MODERN END OF THE WORLD.

FROM THE PENS OF T.S ELIOT AND W.B. YEATS

                 Virginia Woolf, arguably the most prominent female writer of the modern age, once wrote that, 'in or about . . . December 1910 human character changed. The change was not sudden or definite  but change there was nonetheless.' Her reflection was perhaps to the cultural shocks that gripped the continent of Europe at that time and its dire effect on the rest of the world. This age where famous poets like T. S. Eliot and W. B. Yeats wrote was therefore an age of contradiction and decadence widespread chaos and moral and spiritual degeneration. And it is this sense of fragmentation, loss and confusion that both these poets expressed best in the respective powerful, ingenious and apocalyptic poems: Hollow men by Eliot and Second Coming by Yeats.

                 T. S. Eliot in his Hollow Men (written in 1925, few years after the Great War) shows this emptiness of modern man and the dissatisfaction, passivity prevalent in his age. The poem begins with an epigraph from Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. 'Mistah Kurtz - he is dead', which is an indication that Mr. Kurtz with his focus on materialism is spiritually dead, a hollow man. The first verse indicate an emotional and spiritual hollowness with no sense of individuality found in men who have a 'head piece filled with straw', without thought causing them to be empty and futile. This is a reference to Guy Fawks, an Englishman who tried to blow up the Parliament. The extremely graphic imagery used by the poet to show the sense of nothingness in their ‘whispering’ which is ‘quiet and meaningless,’ reveals how they are morally and spiritually devoid of feelings or any affection. Mankind had torn each other apart. The second part of the poem reveals an array of contradiction ‘shape without form, shade without color,’ a blend of colorful oxymoron which portrays how the essential elements are missing. These ‘hollow men’, which is a reference to the men of his age (and no doubt to our age as well), is according to the poet in the very state of limbo described by Dante, in his sensational ‘Inferno,’ who never made to the land of the Kingdom, because they are those who due to their own apathy only deserves to ‘look and pass them by.’

These references used by Eliot shows the moral paralysis of modern man where religion and other institution had failed and the ‘eye’ of the hollow men, vague and insolent reveals this complacency. The fragmented lines used by the poet in the poem and in his other works such as the ‘Waste Land’ demonstrate the chaotic state of modern existence – ‘these fragments I have showed against my ruins.’ The poet also as the poem progresses calls the society he lived in a ‘dead land’ and a ‘cactus land’, an image of Waste land, lifelessness; an indication to what man have done to their land in the never ending rage and conflict. Further spiritual deterioration is seen in the lines ‘stone images are raised,’ worshiping false Gods, bereft of spirituality. The poet continuously stresses this sense of alienation in every angle even the prayers of Hollow men as blasphemous one, devoid of faith. Entire modern world according to T. S. Eliot was a spiritual wasteland.

            It is this decadence that is expressed in W. B. Yeats’ Second Coming as well. Though the title indicates the prophesied Second Coming of the Messiah, the poet skillfully projects a rather subverted angle of this coming. Written in 1919, immediately after the First World War, the first line itself ‘turning and turning in the widening gyre,’ is like a dooming prophecy of the state of the world in that chaotic time. The spiritual and moral vacuum found in the world is best expressed in the lines ‘the falcon’ – man ‘cannot hear the falconer’ – God. This is powerful outcry at the failure of organized religion to sustain values and morals. The poet in the first stanza describes the condition of the world, the sheer lawlessness - ‘mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,’ ‘things fall apart,’ is a powerful description of the apocalyptic state the world was heading to. This is a reflection on the destruction caused by the First World War, death, upheaval and revolutions that followed – ‘the blood dimmed tide’ drowning everything in its path. In such catastrophic times the lines from the second stanza, ‘Surely some revelation is at hands, surely some Second Coming is at hand,’ at first brings a sense of relief that there might be something that could stop the mayhem and madness in the world. But instead of Christ’s Second Coming he anticipates the arrival of a beast, with a body of a lion and head of a man – according to most critics, the Anti-Christ. This juxtaposition of the ‘lion body’ and the ‘head of a man’ indicate the strength and power of the intelligent creature but it is in its movement that he creates the terror. Words like ‘slow thighs, slouches’ indicates though it is slow it has a pervasive determination and it is inevitable. So when the gyre that the poet referred in the beginning collapses due to the moral and spiritual crisis of man it would not be for a future of salvation as the biblical prophecy goes, but rather for a greater terror. The rocking cradle of man’s civilization will hence give birth not to Christ, but a monster.

