Chao Dun

Chao Dun

27 Feb. 2023

The Waste Land, Myth, Therapeutic study.

T.S. Eliot writes about the spiritual disillusionment of modern waste landers in his long poem The Waste Land. This makes it possible for scholars to explore in the poem the spiritual resonance among the readers, and the poem from a broader perspective of spiritual life, instead of being confined to the historic or social territory. The paper examines the poem’s therapeutic function as well as the poet’s curative philosophy, based on a close reading of The Waste Land and Eliot’s poetic treatise from mythical perspective. The mythical therapy consists of the diagnosis of symptoms and treatment of spiritual illness. The diagnosis is conducted through the parallel between the futile and sex-without-love modern life and the various negative archetypes which disclose the destructiveness of lust. The treatment of diseases is carried out through the juxtaposition of positive archetypes and the fragmented modern spirit. The paper concludes that the therapy works effectively in the poem heal the spiritual illness of modern people.

© 2023, the Authors. Published by ISCCAC

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license