Assignment: "The Wasteland" Epic of modern time with comparison to "Mahabharata" the epic of ancient time

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“The Wasteland” epic of modern time with comparison to “Mahabharata” epic of ancient time

M.K Bhavnagar University

Department of English

Sem 3

Name- Hema Goswami

Roll no. 13

Enrollment no. 2069108420180020

Paper no. 9 The Modernist Literature

Topic: “The Wasteland” epic of modern time with comparison to “Mahabharata” epic of ancient time

Introduction

Both the epics “Wasteland” and “Mahabharata” have great influence on literature. “Mahabharata” is the most famous historical text of Hindu philosophy. Both the epics highlight various issues which are relevant to the current world. An Epic is a long poem typically one derived from ancient oral tradition narrating the past history of nation (Contributors of Oxford dictionary). Therefore both these epics narrate the past history of nation along with many mythical stories.

The Wasteland

Wasteland is a long Epic poem by T.S Eliot (wikipedia contributors). It is the most important poem of 20^th century and a central work of modern literature. It is published in 1922.

The poem structure is divided into five sections:-

i)                   The Burial of the dead

ii)                A Game of Chess

iii)              The Fire Sermon

iv)              Death by Water

v)                What the thunder said

All these five sections passed a great message to society. These sections also reflects the plight or suffering of human beings and how they involves in various activities which leads to their own downfall such as sexual perversion, lack of spiritual values etc.

Reflection of Modern world in Wasteland

“Eliot’s Wasteland is I think the justification of the ‘movement,’ of our modern experiment, since 1900”

-         Ezra Pound

Eliot is probably the modern poet who most references classical texts in his work. We can see numerous references to classical Greek myth and Tragedy in Wasteland. However Eliot put a modern spin on these texts through his allusions. Eliot begins the poem with the famous line,

“April is the cruelest month...” and that is our first clue, along with the title that, the poem will be dark and dour. We normally associate springtime with rebirth, happiness, fresh starts, and beautiful scenery. Here Eliot subverts that expectation in a way that reflects the modernist perspective on the post World War I world (Karaejacobi)

Various Myths in Wasteland reflecting the situation of contemporary world

Eliot has written “The Wasteland” with the help of many mythical and literary references. Eliot is a critic poet. He had a long range of reading different mythological interpretations. He has used important myths which are still relevant in present time.

i)                  Myth of the Fisher king

“While I was fishing in the dull canal

On a winter evening round behind the gashouse

Musing upon the king my brother’s wreck

And on the King my father’s death before him”

(Line 189-192)

Eliot has mentioned Frazer’s The Golden bough and Miss Weston’s From Ritual to Romance, especially the latter as the source of the mythical framework in the poem.

The Wasteland created by the Fisher king’s wound serves as the central image of the poem and the king himself appears several times.

“I sat upon the shore

Fishing, with the arid plain behind me

Shall I at least set my lands in order?”

The Fisher king is crippled by a magical wound and spends his day fishing on a lake near his castle. His lands are desolate, infertile, as result of his wound. The knight Percival eventually come to the castle of the fisher king in search of the Holy Grail. Percival heals the King, restoring the land to fertility and becoming keeper of the Grail (Weston)

This mythical Wasteland is the analogue for the Modern world of spiritual Bareness. This mythical story of Fisher King is very significant in the present time also. If we are not physically fit than we cannot do anything. Wealth is come from health. Similarly if we are not capable of doing anything or don’t have enough resources than we are just like that wounded Fisher king, helpless, until no one came to help us, to make us free from our suffering. These all indicated the indifference nature of life towards us, how when we are in trouble all moves away from our life only the true will stay.

ii)                The Burial of the dead

The title of the first section “The Burial of the dead” has a significant mythological meaning. It has been taken from Anglican burial service. The poem thus opens with the idea that the land is wasted and dead.