It is this very sense of confusion and bitterness of a degenerated humanity that both these poets attack in their poems. While W.B. Yeats attack the status of modern man, by describing that the ‘best lacks conviction while the worst is full of passionate intensity,’ it is this lack of conviction that Eliot also notes and refer to as those who have ‘headpiece filled with straw.’ They are the hollow men. It is the inaction of good men which they both believe that had bought upon the triumph of evil in the world, a situation no different today as well. It is through the use of tone, visual imagery that both the poets paint a portrayal of a very apocalyptic world. This is also perhaps why both the poets are considered among the greatest modern poets of all time. The subversion of the Mulberry Bush by Eliot and the subversion of the Second Coming by Yeats are indication that both these poets feel that there is no positivity in future if mankind was to remain so complacent. It is a deliberate systematized creation of dystopia. Their prophecy of the end of the world is ‘not with a bang, but with a whimper’ – not as grand as conventions had promised but with suffering and chaos, not with the aid of a Messiah but at the hands of a ‘rough beast.’ This is because man has allowed the world that the God saved to deteriorate to this state and therefore they deserve not to expect a positive Second Coming. Although both the poems end with such negativity, there are critics who had seen a faint glimpse of hope in it. The fact that Second Coming ends with a question mark can be seen as a reflection of caution and also in Hollow Men, by painting such stark reality of complacent people, Eliot could be seen injecting a note of caution on what would happen if people continue being so, and it is this spiritual and moral chaos of man which makes both poets anticipate a future far more poignant and frightening than the present condition they lived in.

Pic: Deviantart.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

THE SOCIAL CRITIC: YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW

William Shakespeare, regarded as the most powerful English playwright and one of the most finest English poet, had written in his last play the Tempest - ‘O brave new world, That has such people in it!’ such people that today question his relevancy in the contemporary world. In his 36 plays and 154 sonnets, he left behind to all those who came after him the evidence of a prodigious mind, witty sense of humor, deep sensitivity to human emotions, and undeniably rich education that laid the very foundation of English literature as we know today. Therefore to question his pertinence in the modern world is also to question the significance of English literature in our lives. For those of us who believe Literature to be a source of mere entertainment or stepping stone for greater skill at language or familiarizing oneself with beat, meter, rhythm, Shakespeare’s importance might have dwindled in this rapidly changing world. But to those who view Literature itself to be a vehicle of social understanding an enriching eye opener, that not only makes one reflect but  also question, then there is much to learn from Shakespeare even today.  For it is undeniable that Shakespeare spoke profoundly of human condition in throes of societal injustice and prejudice. So while readily acknowledging the importance of Shakespeare as a playwright and a poet, one should also bear in mind that in his work lay a voice that addressed issues that cannot be negated in any society of any age.

SHAKESPEARE STEREOTYPED?

To undertake an analysis of Shakespeare’s relevance today, it is important to bring to light an issue that he dealt with in different forms, that which is most profoundly felt in these times as well. Discrimination. While Shakespeare’s role as a critic of discrimination has been widely subjected to criticism, thanks to the portrayal of Caliban as ‘a thing most brutish’ from a ‘vile race’ in Tempest and the unmistakable anti-Semitic villainy of Shylock in Merchant of Venice and the tragic fall of the ‘black Moor’ Othello, it is not so simple as it has made out to be. And yet his portrayals of these characters are not any far different from the portrayal of Jews and Blacks and even other marginalized minority in today’s times. This is not a justification of his actions but rather a rational understanding that even amongst those of us who claim to be ‘modern’ and ‘civilized’ such tone is evident. Therefore to judge Shakespeare to be racist, is to stereotype him as well. Perhaps by succumbing to the pressure of judging an English man writing at a time of colonial zenith, there could be possibility that many had overlooked the undertones of implied criticism in all these plays.

