Ash Wednesday

This poem was actually pretty good. I appreciated the religious references in it because it made it so relatable. As I go back and read it again, it really does remind me of a romantic poem. In another class we discussed a quote where someone said “Romanticism is split religion” and I can definitely see that in this text. It is almost like text reaches past romanticism because it doesn’t seem to be the parts of religion that don’t quite fit the mold but is instead a true representation of some type of religion.  
 I’m not sure how I feel about the possible references to Eliot’s personal life because I’ve adopted the idea that he wants to separate the author’s life from the author’s works. I think that because he does closely associate this poem with people shows a change not only spiritually but also literarily. His ability to join his personal life into his works shows that he has in some way changed from being a poet for the people to being someone more focused on his soul.  

 This change is really weird to me. I’m not sure if he was trying really hard to create this which makes me think of Shelley’s “Defense of Poetry” which presents the idea that poetry is often created accidently. If this is the case and if Eliot was trying to create this, then somewhere in his religious quest, he has lost his power as a poet. I think making this argument is powerful because it challenges Eliot’s talent, which is not at all what I want to do.

On another note, I am starting to get annoyed with the part structure of Eliot’s poem. I have a question about why six parts. I guess if you think about the divine Trinity often associated with religion this makes sense.  

Best Eliot Poem...

I really enjoyed this poem. As I said in class, it is very lucid. In typical Eliot form, it is separated into sections which I find interesting. I am beginning to question his motivation for separating poems into sections. I think it reflects the parts of his life. As he writes in parts, he is showing a part of his soul to the reader. This is very interesting because he is against associating the author’s personal life with the work. However, I cannot think of what else he could be talking about.  
 I feel like associating this poem with a social situation would be taking the simplicity away from it. Instead, I think it’s important to acknowledge that this poem also came at a pivotal point in Eliot’s spiritual life. I think he uses a lot of religious elements as he tries to mull through all of the ideas of religion. The references to Heart of Darkness seem to be a reference to the literal dark heart. The references The Divine Comedy seem to deal directly with the religious aspect of Eliot’s life. The affect of being a traitor, and shame, to me, deals with the idea of shame associated with a religious unaccepted. I’d like to say more but I’m not sure I remember enough to make a logical point.
 The last section of the poem truly highlights the idea that the text is a peek into Eliot’s soul. It almost seems like a prayer of some sort as he confesses the kingdom to be the true place of finality. It almost seems like he has come to a realization about something in life, and this last stanza reflects the way he resolves something, which goes with what we discussed in class.

Paper Topic Ideas

I feel like I’ve learned a lot about both Woolf and Eliot thus far this semester. Some of the topics I’ve thought about writing about concerning Woolf and or Eliot are as follow:
Saffism, Vivienne Eliot, Men in Woolf works, Monk’s house and its affect on Woolf’s literary works, Woolf and Eliot’s feelings towards the Romantcis, and anger in A Room of One’s Own.  
Saffism interests me because it deals with the relationship between women. I think it would be interesting to tie this together with the homosexual relationships that people often think are associated with Eliot. It is hard to see the homosexual elements, to me, in both Eliot and Woolf’s work but I’m sure upon further research it is possible to see them
Vivienne Eliot interests me, but I’m not sure she made enough of a dent for there to be enough information on her. I’m also contemplating Elizabeth Hail as a muse of Eliot.
Men in Woolf’s work interests me because often Woolf focuses on women but I feel she takes the same voyeuristic approach that men previously too to write about women as she writes about men. It is almost as though she reverses the roles and becomes like a man. Also, she also seems to try to equalize men and women along some lines. This calls to my attention A Room of One’s Own and Mrs. Dalloway.  
I’m not sure about the other topics because they may be too vague and have far too little information. I think they may be good references in other essays. I think the idea of Woolf’s perception of the romantics may influence her own perception of men, as characters and as authors.

Mrs. Dalloway- Critical Women

In class the other day we each discussed things in the novel that interested us. Somewhere along the way we started discussing the interaction between Clarissa, Miss Kilmer, and Elizabeth. I think this relationship between these three women represent the different images of women in the novel. The jealousy, the envy and the interactions reflect the way women of Woolf’s time were learning to adjust to one another. What was most interesting about the different descriptions of the women to me is the way the women are viewed through one another’s eyes, but rarely to we get a description from a man. I think this says something about the social gaze of society. The way Woolf excludes men’s perceptions reflect the way she was trying to get women from being objects and subjects of men’s thoughts to being objects of one another.
 This novel provides the reader with a description of women and their feelings, outside of what men may have thought. As a woman, Woolf is able to provide a description of what women truly feel rather than a description coming from a man. Also, Woolf uses these descriptions to eliminate the myths about women not being able to have minds and thoughts of their own. Instead of presenting a novel about women in similar positions in life, she instead chooses to focus on women and their differences. I think she ironically presents them in strange ways to challenge the ideas that women are supposed to easily transition into their newfound freedom. Instead of showing the adjustment as simple, she instead shows the struggle of a woman trying to make her own place in society. 
 I think the way Woolf chooses to create a male character in her likeness says something about the situation of man. Woolf clearly shows that mental illness weakens a man the same way it does a woman. She takes out the gender of mental illness and instead makes it a challenge of the people. She universalizes disease.  

