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Comparing Three Texts, `the Rose Tattoo`, Eliot`s `selected Poems` And `a Room With A View`.

A2 Coursework Essay. Achieved Grade A.

Date : 02/11/2011

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Georgia

Uploaded by : Georgia
Uploaded on : 02/11/2011
Subject : English

Explore the breakdown of relationships in: Tennessee William's The Rose Tattoo, E.M. Forster's A Room with a View and T.S. Eliot's Selected Poems.

Through varying mediums of literature all three authors show relationships in varying manners with some contrasting but some interestingly comparable. Tennessee Williams explores the intense and emotional relationships of Sicilian immigrants living in America through drama. Whereas, E.M. Forster expresses the constrictions and opinions of society, through the use of relationships in one of his five notorious prose. Contrastingly Eliot is known for being one of the leading modernist poets, exploring how relationships are not able to start and the frustration that arrives with this. All three texts are found to portray relationships in varying perspectives from differing eras. The contrast is palpable, with varying restrictions, beliefs and trends being shown. These three twentieth century pieces of literatures relationships are found to deteriorate and break down as the novel, play and poems progress. During all three texts, there is seen to be a lack of romance which is a catalyst for the breakdown of the relationships. Profoundly in A Room with a View, there is found to be a distinct lack of any romance between Cecil Vyse and Lucy Honeychurch. "An engagement - horrid word in the first place - is a private matter, and should be treated as such." Proving Cecil's negative portrayal of the relationship so early in the novel and in their relationship. Another is the moment of their first kiss which seems insignificant in comparison to Lucy's first kiss with George Emerson. Cecil is found to think that his kiss with Lucy "had been such a failure. Passion should believe itself irresistible. It should forget civility and consideration and all the other curses of a refined nature.They left the pool in silence." Through this moment we also learn Forster's opinion of romance. Although the kiss is found to go drastically inadequately, the setting of the kiss is idyllic as they are at, "The Sacred Lake!" This suggests that it is in fact the relationship that is the issue. In dramatic contrast to this, George and Lucy's kiss is described by Forster as he is found to use the verb "contemplated" and further the "heaven" which personifies the noun to describe Lucy. "George had turned at the sound of her arrival. For a moment he contemplated her, as one who had fallen out of heaven. He saw radiant joy in her face; he saw the flowers beat against her dress in blue waves. The bushes above them closed. He stepped quickly forward and kissed her.A voice called.The silence of life had been broken." The differences between the two kisses for Lucy are not just seen with the romance, but also with the idea of silence. Forster uses silence with Cecil and Lucy to portray the awkwardness of the kiss. Whereas with George and Lucy, the silence is broken, signifying that they are unable to continue and that their love has been somewhat interrupted. Similarly to the lack of distinguished romance between Lucy and Cecil in A Room with a View, and Serafina's denial of romance in The Rose Tattoo, T.S. Eliot's Selected Poems 'The Fire Sermon', explores the lack of romance through setting. The proposal of setting not being romantic portrays the immediate view that the relationship is struggling to begin, which Eliot is known to convey through his poems, as even the surroundings seem to be disfunctional, "clutch and sink". This scene that the reader is introduced to illustrates both desperation and failures, presenting the environment immediately to be decayed and broken. Eliot portrays the moment of passion on the Thames River that is seen as a, "dull canal", the use of the adjective "dull" emphasises the negativity of the environment surrounding the couple, highlighting additionally the fundamental lack of romance enclosing them. Further Eliot portrays this moment as, "On a winter evening round behind the gashouse musing upon the king my brother's wreck and on the king my father's death before him." This reference from The Tempest, illustrates the observation that the moment spent between the two is a cold winter's evening and that there is no sense of romance in the moment as it is performed behind, "the gashouse". Further, in a moment that should be romantic there are references to death juxtaposing the idea of romance. Throughout the poem there are continual sexual references, where none are found to contain any moment of romance or passion, "throbbing", "wrinkled dugs" and "undesired". These moments signify the impression that appears to be more of an "assault" than a moment of romance. This idea is accentuated by how Eliot portrays the emotions and feelings afterwards, "Well now that's done: and I'm glad it's over", this negative representation of the couple moment of sex makes clear to the reader that there is no underlying romance and that it is purely lust between them. The quick and easy disregarding of this specific moment proves to be unsettling and additionally provokes the question whether or not there is any sense of relationship between the two that isn't purely sexual. Comparable to both the prose of Forster and the poems of Eliot, Tennessee William's The Rose Tattoo, finds the foremost character Serafina Delle Rose denying romance that Alvaro is found to almost force upon her, "he reaches way over to pinch the creamy flesh of her upper arm," and, "The one that every man's got, his biggest expense, worst troublemaker, and chief liability! Ha, ha, ha!" For the era that this was written and its first performance, Erlanger Theatre in Chicago on 29th December 1950, this would have been perceived as extremely forward behaviour from Alvaro towards Serafina. Serafina is found to deny Alvaro and reject his displays of affection as we believe that she is still in mourning from her husband death. In performance, this could either be