Does T S Eliots Poetry Have Trouble with Women - Essay Example

Does T.S. Eliots poetry have trouble with women? Introduction In the wake of the World War I, the realm of poetry experienced a transformation with the emergence of various proponents of the modernist revolution notably in T.S Eliot’s poetry. In his plays and poems there were notable differences that set him apart from other poets of his time as he emerged with a new poetic style that utilized both obscure allusions as well as common speech. In 1948, his contribution to the world of poetry and literature led to the Nobel Peace Price award for literature. Many of his poems also revolved around societal issues like desperation and hopelessness following World War I. As an initiator of the modern poetry, his utilization of obscure allusions was present in many of his works, a style that few understood at the time. Even though his poetry underwent vast transformation throughout his career, much of his work embodied female sexuality. Many of his poetry revolved around the lifestyle and plight of women. This concept can be seen in Grishkin, Princess Volupine, The Waste Land among other literary works. This concept has led many proponents to question his stand on women. Therefore, this paper draws from numerous poetic works by Elliot including Ash Wednesday, A Game of Chess, Hysteria, Portrait of a Lady among other secondary sources to ascertain and assess how Eliot’s poetry views women, by using the objective correlative theory. Words can not explain feelings or rather emotions and that’s where poetry comes in. poetry incorporates various elements that help in enhancing understanding of emotions as it develops an ambiance of the required feeling. In this way, poetry can express an emotion through “objective correlative”. This is a chain of events, objects and situations, which is the underlying formula in the particular emotion in a manner that when external facts are generated in the sensory perception the emotion is induced. Taking an example by Shakespeare, it is evident that he successfully managed to evoke feelings in poetry, when Lady Macbeth is seen to walk while in her sleep. Shakespeare manages to communicate to the audience skillfully through accumulation of envisaged sensory impressions. Consequently, the words spoken by Macbeth in the event of his wife’s death strikes the audience in a way that it falls perfectly into the sequence of events. In reference to Eliot’s poetic work, the portrayal of women was characterized by shallowness and evil, even though they are not seen to evolve as heroines, especially in the earlier years of his career. This portrayal of women in his work has a distinct difference from themes of other poets of his time including Thomas Herdy and William Butler. Throughout his career, there is a definite pattern and growth in transformation of Eliot’s image, attitude and views towards women. This pattern evolves from negativity but progressively transforms into positivity, which is evident in, is later works like Ash Wednesday (Batra 36). The goal of this paper is to highlight Eliot’s discernment and different shadows of women in his work as well as to analyze his view on the affiliation between women and men (Matthews 13). Discussion The literary work of T.S Eliot imitates the modernist society, which was a period between 1865 and 1950. The modernist period saw a transformation of how Americans viewed their role in the contemporary society especially women who were taking up male dominated roles. Consequently, the period experienced great social change in global events including the World War I, women suffrage, the Great depression, the Civil Rights Movement, prohibition among other scenarios, which characterized a change in societal standpoint on many issues. During this period, much of Eliot’s work revolved around these societal issues including desperation and hopelessness as issues like the war and the Great depression had affected humanity in ways never imagined before. Consequently, during this time the change of women’s role in the society changed dramatically as they ascended the social ladder and as a result of women suffrage movement, which had began in 1848, many of T.S Eliot’s themes focused on women’s lifestyle and plight. Many women took tasks and jobs, which were male-dominated at the time as well as being incorporated in nations’ voting systems. In Eliot’s Cousin Nancy and Aunt Helen, we experience his views on gender and portrayal of a woman in his work. Over the years, many critics have sharply differed about the poet’s attitude and portrayal of women in his numerous poems. However, many proponents have argued that the themes and view on gender are unproblematic as they reflect the traditional views and perception of women and gender roles in societies. During the modernist period, women are no longer the protagonists characterized by defenseless and hopeless characters in many literary works, for instance the character Emily from The Mysteries of Udolpho or Ophelia from Hamlet. As a result, in their work, numerous poets have revolved around women characters as being subservient and passive. However, T.S Eliot does not posses the same perspective as his characters that belong in a ruthless and unfair world