Generic​ ​Eliot​ ​Essay

Eliot’s​ ​poetry​ ​is​ ​dualistic,​ ​and​ ​despite​ ​his​ ​seemingly​ ​nihilistic​ ​tone,​ ​his​ ​work​ ​reveals
the​ ​theological​ ​validity​ ​in​ ​an​ ​uncertain,​ ​fractured​ ​world.​ ​While​ ​demonstrating​ ​that​ ​the
nature​ ​of​ ​modern​ ​life​ ​breeds​ ​falsity​ ​and​ ​concealment,​ ​Eliot​ ​argues​ ​that​ ​salvation​ ​can
be​ ​found​ ​through​ ​decisive​ ​action.​ ​This​ ​is​ ​expressed​ ​by​ ​disturbing​ ​the​ ​responder
through​ ​a​ ​pastiche​ ​of​ ​eclectic​ ​images​ ​and​ ​symbols,​ ​universalising​ ​the​ ​plight​ ​of​ ​the
modern​ ​individual,​ ​allowing​ ​them​ ​to​ ​reconnect​ ​with​ ​their​ ​innate​ ​sense​ ​of​ ​purpose.
Thus,​ ​Eliot​ ​demonstrates​ ​that​ ​it​ ​is​ ​the​ ​poet’s​ ​business​ ​to​ ​not​ ​just​ ​report​ ​on​ ​feeling​ ​but
extend​ ​on​ ​it​ ​and​ ​create​ ​a​ ​shape​ ​by​ ​which​ ​it​ ​is​ ​converted.

Eliot​ ​skillfully​ ​exhibits​ ​the​ ​notion​ ​of​ ​the​ ​‘buried​ ​life’-​ ​a​ ​life​ ​of​ ​uncertainty,​ ​concealment
and​ ​inertia-​ ​resultant​ ​of​ ​a​ ​post​ ​war​ ​context.​ ​In​ ​‘The​ ​Love​ ​Song​ ​of​ ​J​ ​Alfred​ ​Prufrock’,
Eliot​ ​reveals​ ​how​ ​the​ ​turmoil​ ​of​ ​modern​ ​life​ ​impacts​ ​the​ ​individual​ ​through​ ​the
struggles​ ​of​ ​the​ ​titular​ ​character-​ ​an​ ​embodiment​ ​of​ ​the​ ​Sartrean​ ​concept​ ​of​ ​the
‘mauvaise​ ​foi’,​ ​where​ ​those​ ​under​ ​social​ ​pressure​ ​disguise​ ​uncertainty​ ​through
ostensible​ ​superficiality.​ ​Prufrock’s​ ​fraudulence​ ​is​ ​imposed​ ​in​ ​his​ ​by​ ​his​ ​society,​ ​as
‘the​ ​women​ ​come​ ​and​ ​go/​ ​talking​ ​of​ ​Michelangelo’.​ ​The​ ​refrain​ ​creates​ ​a​ ​cyclical
structure,​ ​reflecting​ ​Dante’s​ ​circles​ ​of​ ​hell-​ ​reinforced​ ​by​ ​the​ ​allusionary​ ​epigraph.
This​ ​is​ ​also​ ​stressed​ ​as​ ​Prufrock​ ​‘measures​ ​his​ ​life​ ​out​ ​with​ ​coffee​ ​spoons’,​ ​where
elongated​ ​assonance​ ​emphasise​ ​the​ ​ephemeral​ ​triviality​ ​of​ ​social​ ​interaction.​ ​This​ ​is
reinforced​ ​in​ ​the​ ​fragmented​ ​images​ ​of​ ​‘masks’​ ​and​ ​‘masquerades’,​ ​conveying​ ​the
view​ ​that​ ​there​ ​is​ ​a​ ​sense​ ​of​ ​duplicity​ ​in​ ​the​ ​manner​ ​in​ ​which​ ​people​ ​present
themselves,​ ​reflective​ ​of​ ​the​ ​turmoil​ ​of​ ​modern​ ​life,​ ​as​ ​they​ ​‘prepare​ ​a​ ​face​ ​to​ ​meet
the​ ​faces​ ​that​ ​you​ ​meet’,​ ​reinforced​ ​again​ ​in​ ​the​ ​use​ ​of​ ​synecdoche,​ ​as​ ​Prufrock
reduces​ ​people​ ​to​ ​‘the​ ​eyes​ ​that​ ​fix​ ​you​ ​in​ ​a​ ​formulated​ ​phrase’.​ ​This​ ​notion​ ​of
distorted,​ ​fragmented​ ​human​ ​form​ ​is​ ​similarly​ ​expressed​ ​in​ ​the​ ​opening​ ​references​ ​to
‘The​ ​Hollow​ ​Men’,​ ​where​ ​Eliot​ ​states​ ​that​ ​they​ ​are​ ​‘stuffed’​ ​with​ ​‘headpieces​ ​filled
with​ ​straw’,​ ​using​ ​imagery​ ​to​ ​portray​ ​humanity​ ​as​ ​lacking​ ​substance,​ ​without​ ​intellect
or​ ​integrity,​ ​using​ ​fragmentation​ ​to​ ​suggest​ ​that​ ​modern​ ​life​ ​precludes​ ​truth​ ​and​ ​unity,
disturbing​ ​a​ ​responder​ ​by​ ​evoking​ ​the​ ​grotesque.​ ​This​ ​recognition​ ​of​ ​failure​ ​is
furthered​ ​through​ ​Prufrock’s​ ​exclamation​ ​‘No!​ ​I​ ​am​ ​not​ ​Prince​ ​Hamlet!’,​ ​where​ ​Eliot’s
high​ ​modal​ ​Shakespearean​ ​allusion​ ​reveals​ ​his​ ​hamartia​ ​of​ ​uncertainty,​ ​engendered
by​ ​the​ ​turmoil​ ​of​ ​modern​ ​life.​ ​Although,​ ​ironically,​ ​Prufrock​ ​shares​ ​much​ ​in​ ​common
with​ ​Hamlet,​ ​as​ ​an​ ​equally​ ​tragic​ ​figure,​ ​stuck​ ​in​ ​the​ ​cycle​ ​of​ ​inaction-​ ​remaining
unfulfilled​ ​and​ ​falling​ ​short​ ​of​ ​ideal​ ​potential.