a comic scene with Alvaro extremely forward or that of a tragic scene as it is clear that Serafina feels threatened by him. I believe at this moment in the play Williams is challenging the 1950's American society towards the views of marriage and the idea of what an ideal relationship should encompass. This is also supported by critical views of the play, where they have the opinion that Williams was satirising the post war American perspective towards relationships. This is found to be similar in T.S. Eliot's A Game of Chess; it explores the lack of romance in a relationship. The title A Game of Chess, in Eliot's notes, refers to the game of chess in Woman Beware Woman, a play by Thomas Middleton, where the moves in the game relate to the seduction of a young woman. In A Game of Chess, it focuses on the lack of communication, so consequently a lack of romance between a neurotic woman and a quiet, dull man. The other scene is found to be set in a pub and has a Cockney woman telling a distasteful, loveless story of Albert and Lil, who is known to be worn out from childbearing. Here, the question of Lil being depressed arises, with her negative view on what has come from her romance, a child. The narrator is somewhat callous towards Lil, "You ought to be ashamed, I said, to look so antique." Throughout this poem, Eliot makes several references to sexual works, such as, "The change of Philomel, by the barbarous king so rudely forced; yet there the nightingale filled all the desert with inviolable voice and still she cried, and still the world pursues, 'Jug Jug' to dirty ears." This reference to where Philomel was raped by King Tereus and turned into a nightingale is an extremely negative portrayal of relationships by Eliot. He further uses emotive language to express sexual intercourse, which would have been deemed extremely provocative for the time, "Jug Jug" which is known as both a bird song and an extremely uncouth sound from sex. A Game of Chess extends to the idea of urgency and desire in a relationship, although these themes are portrayed in a negative manner of desperation rather than of a successful relationship between the couple. This is supported by the critic, Eloise Knapp Hay, "urging that every human desire be stilled except the desire for self-surrender." Alike Tennessee Williams' The Rose Tattoo Eliot is found, somewhat in the section of The Wasteland, of which contains A game of Chess, to exhibit a negative liberal society. Eliot was writing A Game of Chess from the section in The Wasteland post World War one in 1922. This is crucial for the understanding of the poem. The short and distant sexual moment between the two, shows the era clearly, with people living for the moment as such as so many lives were lost reminding people that life is short. Eliot was a highly educated writer with many linguistic talents. He was bought up as a Unitarian, having a personal relationship with God, where he later became Anglican, a high church protestant, which was also deemed as a reaction to the war. Both these elements of change in Eliot's works and life highlight the importance and significance that World War one had on individuals living at that time. Eliot similarly discusses the perspective of the lack of communication being the fundamental reason for a relationship breaking down within Portrait of a Lady. In this poem he explores how a hostess is seen through the eyes of a younger man, with him describing the impression she has on him. This poem explores a vital lack of communication and Eliot's idea that relationships struggle to begin let alone flourish from this. The clear sense of desperation in a relationship is seen through the set up of the scene, "Among the smoke and fog of a December afternoon...four wax candles in the darkened room," the use of pathetic fallacy from Eliot suggests obstructed views and distorted images. The room is described as "An atmosphere of Juliet's tomb," referencing to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. This reference is exceptionally dark and menacing as not only is it a tomb which is known for holding the dead, but Juliet's tomb where people were found to be buried alive and then commit suicide. The desperation in this poem is emphasised with when Eliot is found to write the woman's internal monologue, "You are not blind! How keen are you!)" This internal plea to the man to come to understand his intentions and what his actions mean and represent again reiterates the proposal of Eliot's that communication in a relationship is pivotal. Interestingly, throughout the poem Eliot is found to constantly reference tea, "and go on drinking tea" and "serving tea to friends." Eliot uses the idea of tea to fill the moments of complete silence to pass the time, portraying both of their desperation to leave the situation and the distinct now somewhat awkwardness of their lack of communication to one another. Resembling Eliot's view, Forster illustrates the lack of communication between Cecil and Lucy. After chapters of this between Lucy and Cecil both the reader and Lucy are aware of Lucy's negative viewpoint of their relationship. Although, it is in fact Cecil who asks Lucy of this, "I had got an idea - I dare say wrongly - that you feel more at home with me in a room," with Lucy's reply of, "Yes, with no view, I fancy." The significance of Lucy viewing her relationship with Cecil in a room suggests how she feels constrained and trapped by Cecil. Furthermore, I feel that this is a direct statement to the reader as the title of the novel is, A Room with a View, again portraying the idea that Cecil and Lucy's relationship will not continue as they both are found to view the relationship in a room suggesting that is impeded by walls allowing no view to enter. Furthermore there is a sense of irritation in the novel from Lucy towards Cecil. This is found to further contribute to the breakdown of their relationship. "Cecil laughed at her feminine inconsequence." Forster's use of the adjective "inconsequence," displays Cecil's narrow minded perspective of women which is underlined by the era that A Room with a View was written in, being published in 1908. A Room with a View was published in 1908, this publication date is prior to that