T.S. Eliot The Waste Land

The modernist movement and T.S. Eliot's ideas stem from a set of dramatic historical events that twentieth century Europe faced in the context of dramatic political and social changes. In light of the definition of modernism, The Waste Land paints a picture of a disjointed and barren world as seen through the perspective of the author himself. Through its fragmented and allusive elements, The Waste Land illustrates as a metaphor for modern Europe.

Called the most influential poet of the twentieth century, Thomas Stearns Eliot authored The Waste Land published in 1922, causing a sensation. This particular publication of his was one of the first poems to coin 'Modernism' as a true genre in literature, making any straightforward non-fragmented creative expression not modern. The modernist movement was ultimately outlined by the onset and devastation of World War I, lasting from 1914 to 1918. Aside from the war, the world was already naturally advancing and modernizing itself. During the years that fenced World War I, the modernist movement brought innovative changes to the social and artistic aspects of society. Like most movements, modernism was being implemented in the literature, music, and philosophy in western culture. The philosophy of a modernist society during the late ninetieth century and early twentieth century was generally thought to believe in progress and prosperity. World War I took this generalized philosophy and put it into almost a reverse stage. Society was put on a stand by, death had swept the lands. The Waste Land observes this change in the first section titled "The Burial of the Dead," describing London as a broken, dry, and lifeless place full of dead bodies. "The city of London that was once dominated by p...

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...osophy that humans being were instinctively good and capable of progress. At the turn of the century, these views did not make sense to modernist who were embittered by reality, mankind was pessimistic and dark. The Waste Land takes Eliot's vision of mankind, man's lack of future and hope.

The Waste Land is an ambitious poem to analyze due to its complexity and expansiveness. The most crucial and structural ideals of the poem have been discusses to expose the characteristics of modernity that are portrayed in the poem. Eliot's illustration of the modern world in The Waste Land features modern society as disillusioned, obscure, and chaotic with the intense need for hope to return back to a time of security. The Waste Land represents a large piece of the modernist movement and to this date remains one of the best metaphors for the state and situation of modern Europe.