TS Eliot's work frequently presents society as degenerate and sterile. The deterioration of the post-war world is represented through the oppression and suffering of women - a concept explored most notably in Eliot's 1922 work The Waste Land, but also in a number of his other poems . Eliot uses anonymous characters and allusions – a technique by which the poet assumes that the reader has prior knowledge of the subject – to suggest that there should indeed be a role for women in society beyond their domestic servitude towards men. However, Eliot does not explore this theme in a way that appears indoctrinating, but simply presents the issues to his audience, allowing them to draw their own conclusions. As Harding says, "Mr. Eliot does not invite you to cross the line and join him in guaranteed rightness - he suggests at most that you and he should both try not to live so badly." At a time when women did indeed play a primarily functional role in society - for example, women did not gain the right to vote in Britain until 1918 - it is important to consider the unconventional honesty of Eliot when he so openly presents the power of male lust - thus crudely forced to 'meet no defense' despite the reluctance of women. Eliot's heartfelt but direct portrayal of the treatment of suffering women in the 1920s inspires in his audience not only revulsion, but also shame at the situation in what was considered a civilized world. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an original essay In the fragmented episodes of The Waste Land's five books, Eliot relies on fictional but symbolic characters to convert language into sense. The second book, “A Game of Chess,” begins with an allusion to Antony and Cleopatra: “The chair on which she sat, like a burnished throne.” Instantly, this comparison reminds the reader of how Cleopatra, a renowned ruler despite being a woman, was defeated by her love for Anthony and forced to die. The "she" the poet refers to turns out to be an indecisive and uncertain woman who mirrors the character of J. Alfred Prufrock from Eliot's 1917 poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." She feels alone and calls out, apparently to herself: “Why don't you ever talk? Talk. What are you thinking about? However, unlike Prufrock's own internal indecisions: "Do I dare/disturb the universe?" » there is a more sinister subtext to the female character in The Waste Land. Eliot has already referred, in the long opening stanza of Book II, to the rape of Philomel ("The change of Philomel, by the barbarian king / So grossly forced"). Indeed, the allusion to the domination of the patriarchal “king” places emphasis on the phrase “Are you alive or not? Is there nothing in your head? This remark, also linked to the shell shock suffered by soldiers in the First World War, challenges the commonly held view that women had lower intellectual capacity and were therefore limited to menial domestic tasks. Eliot explores this later in Book III, "The Fire Sermon." “In the Violet Hour” Eliot presents a powerful presentation of the absurdity of sex, expressing contempt for the male “human engine” who, “like a waiting taxi throbbing,” is impatient and controlling toward women. The typist is a symbol of the functional and “automatic” role of women towards men. The introduction ofTeiresias - ancient Greek half-man, half-woman, "pulsing between two lives", is essential in showing the reader that the scene that unfolds is a typical example of 20th century relationships: "I, Teiresias... I I perceived the scene. , and I predicted the rest, I too was waiting for the expected guest. Indeed, Eliot comments in his notes: “Tiresias, although a simple spectator and not a “character”, is nevertheless the most important character in the poem, uniting all the others. The typist's boyfriend, "a little real estate agent's clerk", is illustrated in such an animalistic way as with "a bold look", "he assaults her"; however, not in a manner comparable to rape of Philomel Instead, the act is "not reprobated, if not desired". Obviously, the woman recognizes that such a task is now conventional and must be carried out in the same way as the. typing, cooking and drying She says, summing up the loss of love and the repression of women in a male-dominated world: “Well, now it's done and I'm glad it's over; Besides the typist's experience, there are two other examples of male/female relationships showing a woman suffering in The Waste Land First, the depiction of Elizabeth I and Robert Leicester, which has often been fictionalized, is presented at. reader in association with the positive imagery of “red and gold”, “the sound of bells” and “white towers”. The use of the objective correlative – the technique by which the poet uses images or language to evoke a particular emotion – is widespread here. The result, in this case, is nostalgia and joy. However, it must be recognized that these feelings are long a thing of the past, and since the equality of such a relationship has eroded and the power of women in the 20th century has no parallel with that of Queen Elizabeth I that despite the purity of Elizabeth and Leicester's bond, they chose not to have children, and thus thwarted natural regeneration, progression towards rebirth and the development of a less depraved society - the central theme of. The Wasteland. The final episode of "A Game of Chess" recounts a conversation overheard in a lower-class British pub. The character of Lil reenacts the idea of ​​women serving as help to their men. Her husband, Albert, has been in the army for four years. A friend of Lil's comments: "He wants to have a good time, and if you don't give it to him, others will." » Once again, the dominance of men – “Albert won't leave her alone” – and their lust for sex stands in direct contrast to the decadence of the previous generation and of Elizabethan England as a whole. Abortion, taboo in Eliot's time, is presented as a last resort for Lil, who is desperate to avoid having more children - ("She's already had five and she almost died young George... These are the pills I took, to bring him on'). Eliot presents the couple as altering the natural course of rebirth, emphasizing the supremacy of the man, whose libido dictates the course of their marriage. "Gerontion", written before The Waste Land, in 1920, offers the reader the idea that civilization has deteriorated through the "artful corridors" of history. As Grover Smith puts it, "Gerontion" symbolizes. civilization become rotten." In the poem, Eliot indeed focuses on the obedient and passive role of women. Eliot alludes to Fitzgerald's "Rubaiyat of Umar Khayam", a story that celebrates life and the present moment: " The woman runs the kitchen, makes the tea, sneezes in the evening, digs in the gutter sullenly” The technique of allusion, described by Richards as “a technical device of compression”, works in tandem with the mournful voice of the..