of the beginning of World War one where women were found to show their true significance and independence in society. Another aspect of this pre World War era was that women did not yet have the right to even vote, highlighting the lack of recognition they gained in society in the time of this novel. Cecil's view is a mockery of the woman that he is engaged to, where it is one of the first moments that as a reader, we become aware of the reasons why Lucy's relationship is being found to quickly deteriorate with Cecil. This frustration from Lucy towards Cecil is found to continue, "said Cecil, with that subdued irritation that she had noticed in him all afternoon." Contrastingly, in all three texts, there is a sense of desperation within the relationships. In Forster's A Room with a View, there is a moment where Lucy is found "'Cecil-Cecil darling,' she whispered the evening she arrived and crept into his arms." This is a clear change of character for Lucy as she seems somewhat dependant on Cecil whereas previously we have seen no reliance on characters, particularly not that of male characters from Lucy. Cecil takes this moment to ask, "So you do love me, little thing?" This question initially may be seen as a romantic from Cecil but looking deeper, it becomes obvious of his patronising tone, "little thing" and further how he questions her love for him when she is seen appearing vulnerable, all of which may be viewed as controlling and for to improve his opinion of himself. Lucy's reply proves his views correct, "Oh, Cecil, I do, I do! I don't know what I should do without you." This admittance from Lucy seems genuine to Cecil, although the readers are aware that she is in fact afraid of what the Emerson's moving to Windy Corner, where she lives, would mean to her and especially to her relationship with Cecil. Particularly I find this moment in the novel, shows how Lucy's youthful aspect, but also her reliance on others when she is afraid or nervous. This moment of immaturity from Lucy is somewhat reassuring to the reader as we learn that Lucy is in fact naïve and that she realises her own personal need for affection. Although with Cecil's negative response to this, this beautiful moment of naivety and dependency from Lucy, is demolished and misinterpreted by Cecil, where he finds himself questioning Lucy. Similarly, the relationship between Serafina and her daughter Rosa in Williams' The Rose Tattoo is chiefly Rosa's desperation and desire for any sort of response from Serafina. "Mama, something has happened! What has happened, Mama? Can't you tell me, Mama? Is it because of this morning? Look. I took the bandage off, it was only a scratch! So, Mama, forget it! Think it was just a bad dream that never happened! Oh, Mama! She gives her several quick kisses on the forehead." The idea that Rosa is acting as Serafina's mother dramatically portrays the view that Rosa is desperate for her mother to answer and respond to her. The exposure of Rosa's desperation in the relationship she has with her mother, is saddening as the audience become aware that Rosa is only fifteen years old and feels responsible for her mother. Another moment of desperation in the relationship between Serafina and Rose Delle Rose is that of when Rosa if found to say, "Mama, you look disgusting!" The provoking terminology Rosa uses towards Serafina although may initially be perceived as discourteous, we have learned as an audience that, Rosa has had to deal with her mother in extreme circumstances. "This is the way she goes around all the time. She hasn't put clothes on since my father was killed. For three years she sits at the sewing machine and never puts a dress on or goes out of the house, and now she has locked my clothes up so I can't go out." This desperate plea of Rosa to Miss Yorke is distressing for the audience as there is an enormous level of pity for Rosa at this moment as the play jumps forward three years from her father's death to now. Critics such as Brian Parker, view The Rose Tattoo as, "the comedy of the grotesque". He suggests that the play has come from Williams' own experiences in life, "particularly his experience of Sicily with his partner, the ex-truck driver Frank Merlo...authentic Sicilian detail with which The Rose Tattoo is packed." This view of Williams writing about his own experiences is known to be accurate with other works such as, Camino Real and Orpheus Descending where he is found to portray loss, faded lives and passionate love affairs. The idea of Williams writing about his own experiences are highlighted by how his sister, Rose, suffered from schizophrenia, of which other critics have said that both Serafina and Rosa suffer from. Tennessee Williams was found to say that his play, "celebrates the Dionysian element in human life". The idea of Dionysian elements of life suggest that Williams wanted to reveal the irrationality of life, exuberance and perhaps also the violence of life opposed to the order and restraint of some lives. Furthermore, some critics have viewed this as "unusually optimistic" for Williams' plays. The play contains comical elements, tragic moments with a complicated pivotal character, Serafina. Some view the character of Serafina as, "a tragic heroine, possessing her own flaws." This supports the idea that Williams wanted to make his characters as realistic as possible so that all members of the audience could relate to an aspect of each character on stage. All three writers' portrayal of relationships firstly appears to contrast enormously but with closer analysis the similarities come to light. Although each text uses varying attributes of literature, all of the three authors show that without fundamental qualities in a relationship, it will breakdown. The similar qualities that Forster, Williams and Eliot recognise as the failure to their prose, play and poems lack of relationships are, a lack of romance, lack of communication and a sense of desperation rather than love. Taking into consideration the fact that these literary works were written in various centuries throughout history clarify the importance of their message of how with these recognised qualities, relationships will breakdown.

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