whereby “foul is fair and fair is foul”. The 20th Century giant draws themes form the women of that period as they started to explore their intellect and sexuality. He thus confirmed their societal position and roles in a society at a time characterized by social change. In the course of Eliot’s career, sexuality and gender roles began to take a more flexible turn, which he continuously reflected in his work especially in the poem The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock. For instance, Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell are exquisite examples of societal change where women were handling masculine roles, as they were members of the Bloomsbury Group of English writers, philosophers, artists and intellectuals. In the 19 Century, women were confined to domestic chores while sexuality was neither discussed in social circles as puritanical elements of the society governed social behaviors, interactions and events. In the wake of the 20 Century, women broke societal norms by demanding their rights to vote as well as agitating for societal positions. Women attended schools and those with the will continued to attain higher education as academic institutions admitted women. Therefore, writers and poets alike developed characters that embodied the new values and norms of the contemporary society including aspects like gay and lesbian characters and women who smoke and drunk alcohol. For example From Virgnia Woolf’s characters in Mrs Dalloway, in ascene between Sally Seton and Clarissa Dalloway, Then came the most exquisite moment of her whole life passing a stone urn with flowers in it. Sally stopped; picked a flower; kissed her on the lips. The whole world might have turned upside down!’ Simultaneously, Eliot expressed concern in his literary work about the freedom characterizing the contemporary world. In The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock, T.S Eliot centers on themes regarding emasculation feelings experienced by men who had just returned from the war only to discover the transformed societal ways whereby women were empowered by societal roles; “In the room the women come and go/Talking of Michelangelo”. In The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock, the woman’s portrayal is that of a fatal female. Consequently, Eliot illustrates the lack of a positive connection between women and men in both traditional and contemporary societies. In the poem, the lack of a positive relation is pointed out as well as the image of the woman comes out as negative. A woman’s portrayal as an object is evident in the line, “and the perfume from their dress only serves to make the man’ digress”, “Arms that are braceleted and white and bare/ Combing the white hair of the waves blown back” (L 63). Prufrock’s love for women is not characterized with divinity or friendliness; it is purely sexual as it draws its comparison from earthly pleasures. In this case, Eliot’s imagination is disheartening as women are seen as insincere and shallow. The Portrait of a Lady takes the view of a woman is deciphered as “twisting and lilac” and thus appears fatal. Generally, in reference to this line, women often play with life and ultimately end up destroying it for instance in the line ‘Would she not have the advantage, after all? This music is successful with a ‘dying fall’’ (L 122-3). As the poem continues, Elliot sympathizes with women, as a woman is observed sitting with friends and “serving tea”. Eliot’s depiction of a woman in the verse is drawn from the traditional roles of a woman, which were to perform house chores. T.S Eliot sympathizes with women, as it is this role that women are subject to maltreatment and devoid of affection and love. Consequently, the narrator seems to be sympathetic to the woman as he recognizes the woman’s regret of living a minor life. At the end, the narrator shows concern by questioning his reaction towards the women’s attempt of friendship when he states, ‘And should I have the right to smile?’ The portrait of a Lady highlights the double life of a woman, the temptress and seducer and also the destroyer (fatal woman). Through Eliot’s depiction of a woman’s double life, we are able to decipher how the traditional norms of the society condemned women into subjectivity. In The Waste Land, themes concerning rape, prostitutions, abortion and unproductive sexuality are evident. The character Tiresias, a hermaphrodite embodies two genders, portrays a sense of wholeness. Similarly, Eliot’s portrayal of women in some manner also took two distinct perspectives, one viewed women with sympathy as the other described women in a more pejorative manner. The two modes of treatment are evident in The Waste Land. For instance, The Waste Land illustrates women as social objects of men: Now Albert’s coming back, make yourself a bit smart. He’ll want to know what you done with that money he gave you To get yourself some teeth. He did, I was there. You have them all out, Lil, and get a nice set, He said, I swear, I can’t bear to look at you. And no more can’t I, I said, and think of poor Albert, He’s been in the army four years, he wants a good time, And if you don’t give it him, there’s others will, I said. (Eliot 41) This conversation between two women, clearly