Hollow Modern Women castigated By T.S. Eliot in The Waste Land

Reputation is more important than chastity for Modern Women

Rhine-Daughters

Modern Man and the Ape Man came across each other at the bridge, once again. Modern Man had come to admire nature on the recommendation of his Psychiatrist and Ape Man had come to admire the technology of man-made bridge. When Modern Man asked Ape Man about his views on boredom, he was reluctant to share. When Modern Man insisted he spoke only one line.

“Here one can neither stand nor lie nor sit”

For Modern Man the line was simply absurd. What can someone do if not stand, lie or sit? Fly? He was annoyed at the Ape Man, as if he was responsible for what Tiresias said.

"No you can’t even fly, because you do not have a powerful imagination like Super Man". Modern Man felt stuck. He looked at Ape Man.

Ape Man explained “To look for anything is to act on the hypothesis that it exists, faith precedes faith in regressive manner.” Modern Man remembered having heard this too. Ape Man said “You can’t take stand for your belief, you can’t prostrate in surrender, nor you can contemplate in lotus position. So you are doomed.”

Modern Man was stunned till he received a voice message from his wife. “I am at a party and will return home at late tonight. Do not wait for me. Serve dinner yourself. Love you, baby”. Followed by the sound of a kiss.

They had an instant eye contact. Ape Man was smiling satirically. Both had noticed that excuse to party was lame. The voice was hollow and there was no background noise of the party.

Ape Man said “If there were water…or….if there were the sound of water only.” After a pause, he said "Hollow Woman”.

Modern Man ignored the remark. He did not want to discuss his personal relationship with his wife with the Ape Man.

Ape Man could read the mind of Modern Man. He changed the topic. He told to Modern Man “Your civilisation is travelling back, towards us and our civilisation is travelling forward towards you. Like a time traveller we are neither past nor future. I hear about your nude beaches and organic farming. You are back to nature on the advice of your psychiatrist. In my clan many women have started covering their private parts with sheep skin. I know this shame will make our society corrupt. Women with covered skin becomes more desirable. This will lead to all other types of corruption.”

“Stop them from wearing loincloth. You are the Head” Modern Man retorted.

“Society is also dynamic. It evolves and undergoes a change with the advancement of time like an individual”. Ape Man was now in a trance. He continued "Chinua Achebe in Things Fall Apart could not stop society from evolving”.

Modern Man knew he was talking to a Time Traveller.

Modern Man decided to take his opinion. “Why did you call our women as hollow” he asked.

“Because they are more bothered about reputation than chastity. Remember Philomela?” Ape Man asked.

Modern Man nodded. He had been reading The Waste Land many times a day. Chastity was no more a virtue in his society. Everything is mechanical. Even Sex. Mechanisation is Boredom. Even all the attempts to break the monotony have also become stereotyped.

Chastity of Pamela by Richardson was mocked at in Shamela by Henry Fielding. Chastity even a fake chastity is better, as a bad man is better than bad name.©

Things were falling into place when the Modern Man received a voice message from his girlfriend.

To save himself from embarrassment Modern Man walked away.

Read story of The Old Man and The Nymph

© Vipin Behari Goyal

Advocate, Rajasthan High Court, Jodhpur, India

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Why Suicide is The Final Solution for Modern Man

Dilemma of Modern Man expounded by T. S. Eliot in "The Wasteland

Dilemma of Modern Man expounded by T.S.Eliot in "The Wasteland"

No Fear in Handful of Dust

The modern man returned disappointed. He could not commit suicide due to the gadget devised by him. The sensor had suggested him to read “The Wasteland”. The book had caused anxiety in him. He went for suicide since he found the life aimless and purposeless. After reading the book he was confused.

How the same act if done for procreation or for love is justified and is of high moral values, and condemned as a symbol of spiritual decay if  done for pleasure. Since the author did not have any convincing argument to support his Theory of Spiritual degeneration”, he had randomly picked up scriptures of mystic Eastern, to provide a solution which was already known to the entire civilization. The concept of Da in Brihdaranyak and “The Fire Sermon” in Buddhism did not match with dialectic and didactics of modern man.

The modern man had a comfortable relationship with his girlfriend. After living together for last two years, they found that they were not intimate enough to perform the act.

So Modern Man was of opinion that the author of that monologue was obsessed with sex.  In 430 lines verse, at many a spot, modern man thought, he could read the mind of Poet even though his spokesman was Tiresias. The poet had devised some new sounds the exact meaning of which were obscure, but were led to the vulgar representation of the act.

