty in The Wasteland. In Part III: A Fire Sermon, a scene involving a female typist and a man show how in modern society, sex is used as a form of entertainment instead of a declaration of love. Eliot portrays the scene as something akin to rape, due to the lack of romance. However, Eliot defends the moment surrender of lust in Part V: What The Thunder Said. Eliot regards that although lust and sex may be considered sin, action is better then inaction. Sex is needed to produce life, which is to say, rejuvenate and start fresh. But modern society has configured the meaning of sex into a meaningless activity for entertainment, as Eliot preserves throughout The Wasteland.
Water:
In T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland, water is symbolic for cleansing and rebirth, as well as death and destruction. In Part 3: The Fire Sermon, the main setting of the poem is the Thanes River in London, England. Before any other major themes are introduced, the river is explained as being peaceful and abandoned. But as death, decay, and lust is introduced the river is tainted by oil, tar, litter, and pollution from the industrial city around it. This shows that alone water is peaceful, but with surrounding environments it's purity gets tainted. However, water is potentially dangerous. “The waste land” lacks water, therefore lacking the necessity of rebirth. Eliot see’s the card of a drowned Phoenician sailor in Part IV, which is named “Death By Water”, which exposes the dangerous side water has. In the close of the poem when rain finally arrives in the wasteland, it washes away the mistakes and starts a new future. However, with a storm comes the possibility of thunder, lighting and therefore fire, which explains the titles “The Fire Sermon” and “What the Thunder Said”. These two sides represent the light and dark sides of water, the possibility of cleansing, or drowning.
Seasons:
T.S. Eliot uses seasons to create an ongoing paradox within The Wasteland. Spring is the month of rebirth, but is regarded as “the cruelest month” because what brings life also brings death. April stirs life in the world of nature, but this return of fertility is painful and repugnant because it’s a reminder of having to renew characters, such as Marie, lives. Eliot describes the seasons not changing in order, and also maintaining a stasis. Winter is described as keeping people “warm”, because it forces them to go south in search of pleasure, thus they are staying away from winter. As well, winter brings stillness and therefore action is forgotten. This forgetfulness is welcomed. Rain, being the symbol of rejuvenation, is unwanted so there is always a state of inaction. This state of limbo leaves Eliot’s wasteland season-less, perpetually waiting for a new dawn.
Isolation
The main reason why isolation is a theme in The Wasteland is because the characters appear to isolate themselves and their emotions from the people around them.
The Wasteland embraces death by engaging the reader in desolation, which is something that is often tied into death itself. Death brings with it the desolation of loneliness. He uses death to allude to the death and rebirth of Christ, using the death of Christ as a symbol of the death of religion in the modern world. Death is used to allude to Luke 24: 13-35, saying that people no longer recognize religion, and that it is dead to them. This death brings a religious wasteland to the people in western civilization. In Part 5, What the Thunder Said, Eliot uses the lack of water to symbolize death, as water is a life giving substance, and without it there is no life.
Sexuality
An underlying theme in The Wasteland, is the theme of sexuality and it's hollowness. In Part 3, Mr. Eugenides invites the speaker to a weekend with homosexuals. Homosexuals cannot reproduce, so it terms of having offspring naturally, it is the futile sexually. Without reproduction, there is no life, something that is apparent in the wasteland, where there is no life giving water. In Part 2, two women are at a bar talking about one of the women’s husband, Albert. If she does not please him sexually, the other woman says that she expects him to get it from someone else. This shows the futility in Lils, situation, where if she does not want to have sexual relations, her efforts are fruitless in stopping her husband from getting it elsewhere.
Religion
One of the main themes of The Wasteland is religion and how the modern world is not impacted as much as it once was by it. Religion no longer is a driving force in the modern world, and Eliot makes many biblical references in The Wasteland, using religion as a way to get away from a wasteland. Religion in the past answered many questions people had about life, guiding people in the way the church felt was the way to truly live life with God. Eliot describes the new wasteland of western civilization without religion, and it is making people depressed and saddened. Without religion, these people have no guiding light, and are in a slump of repetition in their lives. Eliot uses biblical allusions to describe the people in the modern world.
Who is the third who walks always beside you?
When I count, there are only you and I together
But when I look ahead up the white road
There is always another one walking beside you
Gliding wrapt in a brown mantle, hooded
I do not know whether a man or a woman
—But who is that on the other side of you?
In this passage, Eliot describes two Disciples of Christ that no longer recognize him, now that he has been resurrected from the dead. This relates to the people Eliot talks about in The Wasteland, because he is saying that without religion and Christ, the people of the world are blind.
Nihilism:
A believer in the philosophy of nihilism would believe that most things are meaningless; one would almost deny existence. Another belief in this philosophy specifically is that there is no afterlife to take you after life. Typically being a more negative viewpoint on the world, it can definitely be seen as communicated by T.S. Eliot in The Waste Land. His use of figurative language, allusions, and imagery throughout all five parts can be seen as an individual who doesn't have much hope for the future. Being a postwar scene throughout the whole poem, one of the main ideas brought to the table by Eliot is the thought of modern decay; streets have been turned upside down, houses and buildings destroyed, and many people dying off. However, the underlying message that may not be as obvious as the desolation shown is the idea of an afterlife. There are no examples in the poem showing any release form this terrible phase the world is going through. Each speaker is left to live their life with the consequences of actions or in Death by Water, there is no rescue from death itself; the sailor is left there to suffer and once he was dead, he was gone forever with no afterlife to aid him. Similarly in the final part of this poem, What The Thunder Said explains that we are what we are and there is nothing waiting for us at the end; even if we wait it out, once we're gone, thats the end. What Eliot described related to the theme of nihilism because of the negativity and pessimist viewpoint of what's left even if the waste land were to disappear and things were to return to normalcy.
