Modernistic Traits

When closely examining Modernism and its characteristics, one can observe through T.S. Eliot prime examples of the Modernist movement and how it differentiates itself from movements and eras that came before. T.S. Eliot, along with many other poets and artists, headed this new revolution which started in the late 1800s and prolonged until the late 1930s. In his poems entitled “The Waste Land” and “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” Eliot exemplifies much of the traits that constitutes Modernism. This includes the break away from Romanticism and Realism, the emphasis more on form and less on content, and the breaking away from the usual writing that was seen before.

T.S. Eliot’s poem, “The Waste Land,” challenges the idea of conventional poetic form that is primarily seen before the Modernist movement. In a way, the poem is experimental. In this poem there are varied perspectives or a lack of a central speaker. This is evident in the first stanza. Within the first seven lines, we, the reader, are presented with a "normal" poem that conforms to the typical rhyme and meter that poems usually contain. Then, all of a sudden, Eliot surprises us with the German sentence “Bin gar keine Russin, stamm’ aus Litauen, echt deutsch” (Eliot 1981). This only readjusts the reader's own view of the poem. In these first lines, it becomes evident that no clear conclusion can be determined as to who is speaking, or how many speakers are present, yet another characteristic of modernism.

Also, in the poem Eliot makes many allusions that would constitute as being a Modernistic trait. The allusions work together to create additional, more powerful meanings. This type of writing is completely unconventional when comparing it to Romanticism and the Romantic era. Just in the first part alone of the poem there are an array of references to the Hebrew bible and significant cultural identities. For instance, in line 23 of the “The Waste Land,” Eliot writes a reference to the Hebrew Bible when he states “And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief.” This, of course, is a reference to Ecclesiastes II and it describes the bleakness of old age (Eliot 1982). This also gives deeper meaning to what Eliot is saying. Adding allusions to a piece of work is not something that Modernists invented, though they did use it more frequently than others.

Furthermore, T.S. Eliot strays away from the typical beliefs about nature and its beauty, ideas that Romanticism thrives on. Modernists believe there is no real inspiration for nature and that what really matters is one’s ability to capture what one thinks is important and not what they experience. Eliot, being a Modernist, feels that nature is not what gives people the will to right, but rather what goes on in one’s head or, in other words, the thought process. At a time when nature is at its best, Eliot goes against