Common Grit in “The Wasteland”

One of the sequences I found most interesting in Eliot’s “The Wasteland” are lines 139-172 from A Game of Chess. The speaker of this section converses in a bar with a woman named Lil whose husband, Albert is returning from war. The speaker encourages Lil to “make [her]self smart” for her husband, and scolds her for having no teeth and looking “so antique” at age thirty-one (142). In lines 159-161, Lil explains that her ill looks are due to an abortion that she never recovered from. It’s a very blunt, cynical exchange, and the juxtaposition of such common people with the classical figures, such as Antony and Cleopatra, that run throughout the poem renders this section particularly gritty.

Eliot’s recurring theme of failed love is very evident in these lines. If there ever was any tenderness between Lil and the returning Albert, it’s appears to be long gone at this point. The speaker suggests Albert can’t “can’t bear to look at [her],” and if she won’t give him a good time upon his return, others will (146-149). When Lil brings up the abortion she had to prevent a sixth child, the speaker calls her a “proper fool” and asks “What you get married for if you don’t want children?” (164). The relationship that remains is one of revulsion and desperation, in which a woman is expected to acquiesce a man’s sexual appetites regardless of her own desires and needs (a similar relationship is depicted in lines 231-252 of The Fire Sermon).

The idea of being very haggard and worn, but youngish in years is a premise that fits in well with a poem published in 1922. 31-year-old Lil has lost all her teeth and is physically deteriorated to the point of indifference and exhaustion, presumably from bearing and raising five children. The young men that survived WWI undoubtedly were aged beyond their years, worn down and drained from battle even if they had the good fortune of escaping crippling injury. The speaker chides Lil for looking “so antique” and not displaying the vivacity and charm expected for her age. This situation could be compared to the men returning from war who struggled to resume a normal life and a normal role demanded of a young man despite a worn physical and mental state.

Finally, the repetition of the closing call “HURRY UP PLEASE IT’S TIME” throughout the section lends a sense of urgency and frenzy to the scene, although as readers it’s hard to grasp what we’re being hurried towards. It disconnects the reader from what’s happening, resulting in the fragmented, chaotic style that Eliot strives for throughout the poem. Ending  with the “Goodnights” from Ophelia’s mad speech in Hamlet furthers the feelings of misunderstanding and tragedy in the section, and leaves readers with a sense of uncomfortable finality.