Character Analysis of Tiresias
, T.S. Eliot appeared on the scene of 20th century English poetry as a wonderful innovator with these lines of his The Love-song of J. Alfred Prufrock on the pages of the Poetry magazine in 1915:
“Let us go, then, you and I
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherized upon a table".
These lines immediately revolutionized the intellectual climate of English poetry. Eliot initiated a new brand of poetry of the city, poetry essentially cerebral, impersonal, predominantly imagistic, insistently urbane & ironic, characteristically observational.
Eliot's modernity(or should it be called 'Modernism'?) can be understood with reference to the following:
a) His theory of impersonality;
b) His observations on the monotony, aridity, squalor of the big cities: the boredom and the horror;
c) The revival of the Metaphysical tradition of wit, allusion, conceit, colloquialism, ironic banter etc;
d) His conscious artistry of imagery and tone.
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
The poem follows the conscious experience of a man, Prufrock (relayed in the "stream of consciousness" form characteristic of the Modernists), lamenting his physical and intellectual inertia, the lost opportunities in his life and lack of spiritual progress, with the recurrent theme of carnal love unattained. Critical opinion is divided as to whether the narrator leaves his residence during the course of the narration. The locations described can be interpreted either as actual physical experiences, mental recollections, or as symbolic images from the unconscious mind, as, for example, in the refrain "In the room the women come and go".
World War I and after
The outbreak of World War I represented a setback for the budding modernist movement for a number of reasons: firstly, writers like Aldington found themselves in active service; secondly, paper shortages and related factors meant that publication of new work became increasingly difficult; and, thirdly,
“Let us go, then, you and I
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherized upon a table".
These lines immediately revolutionized the intellectual climate of English poetry. Eliot initiated a new brand of poetry of the city, poetry essentially cerebral, impersonal, predominantly imagistic, insistently urbane & ironic, characteristically observational.
Eliot's modernity(or should it be called 'Modernism'?) can be understood with reference to the following:
a) His theory of impersonality;
b) His observations on the monotony, aridity, squalor of the big cities: the boredom and the horror;
c) The revival of the Metaphysical tradition of wit, allusion, conceit, colloquialism, ironic banter etc;
d) His conscious artistry of imagery and tone.
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
The poem follows the conscious experience of a man, Prufrock (relayed in the "stream of consciousness" form characteristic of the Modernists), lamenting his physical and intellectual inertia, the lost opportunities in his life and lack of spiritual progress, with the recurrent theme of carnal love unattained. Critical opinion is divided as to whether the narrator leaves his residence during the course of the narration. The locations described can be interpreted either as actual physical experiences, mental recollections, or as symbolic images from the unconscious mind, as, for example, in the refrain "In the room the women come and go".
World War I and after
The outbreak of World War I represented a setback for the budding modernist movement for a number of reasons: firstly, writers like Aldington found themselves in active service; secondly, paper shortages and related factors meant that publication of new work became increasingly difficult; and, thirdly,