The Theme Of Love In The Wasteland, By T. S. Eliot

1106 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Analysis of the wasteland ts eliot

In The Wasteland, T.S. Eliot offers a wonderful insight to the spiritual aspect of the modern world. The wasteland that is described in the poem consists of a dried up and waterless land. Throughout the poem, Eliot looks for us to find a solution on how to rescue ourselves from what is known as the wasteland. To come to the full solution, he asks that we must give ourselves in the way of sacrifice. Another way to look at sacrifice is in Christianity, it has a tie into the theme of love. In order to come to this solution, it is very important to look deeper into the meaning of the poem and the way it is related to religion. Through doing this, it is important that one looks at the symbolism that lies deep within the poem, and analyzes what it really means to the reader in a spiritual form. The spiritual symbol that most lead us to the solution of rescuing oneself from the wasteland is water and its influence in the theme of love in the poem.
Throughout the poem, the common symbol which is the fish, comes up numerous times. The fish stands for rebirth and renewal of oneself. In Christianity, the fish is also a symbol of fertility. In Section III, “The Fire Sermon”, the poet states “While I was fishing in a dull canal (Eliot 11).” This implies that the canal had little to no water inside of it, which means that there is little to no fish …show more content…

The Fisher King is part of the Grail legend and within it, he has a wound on his thigh and his injury is causing major effects on the land (Weston 36). When it comes to the Fisher Kings name, it is resolved around the fish, which is a major symbol in Christianity. Since the land is so dry and infertile due to the Fisher Kings death, it is shown to be proven that that is what caused the land around his palace to become a

Show More
Related

  • Elizabeth Bishop's "the Fish" and "One Art"

    446 Words  | 1 Pages

    "The Fish" is filled with poetic images all for the reason of making a powerful point,

    Read More

  • Imagery and Diction in The Fish by Elizabeth Bishop

    1255 Words  | 3 Pages

    A fish is a creature that preceded the creation of man on this planet. Therefore, Bishop supplies the reader with a subject that is essentially constant and eternal, like life itself. In further examination of this idea the narrator is, in relation to the fish, very young, which helps introduce the theme of deceptive appearances in conjunction with age by building off the notion that youth is ignorant and quick to judge. Bishop's initial description of the fish is meant to further develop this theme by presenting the reader with a fish that is "battered," "venerable," and "homely." Bishop compares the fish to "ancient wallpaper.

    Read More

  • Symbolism In The Secret Life Of Bees

    851 Words  | 2 Pages

    Symbolism is a recurring theme in this novel, the river and fish symbols both contribute to the overall growth to the protagonist, Lily, and to the storyline as a whole. “The river has done its best, I was sure, to give her a peaceful ride out of this life. You can die in a river, but maybe you could be reborn in it too” (Kidd 229). The river as a symbol represents life and death, Lily mentions how it brought May’s death but also brings life too, for example, a baptism is sometimes done in river with symbolizes rebirth. This influential symbol contributes to the organization of the storyline by partly helping Lily come to terms with May’s death, in turn, keeping Lily content and the story continuing. “They held me down on the bank and hooked

    Read More

  • T.S. Elliot’s Personal Poem

    656 Words  | 2 Pages

    T.S. Eliot had very philosophical and religious meanings behind this poem, and that helped me relate personally very well with this work of his. He used allusions to other poems, letting me make connections with works I have read before. He also used inclusive language and had the same opinion as me portrayed in this work. Based on these, T.S. Eliot has convinced me of his messages in this poem, as well as made this by far my favorite of his.

    Read More

  • T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land – Can We Learn From the Past ?

    1758 Words  | 4 Pages

    When read for the first time, The Waste Land appears to be a concoction of sorts, a disjointed poem. Lines are written in different languages, narrators change, and the scenes seem disconnected, except for the repeated references to the desert and death. When read over again, however, the pieces become coherent. The Waste Land is categorized as a poem, but exhibited visually, it appears to be a literary collage. And when standing back and viewing the collage from afar, a common theme soon emerges. Eliot collects aspects from different cultures or what he calls cultural memories. These assembled memories depict a lifeless world, in which the barrenness of these scenes speak of a wasted condition. He concentrates on women, including examples of violence committed against them and the women's subsequent lack of response to this violence, to show how apathetic the world is. But The Waste Land is not a social commentary on the plight of women. Rather, the women's non-reaction to the violence against them becomes a metaphor for the impotence of the human race to respond to pain. Violence recurs throughout time, and as Eliot points to in his essay "Tradition and Individual Talent" in the epigraph, we can break this cycle of violence and move ahead only by learning from the past and applying this knowledge to the present.