However,​ ​Eliot​ ​offers​ ​a​ ​chance​ ​to​ ​reach​ ​one’s​ ​full​ ​potential​ ​and​ ​liberate​ ​themselves
from​ ​the​ ​cyclical​ ​homogeneity​ ​of​ ​modern​ ​life​ ​through​ ​through​ ​decisive​ ​action​ ​or​ ​hope
in​ ​a​ ​higher​ ​purpose.​ ​This​ ​duality​ ​is​ ​evident​ ​in​ ​‘Prufrock’​ ​in​ ​the​ ​images​ ​of​ ​the
‘mermaids​ ​riding​ ​seaward​ ​on​ ​the​ ​waves’,​ ​describing​ ​a​ ​world​ ​of​ ​sublimity​ ​by​ ​using
sibilance​ ​and​ ​enjambment​ ​to​ ​create​ ​a​ ​soft,​ ​flowing​ ​tone.​ ​However,​ ​Prufrock​ ​feels​ ​as
though​ ​the​ ​mermaids​ ​‘will​ ​not​ ​sing​ ​to​ ​him’,​ ​as​ ​he​ ​does​ ​not​ ​have​ ​the​ ​courage​ ​to​ ​seek
salvation-​ ​perhaps​ ​even​ ​more​ ​poignant​ ​because​ ​he​ ​is,​ ​even​ ​if​ ​only​ ​subconsciously,
aware​ ​of​ ​a​ ​more​ ​liberated​ ​world​ ​that​ ​could​ ​be​ ​his,​ ​and​ ​could​ ​be​ ​ours,​ ​as
demonstrated​ ​in​ ​the​ ​use​ ​of​ ​inclusive​ ​language​ ​in​ ​the​ ​final​ ​lines-​ ​‘...and​ ​we​ ​drown’.
This​ ​is​ ​further​ ​revealed​ ​in​ ​‘The​ ​Hollow​ ​Men’,​ ​as​ ​Eliot​​ ​juxtaposes​ ​the​ ​sordid​ ​‘dead
land’​ ​and​ ​sublime​ ​‘death’s​ ​other​ ​kingdom’-​ ​a​ ​symbol​ ​of​ ​spiritual​ ​salvation.​ ​Eliot​ ​uses
pleasant​ ​aural​ ​imagery​ ​to​ ​describe​ ​the​ ​‘tree​ ​swinging’​ ​and​ ​‘voice​ ​in​ ​the​ ​wind​ ​singing’
to​ ​suggest​ ​the​ ​perfection​ ​of​ ​salvation,​ ​prompting​ ​a​ ​responder​ ​to​ ​deny​ ​the​ ​triviality​ ​of
modern​ ​life.​ ​The​ ​aporia​ ​of​ ​the​ ​fragmented​ ​Lord’s​ ​Prayer-​ ​‘for​ ​thine​ ​is/​ ​life​ ​is/​ ​for​ ​thine
is​ ​the…’​ ​further​ ​reveals​ ​this.​ ​This​ ​prayer​ ​is​ ​offered,​ ​but​ ​undercut​ ​by​ ​interjection​ ​and
incompletion,​ ​offering​ ​a​ ​spirituality​ ​that​ ​is​ ​possible​ ​but​ ​achingly​ ​out​ ​of​ ​reach​ ​for​ ​those
who​ ​do​ ​not​ ​seek​ ​it.