illustrates the role of women thorough the lens of societal objectification. By analyzing The Waste Land, we decipher how women were perceived in the twentieth century. Generally, the poem embodies darker themes including death, sex, hopelessness and unhappiness. In the first stages of the poem, Eliot illustrates the natural sequence of death as he points how death can darken the world by sucking out its optimism. However, he transits from this theme into sexuality as the poem continues. He delves into the relationship between sex slavery and women. As earlier discussed, Eliot in some cases empathized with women, and in the latter scene of The Waste Land it is evident his portrayal of women as societal sex objects takes a more sympathetic form. Consequently, TWL portrays the “fatal woman” in various forms. In part one we are introduced to Marie the enchanting seductress as seen in the stanza: ‗You gave me hyacinths first a year ago; ‗They called me the hyacinth girl.‘ --Yet when we came back, late, from the Hyacinth garden, 2 Your arms full, and your hair wet, I could not Speak, and my eyes failed, I was neither Living nor dead, and I knew nothing, Looking into the heart of light, the silence. (35-42) In reference to this stanza, the woman seems to be asexual counterpart as she is enthusiastic to indulge in the rituals. It is this specific stanza that Elliot elaborates on how the religious significance of sex has transformed to take the form of sex-for-pleasure. In “A Game of Chase”, Elliot focuses on various archetypes of women as well as the contemporary view of sex. We are introduced to the seductress archetype, abandoned and raped virgin through the character Philomel and the typist in the third section “The Fire Sermon”. The Victorian Era is seen to have directed Eliot’s sexual themes as the explicit illustrations of loveless sexual interactions were the painful reality of how women were subject to objectification. Consequently, Eliot demonstrated despair and hopelessness in phrases like “As a rat crept softly through the vegetation / Dragging its slimy belly on the bank” (Eliot 61, L 187). From this point onwards, he focuses on images that incorporated and illustrated ‘death”, “assault” and “nothing” in lines L192, L 239 and L 302 respectively. In this way, he succeeded in portraying women as sex objects. Therefore, the poem was characterized by a dark atmosphere, which resulted in deciphering the societal depression subjected towards women in the form of abuse and maltreatment prevalent in the repressive period of the Victorian epoch. In the last section of Waste Land, Elliot shows hope for the waste land and all its populace. This is evident in the continuous repetition of “Shanith” which means “The peace which passeth all understanding.” In Hysteria, Eliot portrays a woman as a destroyer and seducer. The aspects that make Hysteria a vital study in the modern world, is how Eliot’s poetic power enables him to decipher the laughing woman as a cunning creature. The narrator seems to be “distracted from his mental and physical stability. He seemed to go where the laughter went and flow where the laughter flowed” (Solomon 106-110). A woman’s mouth in this piece of art is seen as a weapon; in this sense, a woman’s oral aggressivity is the basis of her sexual power. This power is also expounded on other poems including “Ode” and “Whispers of Immortality”. Consequently, Eliot’s career is typical of a modernist era whereby men experienced confrontation with women’s sexual agency, as the authoritative nature on men had become feeble (Solomon 106-110). In Hysteria, at a given period when the narrator illustrates how he is about to be swallowed by a Woman’s laughter, a waiter cuts him short to take their order. However, the narrator’s behavior is less pathetic in comparison to the waiter’s, who trembles and repeats his request for the order - “If the lady and gentleman wish to take their tea in the garden, if the lady and gentleman wish to take their tea in the garden...” illustrating man’s helplessness as well as desperation (Lamos 84). Later, the narrator forces himself to regain composure in his last sentence, “I decided that if the shaking of her breasts could be stopped, some of the fragments of the afternoon might be collected, and I concentrated my attention with careful subtlety to this end” (Lamos 85). This evidently indicates the portrayal of women as seducers and is merely seen as sex objects by their counterparts. In the latter years of T.S Eliot’s career, he converted to Christianity and thus his poetry experienced a transformation to conservatism. Therefore, his years as a Christian experiences radical change in the manner in which he portrays women. Many individuals have attributed his transformation to Eliot’s conversion. Even though his poetry still embodies women essentialization, women are transformed to symbols of healing and unification. As deciphered in The Waste Land, Eliot’s poetry leaves behind themes that render women as sexualized and threatening beings (Batra 36). Consequently, his literary works reveal a rapid shift of his attitude toward the feminine gender. Thus, his conversion limits his negative imagery by introducing a positive image that significantly contrasts with the dangerous, seductive