The Waste Land questions and answers

1. When was The Waste Land published?

Ans. It was published in 1922.

2.Who is the Narrator of The Waste Land?

Ans. At times the Narrator seems to be Eliot himself; at other times he stands in for all humanity. In The Fire Sermon he is at prophet Tiresias.

3. Who is Madame Sosostris?

Ans. She is a fake fortune-teller referred to in Aldous Huxley's novel Crome Yellow and borrowed by Eliot for the Tarot card episode. She suffers from a bad cold, but is nonetheless "known to be the wisest woman in Europe, / With a wicked pack of cards."

4. Who is Stetson?

Ans. He is a friend of the Narrator's, who fought in the war with him.

5. Who was Philomela?

Ans. Philomela is a character from Ovid's Metamorphoses. She was raped by her sister's husband, Tereus, then, after taking her vengeance with her sister, morphed into a nightingale.

6. Who is the typist girl?

Ans. She is a lonely creature of the modern world. She is visited by a "young man carbuncular," who sleeps with her. She is indifferent to her chastity.

7. Who is Mr Eugenides?

Ans. He is a merchant from Smyrna (now Izmir, in Turkey). He is the one-eyed merchant- he has only one eye, the eye of commerce.

8. Who was Phlebas?

Ans. He is a Phoenician merchant who is described as lying dead in the water in "Death by Water." 

9. From where is the title of The Waste Land taken?

Ans. The title phrase "The Waste Land" is taken from Miss Jessie Weston's book From Ritual to Romance. In the book, there is a reference to Holy Grail which was in the possession of Fisher King.

10. Why did Fisher King become impotent and sick?

Ans. Fisher King was very sensual who became impotent and sick because of his sexual sins, and his land suffered from drought and famine.

11. Why did the kingdom of Fisher King suffer from drought and famine?

Ans. Fisher King was very sensual who became impotent and sick because of his sexual sins, and his land suffered from drought and famine. According to another legend, the soldiers of the king. TAped the nuns attached to the chapel of the Holy Grail. As a result of the sin, his kingdom suffered from famine.

12. Why does Eliot use the phrase The Waste Land?

Ans. Eliot uses the phrase The Waste Land to convey the idea of emotional and spiritual sterility the world as he saw it after the First World War.

13. What is Epigraph?

Ans. The epigraph is a quotation placed before a book or chapter as a motto.

14. From where is the Epigraph of The Waste Land taken?

Ans. The epigraph of the poem, The Waste Land is taken from the Satyricon, which is a satire of the Roman poet, Petronius.

15. What is the Epigraph of The Waste Land?

Ans. The epigraph of the poem may be paraphrased thus: "Once I saw with my own eyes the Sibyl of Cumae hanging in a cage, and when the boys said to her: 'Sibyl, what do you want? She replied: 'I want to die."

16. What does the poem Satyricon narrate?

Ans. The poem Satyricon narrates the story of the Sibyl of Cumae.

17. Who were Sibyls?

Ans. In ancient Greek mythology, Sibyls were women with prophetic powers.

18. Who was the Sibyl of Cumae?

Ans. In ancient Greek mythology, Sibyls were women with prophetic powers. The Sibyl of Cumae was the most famous of them. She was the beloved of Apollo who granted her the gift of immortality, but she forgot to ask for everlasting youth. The result was that she grew old and feeble and so she longed for death.

19. What does the epigraph of The Waste Land suggest?

Ans. The epigraph of The Waste Land suggests the theme of the poem: life in modern Waste Land is a living death or a life-in-death, like the life of the Sibyl.

20. To whom is The Waste Land dedicated?

Ans. Eliot dedicated the poem, The Waste Land to his fellow poet Ezra Pound, a well-known American poet and critic.

21. Why did Eliot dedicate The Waste Land to Ezra Pound?

Ans. Ezra Pound played an important role in pruning and organizing the poem. Eliot himself clearly stated that he placed before Ezra Pound "the manuscript of a sprawling chaotic poem called The Waste Land in Paris in 1922" which the Master (Ezra Pound) "reduced to about half its size, in the form in which it appears in print." Thus, Eliot dedicated the poem to Ezra Pound as a token of his gratitude.

