Compare the way in which Yeats and Eliot write about relationships between men and women
Compare the ways in which Eliot and Yeats write about relationships between men and women- in the response you must include detailed critical discussion of at least two Eliot poems.
In T.S. Eliot’s Portrait of a Lady and The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, themes of insecurity, masculinity, propriety and theatricality are addressed. Similarly, W.B. Yeats also draws upon these themes in his poem He Wishes For The Cloths Of Heaven. Both poets successfully weave these characteristic ideas so skillfully that the reader obtains a real sense of relationships in modern society.
In The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, the narrative voice is one of a neurotic, pathetic man who manages to be both vain and insecure at the same time. Eliot presents Prufrock to the reader as a bumbling, anxious wreck who has to ask “Do I dare to eat a peach?” The fact that Eliot has Prufrock use the word ‘dare’, a verb that is usually associated with adventure and pushing boundaries, in such an ordinary context shows the reader that they are faced with an impotent character who finds it hard to contend with everyday life. He has never had a meaningful relationship, consigned to ‘restless nights in one-night cheap hotels’. Eliot’s use of the word ‘restless’ indicates his disillusionment with modern relationships, alluding to the fact that peace cannot be gained when the physical embodiment of love is ‘cheap’. ‘Cheap’ is a powerfully damning word that hints at sordid encounters which diminish love’s essence- something that was once regarded as eternal is now commonplace. Eliot also explores Prufrock’s preoccupation with his body image, when it is “Time to turn back and descend the stair/With a bald spot in the middle of my hair-/(They will say: ‘How his hair is growing thin!’)” He is worried about people judging his physicality behind his back and his fear of ageing consumes him to the point that he imagines voices judging him. However, the reader is not encouraged to feel empathy for
In T.S. Eliot’s Portrait of a Lady and The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, themes of insecurity, masculinity, propriety and theatricality are addressed. Similarly, W.B. Yeats also draws upon these themes in his poem He Wishes For The Cloths Of Heaven. Both poets successfully weave these characteristic ideas so skillfully that the reader obtains a real sense of relationships in modern society.
In The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, the narrative voice is one of a neurotic, pathetic man who manages to be both vain and insecure at the same time. Eliot presents Prufrock to the reader as a bumbling, anxious wreck who has to ask “Do I dare to eat a peach?” The fact that Eliot has Prufrock use the word ‘dare’, a verb that is usually associated with adventure and pushing boundaries, in such an ordinary context shows the reader that they are faced with an impotent character who finds it hard to contend with everyday life. He has never had a meaningful relationship, consigned to ‘restless nights in one-night cheap hotels’. Eliot’s use of the word ‘restless’ indicates his disillusionment with modern relationships, alluding to the fact that peace cannot be gained when the physical embodiment of love is ‘cheap’. ‘Cheap’ is a powerfully damning word that hints at sordid encounters which diminish love’s essence- something that was once regarded as eternal is now commonplace. Eliot also explores Prufrock’s preoccupation with his body image, when it is “Time to turn back and descend the stair/With a bald spot in the middle of my hair-/(They will say: ‘How his hair is growing thin!’)” He is worried about people judging his physicality behind his back and his fear of ageing consumes him to the point that he imagines voices judging him. However, the reader is not encouraged to feel empathy for