Disillusionment and Rebellion in Modernism
“The importance of Modernism was in its ability to unite the masses by illuminating common feelings of disillusionment and rebellion through artistic forms.” Argue with reference to two poems of T.S Eliot and one additional text of you choosing.
Rebellion and Disillusionment were fundamental feelings expressed by Western society in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They came about as a result of a myriad of factors including; industrialisation, urbanisation, technological advances, militaristic tension and eventually World War I. The importance of the Modernist movement, which occurred at that time, was its successful unity of society through its illumination of the feelings of disillusionment and rebellion. This illumination and unification is shown in a number of texts composed at the time, including; Preludes, The Waste Land and The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S Eliot.
T.S. Eliot's Preludes portrays a futile existence in a desolate world, and a disillusioned protagonist, who sees the world for what it is. It was written between the years of 1910 and 1911 and can be viewed as a reflection of British society at the time, as society began to realise the sordid and solitary existence they are living. Through its use of imagery, metaphor, rhyme, and rhythm it reveals a life stuck in the boring and repetitive ritual of waking, eating, working, and sleeping. It deals with the characteristic Modernist themes of squalor, absurdity, monotony and disillusionment.
Perhaps the most important theme of Preludes is its portrayal of disillusionment, a reflection of the feelings of society at the time. The line “one thinks of all the hands that are raising dingy shades in a thousand furnished rooms” gives an image of a thousand, possibly more, people raising “dingy” shades in very cheap, sparsely furnished rooms. The effect of the word “dingy” is to convey the sense of disillusionment prevalent at the time. The suggestion that “all hands are raising” implies
Rebellion and Disillusionment were fundamental feelings expressed by Western society in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They came about as a result of a myriad of factors including; industrialisation, urbanisation, technological advances, militaristic tension and eventually World War I. The importance of the Modernist movement, which occurred at that time, was its successful unity of society through its illumination of the feelings of disillusionment and rebellion. This illumination and unification is shown in a number of texts composed at the time, including; Preludes, The Waste Land and The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S Eliot.
T.S. Eliot's Preludes portrays a futile existence in a desolate world, and a disillusioned protagonist, who sees the world for what it is. It was written between the years of 1910 and 1911 and can be viewed as a reflection of British society at the time, as society began to realise the sordid and solitary existence they are living. Through its use of imagery, metaphor, rhyme, and rhythm it reveals a life stuck in the boring and repetitive ritual of waking, eating, working, and sleeping. It deals with the characteristic Modernist themes of squalor, absurdity, monotony and disillusionment.
Perhaps the most important theme of Preludes is its portrayal of disillusionment, a reflection of the feelings of society at the time. The line “one thinks of all the hands that are raising dingy shades in a thousand furnished rooms” gives an image of a thousand, possibly more, people raising “dingy” shades in very cheap, sparsely furnished rooms. The effect of the word “dingy” is to convey the sense of disillusionment prevalent at the time. The suggestion that “all hands are raising” implies