 

iii)             Tiresias

Eliot has widened the scope of the poem by combining with it the classical wasteland of King Oedipus and the barren land of Christian Bible. The classical association is symbolized by Tiresias, the blind prophet of Thebes, who is introduced as protagonist of the poet. He stands for the human consciousness, connecting the present with the past, and his vision which is the substance of the poem, is a series of flashes (Al-Mahdi). Lamentation of Tiresias in the third part is having certain kind morality when he sees what clerk and typist are doing. Tiresias in the whole poem only gave passive advice. He is not actively present in the text or as a person. This follows the Anti-hero Idea, which is also the main characteristic of modern age.

Through this method Eliot makes us think not only the pastness of the past but also of its presence. The spiritual barrenness or death is at once temporal and timeless and the scene is London or any capital in Europe or in any place, anywhere, in any

period of history.

iv)            Sibyl

The Cumaean Sibyl’s quote “ I want to die” is taken from Satyricon or Petronius, but the background story of Sybil is founded in metamorphosis. She, being loved by Apollo granted to live as many years as a grains of a heap of a dust: but she didn’t, and though she lived for centuries, her body decayed in such a way that eventually was as small as to kept in a jar (Alejandro).

Sybil wants to escape from the world, wants to get ‘Moksha’ but she was not able to get it. The condition of Sybil is very much significant with the current world. When A person is suffering from fever or any fatal disease then he/she wish to die but they won’t be able to die. Whatever the situation is, we have to live in this world and have to face the each phases of life.

v)               Phlebas

In the section four “Death by Water” Eliot has used the mythical character Phlebas. He is a Phoenician sailor who has died, apparently by drowning. In death he has forgotten his worldly cares as the creatures of the sea have picked his body apart. Phlebas offers the lesson of physical reality of death and decay triumph over all (Contributors of sparknotes).

There are still many myths which are remaining and are significant  such as:

i)Hyacinth girl

ii)Madam Sosostris

iii)Tristan and Isolde

iv)Three Slaves

v)Holy Grail

vi)One eyed Merchant

vii)Greek Gods(Cupid, Bacchus)

viii)Sylvan village

ix)Philomela

x)Thames daughter

Mahabharata

Mahabharata is an epic legendary narrative of the Kurukshetra war and the fates of the kaurava and the Pandava princes (wikipedia contributors). It contains philosophical and devotional materials which are relevant in present time also. There are plenty of life lessons one can learn from the Mahabharata.

Mythical stories of Mahabharata which are relevant in present time

i)                  Story of Karna

Bad company can ruin your life beyond imagination (nijhawan). Same thing happens with noble man Karna. He was in company of Duryodhana, for him he fought against Dharma. In his life he always put karma in superior position and then comes Dharma.

This story is still relevant as we all can find same thing happening all around. If some are driven by bad people then they started to react in the same way.

ii)                Shakuni

The most important evil or bad character in Mahabharata is Shakuni. He is always busy in playing tricks over other. He is too much Greedy. He literally destroyed everything that the Kauravas owned and he influenced them to be negative.

Shakuni type character is the reality of life. Still we can face this kind of manipulating character. There are many who are good in face but bad in backside, that kind of two-faced personality we can find everywhere and who are one in another way responsible for someone’s downfall.

iii)             True Friendship between Karna and Duryodhana;  Arjuna and Krishna

If we want to learn true friendship lesson then we have to learn it from Karna and Krishna, who remains loyal to Duryodhana and Arjuna( former to Duryodhana, later to Krishna) till the end f their life. Duryodhana was really very weak without Karna.

iv)            Gandhari

Gandhari is having too many kids that leads to the downfall of Kaurava’s descendant. It signifies that quality is important not quality. Too much quantity of anything is always troublesome.

v)               Enemies in form of friends: Bheesma, Drona and Vidur

These three great personalities are in support of Pandavas by heart but they remain int the team of Kauravas for fight. This can be seen as enemies in form of friends.

Similarities between “Wasteland” and “Mahabharata”

   

          Reality of life

Both the epics teach life lessons through various mythical characters. And make us aware about the reality of life. For example, the character of Sybil in The Wasteland taught us that how one cannot die with their choice, suicide is sin according to the Christian faith. She is just struggling in her life waiting for her death. Similarly Amba wish to die when no one is accepting her as wife but she cannot, at last she decided to take revenge from Bheesma and changed her gender.

