Most people at one
point or the next follow Lady Gaga’s lead by playing a love game. It is one of
oldest games and contains different elements for everyone. Part Two of
the Wasteland by TS Eliot is called “A Game of Chess”. It then proceeds to
describe a series of lovers, amorous situations and ultimately pitfalls of the
great game. This section is ultimately comment on the social situations of
woman, from wealthy to dirt poor. By going through different mediums such as
form, starkly contrasting of scenes, and ultimately the parallel situation of
the women.
The form of
the poem goes through stages. In the beginning a room is illuminated by a
mystical fire of driftwood and copper. All manner of precious items like jewels,
perfumes, ivory, and carvings are described in dazzling detail. Amongst the
flowery descriptions there is a hint of uneasiness. Words like “strange”,
“troubled”, “sad” emphasize a darker picture behind this opulent scene. The closest
Eliot comes to explicitly stating that the room is a prison of sorts resides in
lines twenty-one to twenty seven. The painting on the wall describes a legend
in which a woman is raped by her brother in law. He cuts out her tongue to
prevent Philomela from speaking the truth to her family. The next few lines
expand upon the idea that the woman is in a jail, but not a physical one.
Her speech,
and the poem, becomes slightly erratic. As the woman with fiery hair converses
with a counter part, it becomes clear the she is unwell. Her mania extends to
her sense, claiming she hears things under the door, the wind preforming
unusual acts, and worrying senselessly over her hair and the next day. The
disturbed woman continues to ramble, leading the poem into the next and final
segment.
The last of
this section carries on with the dialog, but evolves to a gossip session. Two
women sit in a pub in England; one is explaining to other how a mutual
acquaintance is losing her plot in life. This Lil in question is described as
raggedy in appearance and is scorned by the woman describing her. She is
entrapped by her social standing as an old, unattractive wife. Lil may have
borne five children, been a model wife and mother while her husband Albert was
away in WWI, but because she is no longer pretty, her status is in major
question. This social jail is based on appearance; Lil is trapped by society
and her uncontrollable own body.
The two
lives the protagonists lead in “The Game of Chess” are decidedly dissimilar –
on the surface. The gaudiness of the first woman’s life is outwardly proclaimed
by her decadent bedchambers. Everything
in the poem indicates her wealth, beauty, and power. The second woman is lower
class, unattractive, and in a position of unimportance. However, besides a
general feeling of entrapment, they also share another tragic aspect. The first
woman is meant to represent Cleopatra, as the line, “The Chair she sat
in, like a burnished throne,” is taken from
Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra. The
second woman is random, but she a too is a representation of doomed love. Cleopatra’s
legend of suicide due to love has been retold since the act. Although not as
dramatic as Cleopatra’s love story, Lil too stars in a tragedy. She married a
man for love and he has turned against her body decayed, there love withered
away.
*their love withered away.
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