Volume : 10, Issue : 2, FEB 2024

A SPECIFIC STUDY OF T.S. ELIOT’S THE WASTE LAND

DR. ANAND KUMAR MINJ

Abstract

T.S. Eliot is an excellent symbolist poet whose poems are regarded as epoch-making landmark works in the history of modern Western literature.
He was awarded the Nobel prize in Literature in 1948. In his poems he deals with the imperfections of modern life. The first poem that made him famous was The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. His other best-known poems are: Gerontion, and The Hollow Men. The same idea of hollowness of modern people is expressed in these poems. He claims that a modern is no better than a dead animal stuffed with straw.
The long lyric poem "The Waste Land" is Eliot's representative work. It has a variety of styles, draws from a wide variety of sources, and combines some characteristics of symbolism, imagism, and metaphysics. The poet has created many rich images of "Waste Land", most of which are difficult to understand and have complex and profound symbolic meanings. Thus, the poetry reflects the absurdity of reality, reflects on the plight of human civilization, and pursues the road to the redemption of the "Waste Land".
T. E. Eliot's period of active literary production covers forty-five years. He tried his hand in different faculties of creative writing. He wrote poems, plays, and literary and social essays and also worked as a journalist. He achieved distinction and wielded considerable influence in each field he tried his hands in.
It is a long philosophic poem divided into five parts. The Burial of the Dead' studies the wide spread evils in the modern Western world. Materialism is the root cause of it. Under its effect the society is dominated by sensualism, unholy love, fraud and misery. Those people are regarded as the dead who are devoid of spirituality and have no faith in God. 'A Game of Chess' studies the mentality of a modern woman under the influence of materialistic desires. "The Fire Sermon reminds of Lord Buddha' sermon that the world is on fire on account of different forms of fire-the fire of hatred, infatuation, greed, grief, sorrow and suffering. 'Death by Water' points out that water is the bottomless sea of worldly desires. The body is the weak boat. It is foolishness to long to cross the sea in the weak boat. The sea is agitated by the current of death. 'What the Thunder Said' stresses the loss of faith in God. T. S. Eliot's 'The Waste Land' is a satire on modern people guided by materialism, sensuality and superstitions. It inspires to rise to the sublime state of getting salvation.

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