And still she cried, and still the world pursues,

jug jug to dirty ears. (V. 100)

Twit twit twit

Jug jug jug jug jug jug ( V. 200)

Only a cock stood on the rooftree

Co co rico co co rico(v.390)

Weialala leia

Wallala leialala (v. 280)

Modern man did not believe in experimenting with phonetics and linguist, especially by a poet.

The narration of episode of Typist and Clerk was disgusting. The typist gave herself with total indifference and apathy.

Exploring hands encounter no defense;

His vanity requires no response,

And makes a welcome of indifference. (V. 240)

In the opinion of Modern Man such indifference in the act was admirable.

The elaborate preparations which were once prerequisite of idle man and woman to perform the act were neither affordable nor tolerable.

The stories narrated by the three daughters of the Thames are abominable. The Modern Men had refined taste so far as art was concerned. He did not find the description was in good taste.

Undid me. By Richmond I raised my

knees

Supine on the floor of narrow canoe.

No one who wants to reject the act itself would use such lucid descriptions. Modern man found such erotic imagination despicable. Also, it was quite a distorted version of ‘Gotterdammerung’( The Rhine-daughters). Moreover, it is more shocking that Thames-daughters found their loss of chastity as inevitable.

He wept. He promised “a new start.”

I made no comment. What should I

Resent?(V. 300)

The description of the third daughter was a shock to Modern Man.

I can connect

Nothing with nothing.

Modern man was in search of such electromagnetic waves that can connect nothing with nothing. It could be quite tedious to establish such a relationship.

Modern Man could like only one line in the poem.

“Shall I at least set my lands in order?”(V. 420)

That could have been a nice beginning.

The Modern Man was about to throw away the book, When The Ape Man came. He saw the book in the hand of Modern Man and laughed hysterically. The Modern Man was surprised that The Ape Man knew about the book. He felt humiliated and told the whole story.

Ape Man told the Modern Man that he had read the book superficially. Eliot said "At bottom: that is great way down; the bottom is the bottom."

Modern Man could not understand how an Ape Man could understand such a complex dilemma that he was facing.

Ape Man continued "Beneath all Beauty and Ugliness lies Fear or Boredom." (Tweet This)

Can't you see the fear and terror in 'Marie', Hyacinths girl and Madame Sosostris ? They all are scared of 'handful of dust' or crop of corpses. Fear is the key that operates Unreal City.

Hooded Man in Unreal City

Modern Man had no fear in his mind. So he had failed to understand the poem and its implications.

Ape Man could read his mind. He said "Fear is for us, for you it is Boredom. You went to commit suicide out of boredom."

Ape Man was about to explain boredom when he heard a roar of lion and eloped in the jungle. 

He asked Modern Man to contemplate about Mr. Prufrock while departing.

Mr. J A. Prufrock as symbol of Modern Man:

Mr. Prufrock in the poem “The Love Songs of J. A.Prufrock” by T.S.Eliot is also a symbol of Modern Man.He suffers the same dilemma which all the modern men suffer.

“Do I dare ? and do I dare?” is the anguish caused by a mental conflict. He is constantly forced to suppress his desire to act on natural instincts. His psyche is governed by Artificial Society which is the society of inhibitions and taboos. Modern Man wants to be rational and rebel against the irrational society but he is caught in the trap of his own mental make up which is framed by Artificial Society. He thus accepts his defeat and finds a cowardly escape in camouflaging his elemental passions behind the mask of being gentleman.

“Time yet for a hundred decisions

And for a hundred visions and revisions”

Modern Man has no paucity of time. He is not worried that time is fleeting. He is puzzled by immovability and timelessness of time. Geoffrey Bullough comments “ all wars are same war, all love making the same love making, all home coming the same home coming”.

Modern Man suffers from fear that is ecstatic. The thunder should awake a fear, but modern man due to ecstasy is unable the read the massage of  moment of thunder to surrender, release and wellbeing.

Another dilemma of Modern Man is of “folded double lie”. One is romantic lie of “Self Love” which is biggest hurdle on the path of “Universal Love”, second is “lie of Authority” which comes from State or Collective Man,neither of them really exist.

W.H.Auden in his poem September 1,1939 has given the final massage “We must love one another or die”. Though he was not sure about this doctrine and found it impracticable and deleted from the poem. This shows the importance of “Agape” if  you prefer theology.

No one exists alone. The future of entire human civilisation depends on application of Agape universally. Modern Man is blinded by Eros and though he talks of Agape but in reality neither he believes in it nor acts to implement it.

Modern Man thinks that a great poetic work was possible even if he did not believe in “Original Sin”. “The Fall” is not historic one time phenomenon but a continuous process for human civilisation.

© Vipin Behari Goyal

Advocate, Rajasthan High Court, Jodhpur, India

Other related post

Why Suicide is The Final Solution for Modern Man