Mrs. Dalloway- A Choice

I think the issue in the first half of this novel is determining who the characters are. However, in typical classical style, Woolf describes the characters through their actions, not her words. For instance, we learn about Mrs. Dalloway through her walk, and her past thoughts, but not through a descriptive page of her personality. This is very expected. What I don’t expect is the way Mrs. Dalloway is portrayed. It seems as if Woolf really likes Mrs. Dalloway, not necessarily because she is a strong woman of an independent woman by any means. Instead, Mrs. Dalloway seems to be a woman aware of her position and proud of the path she chose. The key thing here is that she chose her path.  
 Just as she chose her walking paths, something she did alone, to appease herself, so does she choose her path in life. She was able to think logically and choose someone who was financially sound and fit for society. While she does play into the role of a woman who maintains her position inside of the household, concerned with the public perception of her she also maintains the position of a woman not afraid to make her own decisions. Instead of being completely dominated by what society deems appropriate she does what makes her happy first and foremost.  
 I think this addresses the conflict between the women adjusted to the old way of life yet still desiring to modernize. It shows that while a woman can be “stuck” she can be so by choice.

The Wasteland 2

 In class this week, we discussed the possible homosexual relationship that may have helped guide Eliot in writing parts two and three. I’m not going to say I agree or disagree. I think reading it this way means looking beyond the surface, and looking at the reader, something Eliot wouldn’t have agreed with. However, if we do look at his personal life, it is interesting to compare his own feelings with those associated with the weakness of love. If Eliot felt that loved failed, he may have felt personally vindicated by love because he was unable to experience his true feelings for another man. Also, it is interesting to think that in part two, each of the relationships are destroyed by women. In the first relationship, a woman messes up, and ironically so with another woman. I think this plays into the idea of homosexuality that can be associated with the poem. This shows the way love between man and woman fail, not necessarily how love fails.
 Also, in the relationship of the people on the lowest socioeconomic level, there is a death of a child. If Eliot is truly feeling let down by heterosexual love, then he kills the child intentionally, to show that a child can’t save a relationship and that the union between man and woman. Also, if a child represents the true bond between and man and a woman and he kills the child then he is destroying the union between man and woman.
 These things aside, I think Eliot blurs the line of lust and love. I think part 3 is not about lust, but instead about something else. I think it is about some sort of control that man has over woman. I think this type of control, as we said, contrasts Prufrock. In the same way, I think the speaker is striving to find a connection between man and woman by forcing it. If this relationship is forced, than it reflects the relationship he has with his wife, despite his sexual orientation.

The Waste Land- Section 2

Part two is titled A Game of Chess. In class, we decided that this section was about the failure of love in marriage on several economic levels. We highlighted the references to love relationships between Cleopatra and her love, man and his hysterical wife, historically thought to be Eliot and his wife, and also about a lower class relationship where a woman aborts her baby. It is clear to see these references. The first couples love relationship seems to be destroyed by the weakness of love, as Cleopatra was unable to control her own desires. The second couple seems to be destroyed by the conflicting desires. It is as though the man’s love isn’t strong enough to make him open up to his wife. This is very interesting to me because Eliot and his wife do stay together and instead of getting upset, we were shown text where she praised his acknowledgement of his silence. The last couple seemed to be torn apart because they didn’t share a similar view of love. While he wanted to have a child to solidify their relationship she apparently thought it would take away from their love.  
 These ideas of failed love say something about what a wasteland is. They show that no matter how much people think an emotion can save them, they will be constantly be wrong. Love is as fickle of emotion as feelings of anger. I also think the weakness of love is coupled with the lack of wisdom. In part three, the mention of characters more concerned with lust are those who seem to understand the failure of love. In Sweeney Todd, the main character begins acting out of scorn after love has disappointed him. In Oedipus’ story, Tiresias is the wise man, aware of life and the lessons Oedipus must learn. This being said, it is fair to assume that he is aware of the failings of love.  
 In Brooks’ essay, he seems to agree with the Cleopatra reference, but not necessarily to prove that love is weak, but instead to show its destructive strength as it destroys an empire. To Brooks, this love becomes something that clouds judgment and logic. I’m not sure what he means by the references to Philomel and the raped woman. Is this about some obsessed love? How love has the power to make people lose control? In Headings’ essay about the structure of it is interesting because he refers to the section as being about failed lust. He looks beyond the idea of love to the idea of lust as being a force in this section. I think this is interesting because in class we decided that the third section was about lust.