Intertextuality In The Waste Land And The Hollow Man

T.S. Eliot concerned himself with the direction the twentieth century was taking following the impact of cataclysmic events during his lifetime. In order to address what he felt was lacking in society, he wrote his poems to embody themes and concepts from other works molding together this patchwork of myths, legends, and literary references. He subjected a chaotic message onto the order and stability of known works and history to embody human behavior. â€Å"The Waste Land† and â€Å"The Hollow Men† displays his affinity for intertextuality and plays upon the use of various speakers, which in the application of the heteroglossia differs in the way it unifies and resolves the works. The frameworks of the poems are set up against other works. In â€Å"The†¦show more content†¦Augustine’s confessions and texts from Buddha’s Fire Sermon. The inclusion of these documents presents this idea that society after the horrors of events like WWI needs to undergo a type of cleansing to revitalize itself. â€Å"The Hollow Men† is similar in this regard with the spiritual and physical emptiness. Taking again the biblical imagery and Dante’s work it imposes and brings meaning to the poem. Understandings of Dante’s â€Å"Divine Comedy† influence the different stages of death’s kingdoms. The language and imagery of the poem are consistent with Dante’s work. The hollow men are reminiscent of those who are uncommitted waiting on the bank of the Acheron river in â€Å"Inferno†. They enter through various stages similar to â€Å"Inferno† or hell with lines 13-14 â€Å"those who have crossed with direct eyes, to death’s other Kingdom† (Stallworthy 2544). â€Å"Paradiso† is represented with the use of the â€Å"multifoliate rose,† which is the symbol of heaven, and â€Å"death’s dream kingdom† where the hollow men are too ashamed to meet the eyes of those who are in heaven (Stallworthy 2544). Addi tionally, the imagery of the eyes in section II of the poem further this connection with Dante being ashamed and unable to meet Beatrices eyes. â€Å"Purgatorio† or purgatory is represented by the way the men wait together gathered awaitingShow MoreRelatedWhat Does T.S. Eliot’s the Waste Land Tell Us About ‘Modern Spaces’?1445 Words   |  6 PagesWhat does T.S. Eliot’s the Waste Land tell us about ‘modern spaces’? T.S. Eliot’s ‘The Waste Land’ tells us about ‘modern spaces’ in various aspects. The ‘modern space’ is presented as a dark, unrelenting place that is fragmented through time and space .The structure of the poem is not created in any logical sense because of the abstract elements that help make up the overall style of the structure. Intertextuality is evident in the poem because it references other poets, although there is a senseRead MoreModernist Elements in the Hollow Men7051 Words   |  29 PagesIntroduction: THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS NOT WITH A BANG BUT A WHIMPER T.S.Eliot, The Hollow Men (95-98). The end of The Hollow Men can only be the beginning of a deep and long reflection for thoughtful readers. T.S. Eliot, who always believed that in his end is his beginning, died and left his verse full of hidden messages to be understood, and codes to be deciphered. It is this complexity, which is at the heart of modernism