Throughout “The Waste Land,” T. S. Elliot incorporates multiple allusions and references that range from excerpts of biblical text to mentioning lyrics from a popular song. However, one of the most important allusions throughout “The Waste Land” is Elliot’s reference to Chaucer’s prologue in “The Canterbury Tales” because it provides readers with a contrasting view of spring that helps to depict a dark and depressing tone that is present throughout the entire poem.
Chaucer’s depiction of April is starkly different than Elliot’s description. In “The Canterbury Tales,” springtime is known to symbolize rebirth and optimism. This is apparent as the narrator states, “What that April with his showres soote, / The droughte of March hath perced to the roote.” (Chaucer 3) Here, Chaucer gives the image that April showers will bring a new beginning from all the hardships that have happened in the past. His tone is hopeful and uplifting, which provides readers with positivity throughout “The Canterbury Tales.” This feeling continues throughout the prologue as he state, “What Zeephyrus eek with his sweet breath, / Inspired hath in every holt and heeth.” (Chaucer 3) Chaucer’s use of words such as “sweet” and “inspired” work to bring out bright and cheerful emotions in readers that help illustrate the meaning of spring as a time of renewal and revitalization.
Elliot’s portrayal of spring in “The Waste Land” distorts the images that Chaucer observes. He refers to Chaucer’s prologue in the first line of the poem as he states, “April is the cruelest month, breeding, / Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing.” (Elliot 474) Here, through his harsh tone, it is apparent that Elliot sees April as a brutal time. This gives readers a sense of the darkness and death that Elliot continues to portray throughout the poem. This continues as he says, “A heap of broken images, where the sun beats, / And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief.” (Elliot 474) Elliot’s choice of words, such as “broken images,” “the dead tree,” and “no shelter” proves how he believes spring is a time of decay and hopelessness. Unlike Chaucer, Elliot has a pessimistic view of the spring, which is visible through his harsh tone and choice of words.
The hopeful, uplifting view of spring that Chaucer describes provides a positive, bright tone that impacts the rest of “The Canterbury Tales.” The pessimistic, dismal image that Elliot portrays gives readers a depressing and dark outlook on what “The Waste Land” is about. The way Elliot alludes to “The Canterbury Tales” sets the tone for the entire poem, letting readers know from the very beginning, that “The Waste Land” is going to be a dark poem.
This was a great analysis of both The Wasteland and the Canterbury Tales. I thought that they way you contrasted the two it brought out the importance of just one season in both works. You provided sufficient amount of evidence from both texts to support what you wanted to say about spring and what spring meant for both texts. Your argument was well thought out and both texts worked well with what you wanted to argue. Great Job!
ReplyDeleteI think you have a really strong piece here. You do a very good job of creating contrasts between the two pieces but also demonstrating why those contrasts are relevant. The only thing I would suggest is a more detailed explanation for why Elliot includes "The Canterbury Tales." Is it just to set up the contrast; would most of his readers be familiar with "The Canterbury Tales?"
ReplyDeleteAvery,
ReplyDeleteThis was a fantastic analysis to the tone of the poem. I like that you addressed this allusion to Chaucer at the beginning of the poem. However, I do think that this essay would be more argumentative if you were to explain how the use of Chaucer affects the overall dark tone to the poem. Rather than just acknowledging the comparison, go further and include how the allusion affects later passages in the poem/exposes the poem's dark nature.
Avery,
ReplyDeleteI love the close reading you have done to draw the contrast between "Waste Land" and "The Canterbury Tales". I think focusing in one that one line that both contain and how their are opposing is the main strength of your piece. As a reader I was following your every step of the way. In your last paragraph you mention how setting either of these tones affects how readers continue throughout the piece. I think this is something really interesting to consider and you should elaborate on it! Great work!
Avery,
ReplyDeleteThis is a great piece. You're focus was very clear and your argument was well organized and easy to follow. You give good textual support for your thoughts as well.
My suggestion would be to better connect your body paragraphs back to your thesis/conclusion. You clearly explain HOW the tones in the two pieces are different, but you don't explain WHY it's significant that Elliot alludes to Chaucer. Once you've established the tones (which you've done wonderfully), connect it back to your main argument/conclusion. Awesome start!
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ReplyDeleteNice work, Avery. Your essay is well-written and your focus is clear all the way throughout your essay. You have a unique focus as well, which makes your essay all the more interesting. Like Rachel said above my post, your essay could be a lot stronger if you explained the significance, rather than just comparing the tones.
ReplyDeleteI loved this compare/contrast, but agree with Ryan in wishing you could argue why this contrast is significant
ReplyDeleteAvery,
ReplyDeleteI liked the compare and contrast between "Canterbury Tales" and "The Waste Land". Agreeing with those above me, you need to point out why this is significant. I think you should also try and find something else that connects the two texts to make your argument stronger.