​ ​However,​ ​in​ ​‘Journey​ ​of​ ​the​ ​Magi’,​ ​Eliot​ ​proves​ ​a​ ​higher​ ​purpose​ ​can​ ​be​ ​accessed.
In​ ​their​ ​journey,​ ​the​ ​Magi​ ​navigate​ ​‘harsh​ ​weather’,​ ​a​ ​‘lack​ ​of​ ​shelter’​ ​and,​ ​most
significantly,​ ​‘the​ ​voice​ ​in​ ​their​ ​ears,​ ​saying/​ ​this​ ​was​ ​all​ ​folly’.​ ​However,​ ​they​ ​deny
uncertainty​ ​and​ ​find​ ​hope​ ​and​ ​purposive​ ​meaning​ ​in​ ​religion.​ ​Christianity,​ ​a​ ​least​ ​its
narrative,​ ​offers​ ​salvation​ ​in​ ​the​ ​reward​ ​of​ ​heaven.​ ​This​ ​is​ ​highlighted​ ​in​ ​the​ ​use​ ​of
paradox​ ​in​ ​his​ ​discussion​ ​of​ ​birth​ ​and​ ​death,​ ​indicative​ ​of​ ​the​ ​duality​ ​and​ ​complexity
of​ ​faith​ ​as​ ​a​ ​balance​ ​to​ ​uncertainty.​ ​Finally,​ ​by​ ​ending​ ​the​ ​poem​ ​in​ ​the​ ​magi​ ​being
‘glad​ ​of​ ​another​ ​death’,​ ​Eliot​ ​proves​ ​salvation​ ​has​ ​been​ ​found,​ ​allowing​ ​a​ ​responder
to​ ​become​ ​aware​ ​of​ ​the​ ​broader​ ​notion​ ​of​ ​individual​ ​purpose,​ ​thus​ ​prompting​ ​them​ ​to
seek​ ​meaning​ ​in​ ​an​ ​ostensibly​ ​meaningless​ ​society.

Despite​ ​presenting​ ​modern​ ​life​ ​as​ ​nihilistic​ ​and​ ​spiritually​ ​devoid,​ ​the​ ​duality​ ​of​ ​Eliot’s
work​ ​reveals​ ​the​ ​inherent​ ​value​ ​of​ ​searching​ ​for​ ​purpose​ ​and​ ​hope​ ​in​ ​a​ ​society​ ​that
precludes​ ​unity​ ​and​ ​truth.