    Read More

  • Essay 1

    1806 Words  | 4 Pages

    ... to understand one another. Furthermore, while both poets encase aspects of the fish into their poems, Bishop’s interpretation of the fish places it at a distance because her block of text loaded with descriptions is how she sees the fish, which gives the image that she just feels pity for the fish but doesn’t really feel the need to delve deeper in understanding the essence of the fish. By contrast, Oliver’s interpretation of the fish embodies its’ essence because she does not rely on its appearance to understand it but rather when she consumes the fish, its’ spiritual aura merges within herself. Oliver captures the soul of the fish within her poetic writing as evidenced by the constant alliteration with “f” letter words including, “first fish”, “flailed” , “flesh”, “fall”, “feed”, and “feverish”, which give the image that the poem is alive and is the fish.

    Read More

  • Analysis of The Fish by Elizabeth Bishop

    976 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first element to analyze when looking at “The Fish” is figurative language. The reader is drawn to this element because of its heavy emphasis throughout the poem. Elizabeth Bishop profusely uses similes with the intention of heightening the sensation of fishing. She writes:

    Read More

  • The Fish Gone Fishin'

    917 Words  | 2 Pages

    Initially the reader is bombarded with an intense image of the fish; he is "tremendous,"  "battered," "venerable," and "homely."  The  reader is sympathetic with the fish's situation, and can relate because everyone has been fishing. Next, Bishop compares the fish to familiar household objects: "here and there / his brown skin hung in strips / like ancient wallpaper, / and its pattern of darker brown / was like wallpaper;" she uses two similes with common objects to create sympathy  for the captive.  Bishop then goes on to clearly illustrate what she means by "wallpaper": "shapes like full-blown roses / stained and lost through age."  She uses another simile here paired with descriptive phrases, and these effectively depict a personal image of the fish. She uses the familiar "wallpaper" comparison  because it is something the readers can relate to their own lives.  Also the "ancient wallpaper" analogy can refer to the fish's age. Although faded and aged he withstood the test of time, like the wallpaper.  Bishop uses highly descriptive words like "speckled" and "infested" to create an even clearer mental picture.  The word "terrible" is used to describe oxygen, and this is ironic because oxygen is usually beneficial, but in the case of the fish it is detrimental.  The use of  "terrible" allows the reader to visualize the fish gasping for breaths and fighting against the "terrible oxygen," permitting us to see the fish's predicament on his level.   The word frightening does essentially the same thing in the next phrase, "the frightening gills."  It creates a negative image of something (gills) usually considered favorable,  producing an intense visual with minimal words.   Another simile is used to help the reader picture the fish's struggle: "coarse white flesh packed in like feathers."  This wording intensifies the reader's initial view of the fish, and creates a visual, again, on the reader's level.

    Read More

  • Elizabeth Bishop’s “The Fish”

    961 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The Fish,” written by Elizabeth Bishop in 1946, is perhaps most known for its incredible use of imagery, but this analysis does not merely focus on imagery. Instead, it is based on a quote by Mark Doty from his essay “A Tremendous Fish.” In it he says, “‘The Fish’” is a carefully rendered model of an engaged mind at work” (Doty). After reading this statement, it causes one to reflect more in-depth about how the poem was written, and not just about what its literal meaning lays out. In “The Fish,” Bishop’s utilization of certain similes, imagery in the last few lines, narrative poem style, and use of punctuation allows the audience to transport into the life of the fish; therefore, allowing them to understand Bishop’s ideas on freedom and wisdom.

