Idea of Consciousness As Found in Eliot's Poetry

Idea of consciousness as found in Eliot’s poetry
Introduction- Eliot is one of the major poets who belong to the era of modern
poetry. In most of his poems we find the characteristics of the modern era which
have uprooted the people from their cultural roots. T.s Eliot’s preludes, is one
of his most prominent poem because it presents his view of society at that time
using concrete objects and images to metaphorically explore the nature of life
and society. “Preludes” critiques the alienating effects of modern urban life—
something the poem argues is characterized by drudgery and loneliness. Urban
society, the poem suggests, isolates people from one another, ultimately erasing
their individuality and even eroding human morality itself.
The damage psyche of humanity- The title of the poem holds a special
position in terms of analysis. Prelude means an introduction to something, to be
specific, in a musical sense, it is a small composition that is played before the
main piece of music. In that sense, Preludes is just a small window view of the
characteristics of the empty society we are shown. In reality the actual society
we live in is a terrible place. The city in the poem is presented as a filthy,
desolate place. There are “grimy scraps” of “withered” leaves blowing around,
newspapers thrown to the sidewalk, and “broken blinds and chimney-pots.” The
streets smell of steak, smoke, and stale beer, and the shades in people's homes
are "dingy." The most abundant product of urban life, it seems, is waste and
decay. At first the city also seems abandoned; no people are mentioned save for
the vague reference to “your feet,” creating an almost post-apocalyptic
atmosphere of desertion. And when people do appear, they're just as dirty and
dismal as the city they live in: their "muddy feet" trample the ground, their
palms are "dirty," and their foot soles are "yellow," implying disease. It's as if
the city itself is passing on a contagion to the people who live in it. The people
in "Preludes" also lack any distinguishing features and are instead reduced to
their body parts. This underscores the sense of anonymity created by modern
life. All these people are living together in this space, but that doesn't make
them part of a meaningful community. Instead, the urban world seems
to erase their identities, making them into just a bunch of "feet" and "hands."
The people in "Preludes" also lack any distinguishing features and are instead
reduced to their body parts. This underscores the sense of anonymity created by
modern life. All these people are living together in this space, but that doesn't
make them part of a meaningful community. Instead, the urban world seems
to erase their identities, making them into just a bunch of "feet" and "hands.
Consciousness in the poetry- Eliot wants his poetry to express the fragile
psychological state of humanity in the twentieth century. The passing of
Victorian ideals and the trauma of World War I challenged cultural notions of
masculine identity, causing artists to question the romantic literary ideal of a
visionary-poet capable of changing the world through verse. Modernist writers
wanted to capture their transformed world, which they perceived as fractured,
alienated, and denigrated. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” demonstrates
this sense of indecisive paralysis as the titular speaker wonders whether he
should eat a piece of fruit, make a radical change, or if he has the fortitude to
keep living. Humanity’s collectively damaged psyche prevented people from
communicating with one another.
In Preludes through the technique of stream of consciousness Eliot reveals the
thoughts of a city dweller. It’s a poem that brings out the squalor, despair,
ugliness of the society. It throws light upon the decadence of social values and
loosing bonds of humanity. Elliot has rightly said. Life is a pretence, a
masquerade. Eliot created a world full of images of dirt, ugliness darkness. His
attitude towards the world is very much indifferent. He wrote about a world that
is solemn and hopeless. He creates such strong emotions in the readers that they
can feel the hopelessness of the world.
Conclusion- Eliot’s preludes, is a poem that expresses his view of society as a
hopeless world where the streets are lonely, shattered and exhausted and its
people are mechanical, going through a constant, meaningless routine that lacks
vividness and uniqueness. Discoveries are forced upon the readers as we are
faced with the harsh reality of society. Devine sources are what people believe
in for hope but he dismisses this idea as well, stating that iy doesn’t exist and
that no one will save this world from its doomed state. And so, with this in
mind we trully discover what our world faces and how there is no god to save
us.

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