and fatal image of the women in his former art (Solomon 106-110). According to Levenson (88), this new image created by his new life, revolves around hope and optimistic as well as the image is full of life. It is worth noting that the problem with women resulted from his negative portrayal of women in his earlier work before The Waste Land poem, whereby the period was characterized by negativity. The progression takes both negative and positive perspectives, notably in The HollowMen, The Waste Land, Gerontion which incorporate both perspectives of women. Poems that incorporated positiveness include Ash Wednesday as well as La FigliachePiange. The imagery in Eliot’s latter works is full of favorable light that puts women closer to Virgin Mary and Eve and are capable of uniting the beloved notably in Ash Wednesday. In contrast to his former poetic work, women now served as a bridge between the spiritual and material world and thus women are typified by spiritual elements. The “lady” has divine power and as a result is filled with passion and emotions. The element of being attached to both worlds refurbishes women’s image in the latter works of T.S to incorporate a wholeness image (Batra 36). For instance, in Ash Wednesday we encounter two types of love, celestial and earthly love – “Further, we come across the walking of the lady between the violet and the violet.” In this case, women transform into divinity as they make, “the fountains strong, the spring fresh, the dry rocks cool, and the sand firm” (Eliot 37-55). Therefore, Eliot’s work can be seen to take a shift from infertility to fertility and from negativity to positivity. The transformation of Eliot’s attitude is evident in Ash Wednesday when the narrator prays, “Blessed sister, holy mother, spirit of the fountain, spirit of the garden...” (Eliot 37-55). In this case, T.S Eliot has created a transformed woman who is loved by the society. Conclusion It is thus apparent that Eliot in his literary work was never short of ideas that revolved around controversial issues including women as sexual objects. Consequently, it is worth stating that issues regarding gender roles and sexuality in T.S Eliot’s poetry were as a result of the societal norms as depicted in the Victorian Era. The Victorian era, was typified by oppression and objectification targeted towards women as the society was characterized by inequality in education, professional opportunities and privileges. Even though many proponents have attributed this characteristic as the nature of the era, the problems arise from maltreatment, discrimination and abuse against women. The depiction of women’s maltreatment is obvious in numerous literary works of T.S Eliot especially in The Waste Land as from lines 96 to 108, whereby the role of women is seen as mere objects of men and is rather portrayed in a symbolic manner. The image of objectification of women in his works resulted to controversy. Many argue that his style of portraying women as sexual objects of men is as a result of his failed marriage. However, this statement is untrue as T.S Eliot’s aim of targeting darker and sexual themes was only motivated by the nature of societal norms in the Victorian era. After his conversion to Christianity, Eliot transforms the negative attitude of his poetic artistry to a positive image. It is through this image that he is able to portray an image of contentment and wholeness. Consequently, T.S Eliot’s poetry achieves completeness and equilibrium. Therefore, in conclusion, it is evident that Eliot’s poetry does not assume any negative attitude in relation to women; he aimed at portraying the traditional norms of the Victorian era. Work Cited Ackerley, Chris. T.s. Eliot: the Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and the Waste Land. Penrith: Humanities-Ebooks, 2007. Internet resource. Batra, Shakti. T. S. Eliot: A Critical Study of His Poetry. Delhi: IVY Pub. House, 2001. Print. Eliot, T.S. Complete Poems and Plays. New York: Harcourt, 1952. Eliot, T.S.. "The Wasteland." The Wasteland Prufrock and Other Poems. Comp. The Editorium. West Valley City: Waking Lion Press, 2007. Print. Laity, Cassandra, and Nancy K. Gish. Gender, Desire, and Sexuality in T. S. Eliot. Cambridge [etc.: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Print. Lamos, Colleen. Deviant Modernism: Sexual and Textual Errancy in T. Cambridge, U.K. [u.a.: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Internet resource. Levenson, Michael H. The Cambridge Companion to Modernism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. Print. Bloom, Harold. T.s. Eliots the Waste Land. New York: Chelsea House, 2006. Print. (Bloom 172) Matthews, S. T.s. Eliot and Early Modern Literature. Dead Voices Speak Through the Living Voice. Corby: Oxford University Press, 2013. Print. Roberts, Edgar. "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." Literature: An Introduction To Reading And Writing. Ed. Leah Jewell. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc., 2004. Print. Solomon, A. F. (2012). Women in the Poetry of T. S. Eliot. Online International Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 2(3), 106-110. Woolf, Virginia, and Max Bollinger. Mrs. Dalloway. London: Sovereign, 2012. Internet resource. Read More