    Theme of sexual perversion and lack of spirituality

Both the epics follow the theme of sexual perversion and lack of spirituality. There is one story of three girls of Mrs. Porter in The Wasteland washing their feet with soda waters, just to attract male. The Story of Clerk and the Typist who are engage in sexual activity also signifies the sexual perversion. This signifies how people are too much involve in sex and don’t look at other things. Similarly In Mahabharata also there are numerous example of sexual perversion and lack of spirituality. The Character of Duryodhana is very much bad, he wish to see Draupadi naked and tell to his brother Dushashana to tear her clothes.

     Universality

Both the epics are universal in theme. Both convey universal message and each stories are relevant for any place, any religion, any caste, any class.

    Dharma is Karma

Both the epics follow the message of karma. We need to do Karma only, then Dharma automatically comes in our life, we have to follow our karma.

Difference between “Wasteland” and “Mahabharata”

1   Various texts

In The Wasteland T.S Eliots includes various other texts from all over the world. He has included many works of other writer and poet, such as Bellinda from The Rape of the Lock, Philomela, Shantih shlok from Bruhada Upanishada. But these kind of variation we cannot find in Mahabharata. There is no mention of other outside texts. Only we can see one single big text, Mahabharata itself and its various characters.

 Special Character

We cannot find any special character in The Wasteland. All are common people. There is no mention of something special one. But in Mahabharata we can find this distinction between special and common characters. Such as Pandavas are special than Kauravas, there is distinction line between them.

     Follows different times

The Wasteland follows modern time and Mahabharata follows ancient time, even we can find lots of diference in between some characters like Mrs Porter and Draupad, both having difernt ideals in life. Draupadi is married with five princes and Mrs Porter is keeper of Brothel, both the ladies having different moral values according to their contemporary time.

     Autobiographical elements

Eliot wrote The Wasteland with the influence of his personal life. He is talking about sexual perversion a lot because he was left alone by his wife who was in extra marital affairs. Therefore we can find the influence of his personal life in his work. But in Mahabhatrata there is no such influence as the epic was written by a character that is totally outside of it. Vedvyas has written things what he knows about the story, he has not included personal life and we cannot see the influence of his personal life in it.

Conclusion

In this both the great epics are very much relevant to study and to compare with each other. Both have given different real life lessons that one should need to learn or follow.

Works Cited

Alejandro. The Cumaean Sibyl: doorkeeper of "The Wasteland". 31 may 2011. <https://aheapofbrokenimages.wordpress.com/2011/05/31/the-cumaean-sybil-doorkeeper-of-%E2%80%9Cthe-waste-land%E2%80%9D/>.

Al-Mahdi, Dr. Iman Abdullah Yahya. "Myth and Archetype: Their application in the Wasteland." Al-Nasser university. <file:///C:/Users/compaq/Downloads/7-30-1-PB.pdf>.

Contributors of Oxford dictionary. <https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/epic>.

Contributors of sparknotes. Eliot's poetry summary. 2018. <https://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/eliot/section5/>.

Karaejacobi. Describe the wasteland by T.S Eliot as a modern poem. 18 october 2017. 10 november 2018 <https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/describe-wasteland-by-t-s-eliot-modern-poetry-347146. >.

nijhawan, surbhi. 15 important life lessons from the mahabharata that are relevant eve today. 1 may 2017. <https://www.indiatimes.com/culture/who-we-are/15-important-life-lessons-from-the-
mahabharata-that-are-relevant-even-today-230891.html>.

Weston, Jessie L. The Wasteland and the Fisher King. <https://wasteland.windingway.org/title/the-waste-land-and-the-fisher-king>.

wikipedia contributors. Mahabharata. 25 september 2018. 2 november 2018 <https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:CiteThisPage&page=Mahabharata&id=861149727>.

—. The Wasteland. 20 september 2018. 1 november 2018 <https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Waste_Land&oldid=860448802>.