    Read More

  • Waste Land Essay: Eliot's Use of Different Speakers

    688 Words  | 2 Pages

    Different speakers in "The Waste Land" mirror the disjointedness of modern experience by presenting different viewpoints that the reader is forced to put together for himself. This is similar to the disassociation in modern life in that life has ceased to be a unified whole: various aspects of 20th-century life -- various academic disciplines, theory and practice, Church and State, and Eliot's "disassociation of sensibilities," or separation of heart and mind -- have become separated from each other, and a person who lives in this time period is forced to shore these fragments against his or her ruins, to borrow Eliot's phrase, to see a picture of an integrated whole.

    Read More

  • A Comparison of The Waste Land and Pablo Picasso's Guernica

    794 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are a number of these images in the works. Many of Picasso's are fairly evident the burning man in the right corner for example or the severed head on the bottom. These show the devastation of the world, as we know it. Eliot has recurring images not unlike these in The Waste Land. Eliot continually refers to the unnatural lack of water in the wasteland or the meaningless broken sex in the society of his day.

    Read More

  • Passion Play Analysis

    1058 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Greek word for fish, ICHTHYS, serves as an acrostic for the phrase “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior”, which relates the symbol to Christ (McClintock and Strong 1047). The symbol of the fish can also represent individuals outside of the Church, lost in the seas of sin (Drewer 533). Ruhl uses this dual meaning of fish within Passion Play to further endow the characters of Pontius and John with biblical characteristics and representation. Pontius removes the guts from fish for a living and plays the roles of Pilate and Satan in the passion story, associating him with those outside of the Church that are lost in sin. Pontius reeks of the stench of dead fish and is unable to rid himself of their smell (29). This stench represents the sinful state Pontius cannot separate himself from, similar to the guilt Pilate placed upon himself concerning the crucifixion of Christ (Matthew 27:24).

    Read More

  • Humanity And Responsibility In The Fish By Elizabeth Bishop

    2494 Words  | 5 Pages

    The narrator speaks about the fish in terms of commercial, where every part of the fish can be sale for different purposes, but as the speaker look in the fish eyes, starts to compare the human life through the existence of the fish. What the speaker found beautiful about the fish is that as the speaker looks into the fish eyes and start looking in a different way to the creature, she starts to identify a living creature instead of a creature that will die imminently. The speaker starts seeing the beauty of the fish when she start to compare the fish to a soldier, when she sees through the eyes of the fish the victories over death that this creature has won, and I believe that the speaker compares her own battles and victories to the one of this creature in order to survive. I believe that the “ personality” of the fish is humble, brave and that this fish have been battling for a long time for his life, that he has been involved in some sort of violence many times in order to exist. I also feel that this fish is tired of fighting and that he is venerable to the speaker

    Read More

  • Theme of Christianity in "Rime of the Ancient Mariner"

    1047 Words  | 3 Pages

    The catalyst for the emergence of Christian symbolism occurs when the mariner commits a sin by murdering one of God’s creatures. By killing the albatross, he inevitably brings about a series of trials amongst himself and those aboard the ship. Though the significance of this sin is first unseen by the mariner, supernatural forces quickly condemn his actions as a severe crime against nature. With no real reason, the mariner kills the albatross and soon realizes the magnitude of his actions. Viewed beyond simply a good luck charm, “At length did cross an Albatross, Through the fog it came; As if it had been a Christian soul, We hailed it in God’s name” (ll. 63-6). The idea of the Albatross representing Jesus Christ is a direct parallel in the Christian religion. The death of the Albatross is reminiscent of the death of Jesus in that both died as a result of another’s sin and betrayal of God’s word. Similar accounts of betrayal are portrayed ...

    Read More

  • T.S. Eliot’s Powerful Use of Fragmentation in The Waste Land

    2713 Words  | 6 Pages

    T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land is an elaborate and mysterious montage of lines from other works, fleeting observations, conversations, scenery, and even languages. Though this approach seems to render the poem needlessly oblique, this style allows the poem to achieve multi-layered significance impossible in a more straightforward poetic style. Eliot’s use of fragmentation in The Waste Land operates on three levels: first, to parallel the broken society and relationships the poem portrays; second, to deconstruct the reader’s familiar context, creating an individualized sense of disconnection; and third, to challenge the reader to seek meaning in mere fragments, in this enigmatic poem as well as in a fractious world.

    Read More

More about The Theme Of Love In The Wasteland, By T. S. Eliot

Open Document