Power of Connections in History, Religion, and Literature:
Firstly, because T.S. Eliot wrote based off of World War I and what he thought contemporary society consisted of in this postwar state, there is a huge connection to history and its effects on us. The Waste Land wasn't a poem shone in a positive light, and because of that, the society after the war, from what Eliot described, was a waste land and there was no simple way to return to the normalcy state. What happened in true life, however was nothing like what The Waste Land described. Yes, the war was terrible and many of the repercussions were addressed because of it. Yet we lived through it, plus another war, and continue to live life with unfortunate events happening everywhere around us. What Eliot described wasn't something like the real world. Postwar society was something that the world was stuck in; it could slowly become normal again, but only in fragments as he described in What The Thunder Said.
Second off, the idea of religion is very prominent in this poem and provides the power of imagery for the readers. According to Eliot, the bible was a reference in modern society that was underused. That fact alone can describe many of the biblical references frequently popping up throughout his poem. With straight lines taken from the bible like "and the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief", Eliot shows that even though religion isn't a key idea in this poem, some of the thoughts and ideas presented by the bible in particular add to the waste land and what it stands for.
Lastly, the idea of connecting other literature (poems, tragedies, other stories, etc.) to ideas in The Waste Land was something that really worked for Eliot. Quoting Shakespeare, Dante Alighieri, John Milton, and even Ovid, much of his poem comes from what others have already written. He isn't so much stealing their ideas and thoughts on the world but adding to his own by showing the different views that can come from individual people. There is no single view, no single voice, and no clear answer throughout this poem and this could be because of all the different stories and characters and ideas Eliot brought in from other places.
Sexuality:
Sexuality is evident in this poem without question but the type of sexuality is empty and fruitless. Particularly in The Fire Sermon, intercourse is shown as something that has been changed because of society and it’s wasteland state postwar. That whole part shows that what the idea of sex used to be was now turned upside down and was basically used as a passage of time; “’Well now that’s done: and I’m glad it’s over.’” Even the reference to the sylvan scene was a reference to Philomena from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. This ultimately shows the idea of sexual activities being forced and not meaning anything. Setting majority of the history of Philomena behind, it can simply be explained as King Terrus raping his queen’s sister, Philomena, in the woods because he fell in love with her. Following the unwanted intercourse, King Terrus cut off Philomena’s tongue so she could not speak of it. Obviously not a pleasant scene to imagine, the idea of sexuality brought in from another piece of literature allows for more of the forced idea and the thought from Eliot that in a wasteland, sexuality is fruitless.
Lust/Sexuality:
T.S. Eliot depicts the idea of lust and modern sexuality as a lost beauty in The Wasteland. In Part III: A Fire Sermon, a scene involving a female typist and a man show how in modern society, sex is used as a form of entertainment instead of a declaration of love. Eliot portrays the scene as something akin to rape, due to the lack of romance. However, Eliot defends the moment surrender of lust in Part V: What The Thunder Said. Eliot regards that although lust and sex may be considered sin, action is better then inaction. Sex is needed to produce life, which is to say, rejuvenate and start fresh. But modern society has configured the meaning of sex into a meaningless activity for entertainment, as Eliot preserves throughout The Wasteland.
Water:
In T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland, water is symbolic for cleansing and rebirth, as well as death and destruction. In Part 3: The Fire Sermon, the main setting of the poem is the Thanes River in London, England. Before any other major themes are introduced, the river is explained as being peaceful and abandoned. But as death, decay, and lust is introduced the river is tainted by oil, tar, litter, and pollution from the industrial city around it. This shows that alone water is peaceful, but with surrounding environments it's purity gets tainted. However, water is potentially dangerous. “The waste land” lacks water, therefore lacking the necessity of rebirth. Eliot see’s the card of a drowned Phoenician sailor in Part IV, which is named “Death By Water”, which exposes the dangerous side water has. In the close of the poem when rain finally arrives in the wasteland, it washes away the mistakes and starts a new future. However, with a storm comes the possibility of thunder, lighting and therefore fire, which explains the titles “The Fire Sermon” and “What the Thunder Said”. These two sides represent the light and dark sides of water, the possibility of cleansing, or drowning.
Seasons:
T.S. Eliot uses seasons to create an ongoing paradox within The Wasteland. Spring is the month of rebirth, but is regarded as “the cruelest month” because what brings life also brings death. April stirs life in the world of nature, but this return of fertility is painful and repugnant because it’s a reminder of having to renew characters, such as Marie, lives. Eliot describes the seasons not changing in order, and also maintaining a stasis. Winter is described as keeping people “warm”, because it forces them to go south in search of pleasure, thus they are staying away from winter. As well, winter brings stillness and therefore action is forgotten. This forgetfulness is welcomed. Rain, being the symbol of rejuvenation, is unwanted so there is always a state of inaction. This state of limbo leaves Eliot’s wasteland season-less, perpetually waiting for a new dawn.
Isolation
The main reason why isolation is a theme in The Wasteland is because the characters appear to isolate themselves and their emotions from the people around them.