This is a nice start. I agree with the others that it would be beneficial to the paper to explain the significance of T.S Eliot's allusion to Chaucer and/or add more analysis and evidence to back up your thesis. This topic is very interesting though and you did a nice job bringing in another text.
ReplyDeleteYep, I'm with most everyone else. You did a good job of displaying the connections that do exist between the two texts; now just explain why this connection does exist. Maybe why Eliot chose to create a poem that so starkly contrasts Chaucer's and convention's idea that Spring=birth.
ReplyDeleteYou do a fantastic job wth your comparison, and I can very clearly see the connection you drew between the two poems. I would suggest more of an analysis as to why it Elliot decided to draw in this comparison, however. What is it about Chaucer's representation of Spring that makes it so powerful in Elliot's piece?
ReplyDeleteAwkward Avery, great job here. I enjoyed reading it and thought all of your connections were really strong. I'd like to echo other peoples' suggestions and say I'd like for you to delve a little bit deeper and make a claim about the significance of the comparison.
ReplyDeleteI think your close read has an interesting idea and I liked the comparisons that you drew between the two poem. Your analysis of both the poems was good but I felt like you needed more of a link between the two. Like other people have commented, I think you should further explore the significance of the comparison. But so far, good work!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great comparative piece between two poems! You make your points really clear and support your claims well. I see what other have said and also agree -- I'd like to know the significance of it all. Why so negative? What's the point of this allusion?
ReplyDeleteI feel that this is really just the beginning of your analysis: having illuminated how the allusion to Chaucer functions in The Waste Land, you still leave the question of significance wide open - WHY does the fact that the allusion to Chaucer conflicts with the picture Eliot matter? What is it doing, if anything, besides helping to set a tone for the poem?
ReplyDeleteI think you did a good job pulling in the bits from Chaucer, and your analysis of both the Chaucer lines and the Elliot lines effectively demonstrated the different tones in each passage. Your connection of the two needs to be stronger - why is it so crucial that Elliot begins by referencing Chaucer? If we think about Chaucer's lines while we read Elliot's, what does that do for our perception or understanding of the opening of The Waste Land?
ReplyDeleteAs many others have stated, this is an interesting comparison to bring to the table. However, if you would elaborate as to why this comparison is significant, your paper would be much stronger.
ReplyDeleteI think that your lack of an argument has been already touched on within the other comments. I really enjoyed your comparison of the two texts and how they define the season of Spring. But that has no significance if it can not relate back to an argument or solid thesis.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone above me, but I really enjoyed the comparison! Great analysis! It flowed nice and I could follow along very easily.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone before me, this is a great comparison of the two poems. It's also a really good close reading, the topic is the perfect length and you do a really good job analyzing your evidence. Your argument could strengthened by looking into the importance of the unexpected trope of spring in "The Waste Land"
ReplyDeleteGreat job Avery! Really strong comparison and analysis. I agree with some of the above posts and suggest that maybe discussing why the use of Chaucer is important and then developing that further into an argument.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting the way you juxtaposed Elliot’s dark and pessimistic description of spring with Chaucer’s optimistic and uplifting description of spring. The way you’ve critically analyzed each writer’s diction in order to compare their differing depictions of spring is great, but I’d also like to see you dig deeper to explore why it is that, specifically Elliot, has chosen to describe spring in the way he does as such a negative and gloomy season.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting connection between these two pieces of work. I think you've done a good job showing how spring is portrayed in two perspectives, but it isn't especially argumentative. I think that your paper would gain a whole new level of interesting if you looked at the significance of springs representation in these two ways, perhaps by looking at spring in relation to the entire work, or why spring means different things to different people.
ReplyDeleteLike everyone else, I thought this was an extremely cool comparison of Chaucer and Elliot. Clear thesis, great supporting evidence, good organization. Good job!
ReplyDeleteI really liked the analysis of the two poems. Pairing them side by side really illuminates the drastic differences in tone. Possibly including why you feel Elliot may have taken the tales and twisted them dark may add to this reading.
ReplyDeleteThough I felt you argued both sides well and had a clear thesis, I did not really see any importance to the thesis. I think adding more reason as to why this needs to be compared would be helpful.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great contrast/comparison here. I agree with some of the others that you do a great job of contrasting the two uses, but you need to analyze why Elliot twists Chaucer's work for his poem.
ReplyDeleteYou pulled great quotes to support your thesis, but I think it would be helpful to focus on the implications for the relationship between the two texts, and go further than proving there is one. I think you have a really great draft and are really headed somewhere with this.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I really enjoyed reading your piece. You did a nice job with your quotations and loved the connections. My advice would be to go just a bit deeper with it. In the last paragraph you say that Elliot's portray gives the reader and "outlook on what 'The Waste Land' is about" but you never really delve into this. Could you be more specific here?
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