Culture, which represents the roots of a society and a vehicle through which people are unified, is depicted in both T.S. Eliot 's The Wasteland and the Impressionist paintings. Each work emphasizes the gradual loss of culture due to modernization. In The Waste Land, Eliot 's conflict with the loss of culture is depicted through his description of post-WWI London. Eliot describes soldiers returning from war as “a crowd... [that] death had undone” (The Waste Land 35.62-64). Those returning from war have become aghast with their lives and isolate themselves from others. It is essentially the degradation of culture as people in a society become more isolated from each other because they have become unsatisfied with their lives. Likewise, many of the Impressionist paintings depict the loss of culture through the uniformity resulting from the Haussmann renovations. Yet, unlike The Waste Land, the Impressionist paintings depict how society has become more connected due to modernization through the mixing of social class. T.S. Eliot, however, presents a claim that modernization, despite creating uniformity, has
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Eliot, like Impressionist painters, also mirrors the concept of the loss of culture in The Waste Land. Much of Eliot 's poem is a critique on how culture, which serves as a way to unify people, has been lost in Western society. One instance that Eliot focuses on the loss of culture is when describing an interaction with a man from Smyrna. Eliot says “[he] asked me in demotic French to luncheon at the Cannon Street Hotel followed by a weekend at the Metropole” (The Waste Land 42.212-214). By mentioning places like “Cannon Street Hotel”, Eliot expresses his discontent towards the man asking him for sex. This fragment of the poem illustrates Eliot 's claim about how modernization has led to the loss of culture. Essentially, the man asking Eliot for sex represents how modern society has degraded to a point where neither much culture nor much respect is
Eliot, like Impressionist painters, also mirrors the concept of the loss of culture in The Waste Land. Much of Eliot 's poem is a critique on how culture, which serves as a way to unify people, has been lost in Western society. One instance that Eliot focuses on the loss of culture is when describing an interaction with a man from Smyrna. Eliot says “[he] asked me in demotic French to luncheon at the Cannon Street Hotel followed by a weekend at the Metropole” (The Waste Land 42.212-214). By mentioning places like “Cannon Street Hotel”, Eliot expresses his discontent towards the man asking him for sex. This fragment of the poem illustrates Eliot 's claim about how modernization has led to the loss of culture. Essentially, the man asking Eliot for sex represents how modern society has degraded to a point where neither much culture nor much respect is