The Waste Land
The myth of the Fisher King is similarly a tale of emasculation, and of contemporary relevance in relation to fertility. As Kris McAbee details, the Fisher King stems from early Christian and pagan images of fertility and life. 8 Detailing the failure of a kingdom which is dependent on its king, who is injured, the image of the wound is one of emasculation, which becomes one of impotence. Eliot draws a comparison with sterile modernity, where sexuality and love are distinct and separate, and, as Philip Sicker argues, ‘ signifies a modern spiritual failure ’ . 9 This is starkly apparent through Eliot’s powerful ventriloquism within the pub scene with the Cockney women in the second section, inquiring ‘ what you get married for if you don't want children? ’ , depicting an humorously deadpan attitude towards relationships that Eliot thought prevalent in modern Britain, becoming a morbid, deliberate, and disturbing sterility when the woman details the number of abortions she has had. However, there is a difference that Eliot is keen to make clear, where he arguably makes it new. The Fisher King is healed by Parsifal and the wasteland is regenerated; Eliot sees no possibility of society recovering itself, with no new world order offered by Eliot. While tiptoeing around religion, veering from any mention of God, Eliot offers no alternative solution but God. Thus, Eliot uses mythology, something he viewed as a manifestation of the human consciousness, as a conduit for his religious ideology. Mythology is not the only way in which Eliot disseminated his portrayal of hopeless London. He also turns to later literary powerhouses of the European tradition, such as Shakespeare, in order to depict the suffering so ubiquitous in his plays. The Waste Land has much to draw from Shakespeare’s plays as a tragic, if not apocalyptic, poem. We shall focus on two plays: Hamlet , and Anthony and Cleopatra (which fulfils a double purpose of history and tragedy), which feature prominently in the second section of the poem. The imperial interactions that historically inform Anthony and Cleopatra foreshadow the cataclysmic events of twentieth-century Europe. The opening line of ‘A Game of Chess’, depicting a chair ‘ like a burnished throne ’ , acts as a direct reference to Anthony and Cleopatra . 10 However, far from the grandeur of the Egyptian pharaoh, it is depicted in a ‘ sad light ’ , portraying a piteous, diminished, quietened female whose ‘ nerves are bad tonight ’ . The unconfident questions from lines 111-138 signal a breakdown in articulacy and communication, as well as depicting the suffering of a woman, which is explored also through Eliot’s reference to Hamlet . While the fall from grace of a figure like Cleopatra might partly be attributed to herself, Ophelia is more overtly a victim of callousness. The final line of the section is taken from Ophelia’s final lines in the play, a vivid portrayal of her madness due to her treatment by men. It is a farewell ( ‘ good night ’ ) addressed specifically to women ( ‘ sweet ladies ’ ), acting as a poignant moment of sympathy, but perhaps also signals a departure from the socio-political expectations and restrictions of Denmark. Indeed, as argued by Gooderham, Ophelia suffers the same ambivalent fate as Phlebas, ‘ death by water ’ . Yet, her death is liberation from the surveillance state of Denmark, the emotional manipulation by Hamlet, and the moral degeneracy of the court. Eliot contextualizes the suffering of women within a literary history, comparing the corruption of Elsinore to London. It might also be apt to draw the comparison that the epic has been co-opted here, as it is often a hypermasculine, gendered form which focuses on heroism and war, whereas The Waste Land is arguably an exploration of suffering after conflict, with ‘A Game of Chess’ focusing on the female experience.
8 McAbee 1998. 9 Sicker 1984. 10 Gooderham 1991.
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