Fragments of song, poetry, and lyrical phrases, in T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, are used to channel readers to understand the theme of cultural decay in modern society and the desire to reconstruct it. ‘A Game of Chess’ and ‘The Fire Sermon’ in particular use these literary techniques to demonstrate the theme of escaping through religious transcendence the temptations of debased sexuality. Beautiful sounds are juxtaposed to crude and unpleasant lines to represent a disturbed and fragmented society. Elegant lines become degraded by the material which follows them to denote modern sexual emptiness. And finally, the repetition of key words provides a sense of sanguinity for the restore of decay.

A disturbed and fragmented society is portrayed in ‘A Game of Chess’ with the song “O O O O that Shakesperherian Rag/ It’s so elegant/ So intelligent” is cited and followed by the neurotic conversation of “’What shall I do now? What shall I do?/ I shall rush out as I am, and walk the street/ With my hair down, so. What shall we do tomorrow?/ What shall we ever do?’” (lines 128-134) The words of the song seem rather pleasan

The theme of fragmented society is the basis of meaningless sexuality, which apparent in both stanzas as well. In ‘A Game of Chess’ the narrator describes a woman sitting in a “burnished throne,/ Glowed on the marble, where the glass,/ Held up by standards wrought with fruited vines/ From which a golden Cupidon peeped out/ (Another hid his eyes behind his wing)”. (Eliot 77-81) This description of the woman, at first seems beautiful and innocent with the elaborate description of fruited vines and childlike cupids. However, the woman is then is degraded by the following lines: “In vials of ivory and coloured glass/ Unstoppered, lurked her strange synthetic perfumes,/ And drowned the sense in odours” (Eliot 86-89) Although the surroundings of the woman may be beautiful the narrator points to the fact that it is superficial. The beauty the reader is first confronted with is merely a demonstration for a better understanding of the superficiality of the time. The perfume of the woman is indeed sexual yet superficial, symbolizing the meaningless of modern sexuality.

t due to the musicality of the line but when the latter lines of the neurotic woman are mentioned the meaning of cultural decay is represented. The rag is a somber song published in 1912 about the finite meaning of Shakespeare’s literature. A line in the chorus is: “Romeo loves his Juliet /And they were some lovers /You can bet, and yet /I know if they were here today /They'd Grizzly Bear in a different way” This is the same despair the narrator suffers from in the poem; a despair of loss and rapidly changing times. The woma

Some topics in this essay:
Fire Sermon’, Game Chess’, Rag/ It’s, Grizzly Bear, Waste Land, PLEASE TIME”, Fire Sermon, Lord Thou, Sermon’ Eliot, fire sermon’, Land” Fragments, ‘a game, game chess’, ‘the fire, ‘the fire sermon’, fragmented society, ‘a game chess’, empty bottles, modern sexuality, bears empty bottles, meaningless sex, lord thou, description typist, river bears empty, disturbed fragmented society,