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The poem is one of the most powerful literary methods used to convey ideas or opinions. Through vivid imagery and compelling metaphors, the poem conveys to the reader the thoughts and emotions of the author. Modern poets, however, manipulated traditional forms of poetry and sought to greatly influence the ideas of their readers. T. S. Eliot is a prime example of a modern poet who wrote controversial and thought-provoking works, particularly The Hollow Men.
Modernism is the time period between 1865 and 1950 that consisted of a change in the perspectives of how people examined themselves and their role in society. Many things occurred during these eighty-five years that accounted for great social change. Among these things were World War I, the Civil Rights Movement, prohibition, womens suffrage, the Great Depression and World War II. Particularly after World War I and during womens suffrage, society's standpoint on certain issues changed dramatically. After World War I, peoples attitudes were brimming with high expectations for themselves but were soon lowered after the economy's fall. During womens suffrage, society's focus on simple traditions shifted to concentrate more on urban culture.
The Great Depression also caused major stress and hopelessness for the nation resulting in a time of despair for much of the world. Meanwhile, many writers emerged, such as Ezra Pound, e. e. cummings, Langston Hughes, Wallace Stevens and T. S. Eliot.
These writers found themselves in a generation of consecutive movements. While having to sustain their creativity, they had to go forward with the seasons at the same time. Their works are characterized as breaking away from patterned responses and predictable forms (Reuben). Many of their pieces contested tradition against new methods. The outlook of society changed from a moral perspective to fast times.
Many people tended to look individually from average events that occurred in their daily lives to find greater reasoning. T. S. Eliot is considered to be one of the most prominent poets and playwrights of the modern era and his works are said to have promoted a reshape [of] modern literature (World Book). He was born in 1888 in St. Louis, Missouri and studied at Harvard and Oxford.
It was at Harvard where he met his guide and mentor Ezra Pound, another well-known modernist poet. Pound encouraged Eliot to expand his writing abilities and publish his work. Eliot became a citizen of England in 1925 and received the Nobel Peace Prize for literature in 1948. Eliot connected most of his earlier works to French Symbolists, such as Mallarme, Baudelaire, and Rimbaud and first came into contact with these three in college while reading The Symbolist Movement in Literature by Arthur Symons. (Pearce) He produced a celebrated style that was original and new for his time.
He learned the ability of other poets to write poetry filled with wisdom while adding his own passionate language. Eliot's most famous works include The Waste Land, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, Ash Wednesday, Four Quartets, The Elder Statesman, The Confidential Clerk, and The Hollow Men. His early works, like "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" and The Wasteland, are written based on a wide range of cultural reference that depict a modern world in ruins yet somehow beautiful and deeply meaningful. (Spender) Eliot's later poetry includes more spiritual and religious themes as he got older and declared himself Christian. His later works tend to focus on giving revelations and advice instead of centering on the behavior of mankind like his earlier poetry.
Most of his poetry comes from observations he made by watching humans interact with one another and their environment. He believed in speaking truthfully and bringing originality to everything he did. Eliot made it clear that the poem should come before the poet and emphasized society's role in his poetry. As a whole, the works of T. S.
Eliot depict the publics position as a moving culture faced with conflict. Eliot's poetry informs the reader of human circumstances whether they are glorious or disturbing. Many of his poems are associated with death and dreadful imagery. For example, his poem, Whispers of Immortality, which was written in 1920, gives an unpleasant glance at death and the interest behind it. During this time, the world was suffering from a turning point caused by World War I and many of the populations young men were killed.
On the other hand, other poems contain humor. In a manner of speaking, Eliot uses amusement in certain works to confront important social problems, such as in the poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. This poem presents a humorous situation packed with pessimism that permits the reader to associate him or herself with the main character and ask questions. For many readers in the 1920 s, the main character, Prufrock, seemed to summarize the frustration and insecurity of the modern individual.
As Pearce stated: [Prufrock] seemed to represent thwarted desires and modern disillusionment. His poems also make the reader aware of enduring circumstances, such as the role of tradition in the home and the argument of religion. Modern poetry, such as Eliot's, was the first great ideological response to social crisis and breakdown of shared religion, noted Reuben. Eliot's poems reflect the chaotic lives of individuals and society as a whole. Keep points out that modernism thus marks a distinctive break with Victorian bourgeois morality; rejecting nineteenth century optimism, they presented a profoundly pessimistic picture of a culture in disarray.
Eliot's most distinguishable piece of work concerning the disorder of the community is The Wasteland. In this five-part poem, Eliot produces characters based on the manners of individuals living during the World War I generation. The characters are going through distress and morals are thrown out while they seek and hope for a good resolution. The emphasis of the poem is on the conflict surrounding faith instead of the declaration of it. Most of Eliot's other poems during this time reflect on society's hopelessness and desperation following the war.
Much of Eliot's poetry centers around the plight and the lifestyles of women as well. During his career as a writer, women began to climb the social ladder. Many women began taking jobs that were usually male-dominated and they also acquired the...
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Research essay sample on The Hollow Men Ts Eliot And Society
