Modren Poetry.docx

SUBMITTED BY: FATIMA AKHTAR SUBMITTED TO: MAAM ANUM SUBJECT: MODREN POETRY SEMESTER: VIII SECTION: B ROLL NO: 16155165

Characteristics of Impressionism in Elliot’s The Wasteland

Impressionism as a concept is common to both art and literature. J. A. Cuddon defines Impressionism: The term impressionism has also been used to describe the novelist’s technique of concentrating on the inner life of the main character rather than on external reality. Abundant examples of this technique are to be found in the work of James Joyce, Marcel Proust, Dorothy Richardson and Virginia Woolf. Elliot used the narrative technique of impressionism in his poem to depict the ethical debasement in the society using "emotional landscape" which will in reflect distress through dark images. In the poem Elliot depicted the state of River Thames, which was at one time the focal point of consideration however at this point it streams peacefully, "the river way's tent is broken: the last fingers of leaf Clutch and sink into the west bank." On the other, the narrative technique also depicts the characteristics of impressionistic style: which presents the events, not in chronological order. For this reason, Elliot used the stream of consciousness. For instance in the last section of the poem What the Thunder Said: where he gave the examples of Christ, the Knight’s journey and the famine in India to deliver the message of resurrection and redemption which can bestow a person with internal peace, only if he has a firm belief in

“Datta.Dayadhavam.Damyat.” The impressionists believe in conveying an ambiguous meaning, a similar skill is used by Elliot. By using this facet he compelled his readers to think and judge and draw their findings. He has used countless examples of the past like “Phelbas the Phoenician” sailor, then of the St. Augustine who went To Carthage to ask for resurrection from God on the behalf of the corrupt land. By quoting such instances he not only conveyed ambiguity but also there is a deep underlying message he aimed to convey: which was to make people see the peril consequences of moral corruption.