Essay: Spirituality in The Wasteland

How does T.S Eliot present Spirituality in The Wasteland?

Spirituality or rather the lack of it, is a prominent theme in The Wasteland, as Eliot explores ideas of lust, sin, spiritual dryness and purity.

Spiritual Infertility:

There is an acute sense of dryness and infertility in The Wasteland, not only linking to the poem’s title but also to the Spirituality expressed in the poem. Frequent references to ‘dried’ ‘dead’ and ‘stones’ help promote the sense of a sterile and desolate land, which could represent a modern world losing its spirituality or perhaps that there is none to be found. Eastern and Western philosophies are mixed and challenged in the poem, perhaps even being mocked as they prompt people to find ‘fear in a handful of dust’. The word ‘dust’ continues to link back to the idea of a wasteland, but also links to the Christian idea of God creating humanity out of dust. This could connote the wasting away of humanity back into the dust from whence it came, or that instead of the Wasteland being dead and desolate it is in fact waiting to be brought to life, or even humanity fear of spirituality or a God like figure. T.S.Eliot could be using images of decay to reflect the decaying of humanity, suggesting that spiritually the world is a wasteland, and perhaps the ‘fear’ in the poem is a dread of being jolted out of this state of existence and being made to account to its actions:

Sin:

Furthermore, T.S.Eliot weaves sin and temptation into his poem, creating a divide between spiritual places and life in the poem, with ‘the empty chapel’ being ‘only the wind’s home’ and surrounded by ‘tumbled graves’. The fact that places of worship are empty further emphasizes the spiritual desolation of the wasteland, perhaps suggesting that guilt or love of sin has kept people away. That the ‘wind’ is the only thing still there could connote the church’s irrelevance to modern day life, or that , because wind is natural and sin is not, all the people have been driven away by their lack of spirituality. However, Eliot could just be criticizing western Christianity, as he portrays eastern philosophies in a more flattering light. By choosing to end The Wasteland with the line ‘Shantih, Shantih, Shantih’ Eliot is perhaps suggesting that peace can be found in through Eastern ideas, and perhaps that an influx of new ideas from Hinduism and Buddhism could revive humanity’s spiritual Wasteland. This cultural influx can also be seen in the ‘damp gust of spring rain’ that happens just after the poem moves away from the dry and empty ‘chapel’ to the fresh and revitalising ‘Ganga’. This could suggest that just as in the Grail myth that The Wasteland is based on, asking new questions and receiving new ideas can bring fertility back to the wasteland, and perhaps moving away from the outdated ideas of sin in Christianity will remove society’s sterility and allow it freedom. But the ‘heap of broken images’ constantly referred to in the poem could undermine this, as it connotes the breaking down of society and religion into something sterile and useless. Eliot does not give one answer, but suggests that all religions are decaying, and humanity is losing it’s sense of spirituality.

Lust:

The most prominent of the sins displayed in The Wasteland is lust. Most of the characters dotted throughout the poem experience some sort of love, lust or longing, especially Tiresias who ‘foresuffers’ all of the other characters’ experiences. In the episode with the ‘typist’ and the ‘carbuncular’ man we witness the effects of lust without love, as he semi-rapes her. With words like ‘engage’ ‘assaults’ and ‘no defence’ we definitely take the typists side, especially as the man seems sleazy and ‘low’, ‘groping’ his way to the door and full of ‘vanity’. Eliot does no describe her actions while the carbuncular man is having his way with her, making her seem absent and dead inside, connoting the insterilty of this sort of love, and its troubling effects on her are shown through her ‘half-formed thoughts’ ‘pacing’ and by her ‘smoothing down her hair with automatic hand’. Eliot also switches to a more poetic style, using iambic pentameter, echoing the way that previous poets used to describe ‘when lovely woman stoops to folly’ and yet satirizing it by showing it from her perspective and not writing her off as just another whore. This exchange is typical of the many character’s in the Wasteland, and indicates the sterility of lust as well as perhaps offering it as a reason for the Wasteland’s present state. This is shown in the end of ‘The Fire Sermon’ as ‘burning’ –which creates ‘dust’- is linked to lust by the opposing religious figures of St Augustine and the Buddha. The repetition of the word ‘burning’ cuts off the other lines, just as fire consumes all in its path stopping growth and progress, or sin killing off spirituality. In fact, St Augustine compared ‘burning’ to leading a sinful life, suggesting that humanity has fallen into sinful ways and can’t break out of its ways, and the fact that ‘burning’ leaves everything dead and desolated perhaps T.S.Eliot is saying that humanity has caused the world to become a spiritual wasteland.

Hope:

The antithesis of this is the little currents of hope running through the poem, as there is still purity and morally strong characters within The Wasteland, and with them remain the hope of spirituality. While most of the other women in the poem are involved in some sort of love or lust affair Queen ‘Elizabeth’ I remains triumphantly pure. Eliot introduces her as ‘Elizabeth and Leicester’, withe her name coming first and the ‘and’ clearly separating them, indicating how by controlling her love for him she has kept hold of her power, independence and title. Also, Eliot’s description of the mise-en-scene around her indicates how nature, or perhaps a god has rewarded her for her chastity. London becomes beautiful for the first time, full of colours like ‘red’, ‘gold’ and ‘white’ which also make Elizabeth sound regal and angelic. This contrasts with the woman in the canoe in the next stanza, who impassively states that she has been ‘undone’. The lacklustre tone of the following stanzas lacks the beauty and liveliness of Elizabeth’s ones, suggesting that sex without love or giving into temptation leads to death, even when you are still alive. The fact that ‘he wept’ connotes that instead of being full of passion and joy, sex without love causes a kind of spiritual death, and that mankind is damaging itself through its sin. This also links backs to the lack of spirituality in the Wasteland being caused by sin which burns through civilization leaving only ash and remnants of the living behind it.

Conclusion:

In conclusion I think that Eliot links the desolation of ‘The Wasteland’ to spiritual emptiness, blaming perhaps sin (in particular lust) but not giving any clear answers to where the cure can be found, but challenging the reader to look deeper, ask more questions, and perhaps restore spiritual fertility to the wasteland.