`` So Rudely Forced The Breakdown Of Traditional...

Emma Porter October 7, 2016 Dr. Domestico Modern Poetry â€Å"So Rudely Forced†: The Breakdown of Traditional Masculinity in the Waste Land T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land explores modernism, specifically focusing on the troubling of binaries and the breakdown of the traditional. The boundaries between life and death, wet and dry, male and female, and more are called into question in Eliot’s conception of modernity and the waste land. The blurring of gender boundaries—significantly through Tiresias and the hooded figure scene in â€Å"What the Thunder Said†Ã¢â‚¬â€ in the poem lends itself to Eliot’s suggestion that traditional masculinity breaks down and decays in the waste land. Traditional masculinity is further challenged through Eliot’s criticism of hyper-masculinity and heterosexual relations in the modern era through allusions to the myth of Philomela and the â€Å"young man carbuncular† scene in â€Å"The Fire Sermon.† Along with this, Eliot stages scenes charged with homoeroticism to further challenge ideas of traditional masculinity. Homoerotic scenes such as the â€Å"hyacinth girl† scene in â€Å"The Burial of the Dead† and the Mr. Eugenides scene in â€Å"The Fire Sermon† suggest an intensity and enticement towards male-male relations, while also offering a different depiction of masculinity than is laid out in the heterosexual romance scenes. Through scenes depicting queer desire and homosexual behavior, Eliot suggests that masculinity in the modern era does not need to be marked by aggression andShow MoreRelatedManagement Course: Mba−10 General Management215330 Words   |  862 PagesManagement Capitol 1. New Management for Business Growth in a Demanding Economy Text  © The McGraw−Hill Companies, 2004 5 CHAPTER 1 NEW MANAGEMENT FOR BUSINESS GROWTH IN A DEMANDING ECONOMY 5 back on their purchases, the traditional emphasis on reducing variable costs to achieve profit maintenance is not likely to be very effective. The competitive necessity to maintain high levels of development, with the corresponding high levels of fixed costs, can accelerate cycles and