29. Why is April a happy month?

Ans. April is a happy month because it brings with it rain and fresh flowers which are signs of rebirth.

23. How many sections The Waste Land is divided into?

Ans. The Waste Land is divided into five sections. 

24. What are the five sections of The Waste Land?

Ans. The five sections are The Burial of the Dead, A Game of Chess, Fire Sermon, Death by Water and What the Thunder Said.

25. What is the name of the first section of The Waste Land?

Ans. The name of the first section of The Waste Land is The Burial of the Dead.

26. What does the title of the first section The Burial of the Dead refer to?

Ans. The title of the first section The Burial of the Dead refers to the burial service for the dead performed in the church of England, as is derived from The Book of Common Prayer, the complete title of the burial service in the church of England is The Order for the Burial of the Dead; the burial of the fertility gods as explained by Jessie Weston and James Frazer.

27. What is the effigy of the vegetation god known?

Ans. In ancient Egypt, the effigy of the vegetation god was known by different names like Osiris, Adonis, and Atis.

28. What is the second month of spring?

Ans. April is the second month of spring in England.

29. Why is April the cruellest month for the waste landers?

Answer: For the modern waste landers April appears as the cruellest month because they are spiritually dead and they have no desire for rebirth and spiritual life.

30. Why do the waste landers regard April as the cruellest month?

Answer: April is painful to them. They are content with their state of eniritual death and would not like a spiritual re-awakening. So the waste landers regard April as the cruellest month because the new sweet showers of April offer no glad welcome to them.

31. What is lilac?

Answer: Lilacs are a kind of flowers with sweet smelling purple or white in colour.

32. When do the lilac seeds grow into new plants?

Answer: During winter, the lilac flowers are rendered leafless, and their seeds lie buried in the dead soil. But the spring showers in April cause the lilac seeds to grow into new plants.

33. What are the lilacs symbol of?

Ans. Lilacs flowers are symbols of spring, renewal in nature, and fertility. But to the waste landers the lilacs are the symbol of death in life.

34. Why do the waste landers like death better than rebirth?

Answer: They like death better than rebirth because rebirth will stir up the spiritual side of the mind and make them desire their blissful seat in heaven.

35. Why are the waste landers able to enjoy the pleasure of different types in winter?

Answer: During winter, there is also no vegetation and it does not remind the waste landers of their rebirth. So, they are able to enjoy the pleasure of different types in winter. 

36. Why does winter keep the waste landers warm?

Answer: During winter, there is no vegetation and it does not remind the waste landers of their rebirth. So, they are able to enjoy the pleasure of different types in winter. So winter keeps the waste landers warm.

37. Why is the need of action forgotten in winter?

Answer: In winter snow covers the earth and there is no stirring of life, and so the need of action is forgotten in winter.

38. Why is there merely physical existence with spiritual death in winter?

Answer: In winter life is at lower ebb because there is very little activity. In winter most small animals go underground, hibernate and feed upon underground dried roots of trees. So, in winter, there is merely physical existence with spiritual death.

39. What is the summer symbol of?

Answer: Summer is a symbol of rebirth as there is rain in summer and spiritual awakening.

40. Why do not the waste landers take summer kindly?

Answer: The waste landers are spiritually dead so they do not take summer kindly.

41. Whom did summer surprise?

Answer: Summer surprised a German princess and her lover.

42. How did Summer surprise a German princess and her lover?

Answer: When a German princess was wandering with her lover, they were caught in a summer rain and took shelter under a circular roof. That is why summer surprised them.

43. What is Starnbergersee?

Answer: Starnbergersee is the name of a lake that's just a couple miles south of Munich, Germany. It is also known for King Ludwig's Castle, Schloss Berg. It was in this lake that Ludwig tried in vain to escape and was drowned.

44. What is the colonnade?

Answer: The colonnade is the row of trees standing along the margin of the Starnbergersee lake; it looks like a circular roof.

45. Who was Marie?

Answer: Marie was the German princes Marie Louise Elizabeth Mendel, a Bavarian woman who was born into a family with royal roots, and became Countess Larisch when she was nineteen.