TS Eliot is considered one of the greatest writers of the 20th century and his poetry was greatly influenced by Dante Alighieri. Eliot's encounter with Dante took place during his college years at Harvard, where he was studying philosophy. Eliot read Dante's works extensively in college and may have intended to "teach" himself to learn all he could from the master (Sloane). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an Original Essay Dante's influences on Eliot include appearances in the form of direct quotes, similar imagery, and thematic elements. Direct quotes are easy to find because they are written in Italian, but there are also lines from Dante's works that have been translated and slightly adapted to fit Eliot's poetry. Images of Dante are also prevalent among Eliot's works. Eliot's view of the world as a cold and desolate place was greatly influenced by Dante and his visions of Hell. Similar themes are also apparent; Eliot often uses themes such as isolation from Dante's works to express his own inner feelings. At least one of these three elements is visible in most of Eliot's works, so it is obvious that Dante influenced Eliot. Dante's influences in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" include direct quotes and thematic elements. In “Prufrock,” the narrator, Prufrock, appears to be speaking to a potential lover. However, Prufrock "knows" too much to simply approach the woman; in his mind he can hear the voices of others mocking and taunting him. Prufrock is very shy when it comes to expressing his feelings, and he only tells us, the readers, under the assumption that no one else will hear him admit his fear that others will judge him. The entire poem is about Prufrock explaining why he cannot express his feelings of love to the woman he admires. Dante's influence first appears in "Prufrock" as a direct quotation from The Divine Comedy as the first epigraph: S'io credesse che mia risposta trousseA persona che mai tornasse al mondo,Questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.Ma perciocche This background is not yet alive, if it is true, there is a theme of infamy that has happened. (1-6) The epigraph literally means: “If I thought that my answer was addressed to someone who might one day return to the world, this flame would no longer tremble; but since, if what I hear is true, no one has ever returned alive from this depth, I answer you without fear of infamy ("The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by TS Eliot)." This sets the tone for the rest of the poem; Prufrock can only express his shame because he believes that no one who hears his confession will condemn him for his cowardice (Drew 827). personal; the idea of ​​individuals having their own personal hell is a thematic influence of Dante's work, The Divine Comedy, is a compilation of different versions of Hell. In "Prufrock", it is evident that. Prufrock feels anguish over his inability to express his love for the woman he admires (Bloom 17). Eliot's frustration appears when he cannot decide whether or not to speak to the woman. woman: And indeed, he will have time to ask himself: “Do I dare?” and “Do I dare?” a bald spot in the middle of my hair [They will say: “How his hair is thinning! "]. (37-41) Prufrock is visibly frustrated and is even embarrassed by his baldness when he debates whether or not he should tellthe woman he adores what he feels. Prufrock is so concerned about his appearance that even when he tries to talk to the woman, he can't help but think about what other people think of him. Prufrock discovers that his inability to continue his life without worrying about what others think is making him unhappy, providing him with his own personal hell. Dante's influence appears again in the form of images and themes in Eliot's "The Wasteland." At the beginning of "The Wasteland" there is a description of a prophetic, apocalyptic journey into a desert wasteland. Towards the end, there is a very dark section where the narrator walks through the streets of London populated by the ghosts of the dead. The narrator meets a ghost and asks him what happens to the corpses buried in the ground. The first part ends with a famous verse from the preface to Baudelaire's Fleurs du Mal: ​​“You! hypocrite reader!-my fellow man,-my brother! (76) This quote accuses the reader of sharing the sins of the poet (Martin). In the following passage from Part One, Eliot describes the similarities between the crowd and the flow of souls toward Hell in Dante's Inferno. Under the brown mist of a winter dawn, a crowd flocked to London Bridge, so numerous, I had not thought that death had defeated so many. Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled, and each fixed his eyes before his feet. (61-65) These city dwellers are lost, devoid of values ​​and condemned to hell for eternity. The description of London as an “unreal city” suggests that the corruption within the city cannot be imagined and seems like hell to Eliot (Bloom 42). Towards the end of part one, when Eliot quotes Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal, the quote implies that both the poet and the reader have sinned, thus condemning them to hell. This illustrates Dante's theme that each person has sinned and will go to their personal hell. Dante's influence becomes apparent in the fifth part of "The Wasteland" when Eliot takes an image directly of Dante's Inferno. The first half of the section reaches an apocalyptic climax, as the suffering people become "swarming hooded hordes" and the "unreal" cities of Jerusalem, Athens, Alexandria, Vienna and London are destroyed, rebuilt and destroyed again . The poem ends with seemingly random fragments of children's songs, works of Dante, and Elizabethan dramatic works. Dante's influence in Part Five expresses the effects of isolation on the mind. In the following extract, the image depicted is taken directly from Dante's Inferno where Ugolino, damned to the lowest circle of Hell for treason, hears the memory of the key turning to lock him and his children in the Hungry Tower to die of starvation. (Drew 838).I heard the keyTurn the door once and turn only onceWe think of the key, each in his prisonThinking of the key, each confirms a prisonOnly at nightfall, ethereal rumors (411 -416)Eliot connects this passage with the reality of human isolation and the idea that memories can be painful even though only you can see them and no one else can. Once again, Dante influences Eliot in the form of descriptive imagery in “The Hollow Men.” “The Hollow Men” is an explanation of how hollow men could not choose their destiny, unlike Guy Fawkes, whom Eliot alluded to earlier. Fawkes plotted to blow up the House of Commons of England in 1605, but was arrested before he could detonate the gunpowder. Fawkes was executed, but he chose his destiny, unlike the hollow men who seem to have no control over their final destination. Eliot often mentions different kingdoms>.