MERCHANT OF VENICE:

In what is considered to be one his most famous Romantic Comedy, the portrayal of the Jew usurer Shylock as a blood thirsty villain had led many to condemn his plays as anti-Semitic. While the racist line is more easily discernible, the powerful speech made by Shylock that drives the plot to its dramatic and emotional peak can be seen as Shakespeare’s own rebuke at the Christians for their attitudes against the Jews. And this very famous sermon has unmistakable similarity to the pleas made by many oppressed minority today be it Jews, Muslims, Christians, or Hindus.

‘Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, heaped by the same means, warm'd and cooped by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. . . . The villainy you teach me, I will execute.’ (Act III, Scene I)

In this one speech there lies the timeless and universal claim of a common humanity and the sheer absurdity of propagating ethnocentric values in a quest to keep a group of people undermined. But what is striking the most is the lines, ‘The villainy you teach me, I will execute,’ a stark reminder of how violence sets in motion a cycle of bloodshed that leaves both sides paralyzed. Is this an unfamiliar, absurd concept in the modern day? One has to merely glance at the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict, or the Russian-Chechnian dispute or Hindu-Muslim skirmish. Shylock’s bloodthirsty cruelty is a result of the Venetians treatment of him much like many acts of terrorism so rampant today is undeniably a fire lit from years of suppression and marginalization. Shakespeare therefore through Shylock mirror images the concealed real nature of the authority, a powerful depiction of their hypocritical façade.

OTHELLO:
It is this same notion of discrimination but based on colour that  is reflected in his sensational tragedy Othello. While the conventional reading of the play involves the destruction of Othello because of his fatal flaw of jealousy, there is no denying that the completely driving power of the play is racism. The profound alienation of Othello despite arriving at his position by merit shows that he is destroyed by racism. His one flaw is harnessed by Iago, who though is seen as astute villain only because Othello is culturally and racially alien. This is best seen where Iago provoked Barbantio with the news of Othello and Desdemona’s elope. ‘Even now, now, very now, an old black ram Is tupping your white ewe’ (Othello, Act 1, Scene 1). Therefore it is safe to assume that Shakespeare reveals Iago as an extreme manifestation and instrument of that racially driven society. This is not to deny that Iago brings him down through jealousy but to bear in mind the social context that motivates Iago to do so. And this alienation of Othello from himself and society is not an unfamiliar subject. Many people all over the world, had attempted to integrate into a society that had marginalized them hoping for acceptance only to find that the majority would not allow them to assimilate or accept them as equals. Is this an alien notion in India? What has happened to the backward classes? When these messages that Shakespeare had sent centuries ago are evident today, to dismiss him as irrelevant would be to do great injustice.

It is therefore important to state that in these works of Shakespeare he addresses these social issues not as a social or political activist but with a level of subtlety and ambiguity that forces his audience to not only move emotionally but to think and understand.  He was not a social analyst, reformer and definitely not an activist. But at the end of the day he acknowledged and projected with delicate sensibility the society as it was and unfortunately how it is even today. The notable thing is that Shakespeare staunchly reflected the world view of his time with incomparable talent and ability, and yet focusing on essential human qualities, virtues and vices alike, which remains relevant to all times. But in the end all of this depends upon the perception with which we view it or view him for that matter. It is after all as he said. ‘There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.’ (Hamlet, Act II, Scene II)

Pic: http://rafkinswarning.deviantart.com/art/William-Shakespeare-196359841