How do Shakespeare and Eliot communicate ideas about spiritual and religious absence? Thesis: Ideas of spiritual and religious absence arise in King Lear and The Waste Land via anarchic societies. However, whilst Shakespeare suggests it is impossible to engage with religion, The Waste Land suggests it is essential for growth and regeneration. Introduction - context King Lear • Set in pre-Christian pagan society despite being written under James I who is fervently protestant and holds a strong belief in the Divine Right of Kings • Therefore, Shakespeare argues that it is religious absence which causes the excessive tragedy The Waste Land • Written in a society where there was an increase in atheism following the trauma of the First World War • Eliot converts to Christianity from atheism in 1927, therefore the emphasis on religion increases as the poem develops Paragraph 1 – Both writers explore the subversion of traditional society as a consequence of religious absence • In King Lear, the absence of a truly attentive god leads to the breakdown of tradition via the subversion of natural order • Eliot portrays a nihilist society which remains fragmented and subverted in the early sections of the poem, due to the lack of a divine, unifying force Paragraph 1: King Lear Quotations 1. King Lear’s division of the kingdom (Act 1, Scene 1) ‘Meantime we shall express our darker purpose. / Give me the map there. Know that we have divided / In three our kingdom; 2. Edmund’s defiance of bastard status (Act 1, Scene 2) ‘Why brand they us / with base? With baseness, bastardy? Base, base? ‘Edmund the base / Shall top the legitimate. I grow, I prosper: / Now gods, stand up for bastards!’ 3. Lear’s reaction to Goneril’s betrayal (Act 2, Scene 2) ‘But yet thou art my flesh, my blood, my daughter, / Or rather a disease that’s in my flesh, / Which I must needs call mine. Analysis 1. Adjective ‘darker’ > connotations with ambiguity, turmoil - Already, his decision is portrayed as fatal, therefore this supports James I’s theory 2. Verb ‘brand’ > associates Edmund with animals - ‘base’ proves he is starting life at a lower point in society - alliteration of ‘b’ > demonstrates anger, draws attention to bastardy - his demand of the Gods is provocative > power dynamics subverted 3. Tricolon of flesh, blood, daughter > conveys disbelief - word choice of ‘disease’ > destructive nature of Lear’s decision - commences self realisation Paragraph 1: The Waste Land Quotations Analysis Burial of the Dead: 1. 1. ‘April is the cruellest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land’ Subversion of Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales' spells the decline of society since the 14th century 2. 2. ‘ a crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many, I had not though death had undone so many’... ‘and each man fixed his eyes before his feet’ Allusion to Dante's Inferno in contrast with the physical landmark of London Bridge highlights the destructive consequences on society, of the rise in atheism following ww1 3. The reversion of the natural process of life and death suggests the anarchical state of society as a result of the l absence of a higher power 4. The theme of growth and fertility is inhibted by religious absence in the poem, demonstrated by the subversion of Spenser's 'Promathalion' 3. ‘that corpse you planted last year in our garden, has it begun to sprout?’ The Fire Sermon: 4. 'The nymphs are departed. Sweet Thames, run softly, till i end my song’ Paragraph 2 – the nature of such absence • In King Lear, Shakespeare suggests that the Gods are either absent or indifferent and allow society to self destruct • In ‘The Waste Land’, religious absence is equivalent to a lack of faith, as once the existence of the gods is acknowledged, society can reform and heal Paragraph 2: King Lear Analysis Quotations 1. 1. Lear’s descent into madness (Act 3, Scene 4) - adjective ‘unaccommodated’ > demonstrates isolation from divine support ‘Unaccommodated man is no more but such a poor, bare, forked animal as thou art.’ - animal imagery proves Lear has been stripped from all authority Straying from iambic pentameter > demonstrates social descent 2. Gloucester’s epiphany (Act 4, scene 1) ‘As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; / They kill us for their sport,’ 2. Simile of flies > suggests humans are powerless - also has connotations with self destructive - sport metaphor suggests the Gods enjoy inflicting pain 3. (The death of) Cordelia (Act 4, scene 3) / (Act 5, scene 3) ‘There she shook / The holy water from her heavenly eyes,’ ‘Upon such sacrifices, my Cordelia’ 3. Adjectives ‘holy’ / ‘heavenly’ > associate Cordelia with Christ - ‘sacrifices’ evokes ideas of Jesus’ death - however, no salvation like there is in the bible Paragraph 2: The Waste Land Analysis 1. It was the agnosticism of the wastelanders, rather than the absence of God, which inhibted the progression of society 2. The acknowledgement of God enables the regeneration of society, shown through the symbol of rain/ fertility 3. The gods are presented as the direct solution to the issue of drought lack of growth in society, through their characterisation as thunder Quotations Burial of the Dead: 1. ‘there is shadow under this red rock, (come in under the shadow of this rock)’ What the Thunder Said: 2. ‘Who is the Third Way that always walks beside you?’ 3. ‘Then spoke the thunder / DA’ Paragraph 3 – As a consequence, both texts show an attempt to engage with an active God • In King Lear however, faith is futile which is what defines the play as a tragedy • Once recognised in the Wasteland, the gods are of crucial importance In the restoration and regeneration of society, emphasised through contrast between before and after the recognition of the Gods. Paragraph 3: King Lear Analysis Quotations 1. 1. Lear’s plea to the Gods (Act 2, Scene 4) - storm is a reflection of mental turmoil, yet as there is no divine intervention his pleas are futile Direct address > acknowledgment of vulnerability ‘You see me here, you Gods, a poor old man / As full of grief as age, wretched in both’ 2. Dramatic irony > evokes sympathy for Gloucester 2. Gloucester’s suicide attempt (Act 4, scene 6) ‘O you almighty gods, / This world I do renounce and in your sights / Shake patiently my great affliction off’ - empty appeal as there is not evidence of another world or heaven Paragraph 3: The Waste Land Quotations 1. 2. 3. 'These fragments i have shored against my ruins’ (What the Thunder Said) VS 'heap of broken images’ (Burial of the Dead) ‘In a flash of lightning. Then a damp gust bringing rain’ (What the Thunder Said) VS ‘dry sterile rain without thunder’ (earlier in What the Thunder Said) 'Datta. Dayadhvam. Damyata. Shantih shantih shantih’VS‘eyes fixed before his feet’ (Burial of the Dead) Analysis 1. The healing of the Fisher King symbolises the regeneration of society 2. The arrival of rain following spiritual enlightenment suggests that the gods enable this regeneration 3. The acceptance of pluralism in finding peace demonstrates the importance of recognising any form of higher being, to set purpose and meaning to one's life, thus leaading to societal recovery Conclusion • In King Lear, it is ambiguous whether the Gods are absent or indifferent. However, it is clear that the tragedy which unfolds is a result of human self destruction, not from any supernatural involvement • In the Waste Land, Eliot portrays spiritual and religious absence as nonexistent; instead, there is simply agnosticism and a lack of acknowledgment of higher powers. This agnosticism leads to drought, symbolising the inability of a post ww1 society to progress and regenerate after devastating years of conflict and death. Thus, he demonstrates that having faith in god/s is crucial in discovering purpose and progressing as a society.
