The Hollow Men -By T.S. Eliot Group Members: Effie, Rebecca, Vita

The Title “ The Hollow Land ” -William Morris “ The Broken Men ” -Kipling Allusions: Julius Caesar-Shakespeare Heart of Darkness-Conrad

Four Main sources for The Hollow Men The Gunpowder Plot: -Conspiracy arose from the English Catholic ’ s resentment of King James I and his reign ’ s treatment of their religion. - A group of extremists - Guy Fawkes (Source)Source

Julius Caesar: a violent conspiracy of men who are blinded by their cause Brutus-a leading Roman citizen Cassius- recruiting people to conspire to assassinate Caesar (Source)Source

The Divine Comedy: -Dante as a pilgrim traveling through the three kingdoms of the afterlife: hell, purgatory, and heaven. -Virgil -Beatrice (Source)Source

Heart of Darkness: a story full of hollow men- men empty of faith, personality, moral strength, and humanity. -Marlow ’ s journey into the heart of Africa -Kurtz (Source)Source

1925 Eliot wrote this poem during a period of absence form the bank, having just suffered nervous breakdown. The theme of “ hollowness ” presented in the poem directly relates to his own psychological condition at the time. (Source)Source

1-4 The “ hollow men ” and “ stuffed men ”, “ filled with straw ”→ effigies burned on Guy Fawkes Day The conspirators in Julius Caesar Kurtz Eliot ’ s modern man Whisper: conspiracy (Source)Source

11-12 A condition of unfulfillment as seen in the spiritual state of the shades in Inferno iii. Marlow ’ s experience with resistance of death. (Source)Source

13-15 Those who have crossed to death ’ s other kingdom are those who have left behind a state of spiritual nothingness and entered into knowledge and recognition of that state. Kurtz: “ The horror! The horror! ” Dante: couldn ’ t look at Beatrice. (Source)Source

19 In heaven, Dante no longer feels shamed by Beatrice ’ s gaze. Once redemption accepted and virtue restored, the formerly hollow man has no reason to feel shame when looking into the eyes of the virtuous. (Source)Source

23-28 Resemble Dante ’ s description of the Earthly Paradise. Used the star as a symbol representing God or Mary. A broken column: a traditional graveyard memorial for a premature death. (Source)Source

32 The souls fear in the obstacles that will have to overcome before reaching paradise. Dressing in animal skins: Possible origins -ritualistic purposes -custom of hanging up the corpse of a member of a crop damaging species (Source)Source

35 The Inferno: spirits are blown about by the wind. The Heart of Darkness: the native dies just because he lift the shutter open. (Source)Source

37-38 Both Dante and Marlow must face a meeting they fear. Dante: Beatrice (divine beauty) Marlow: Inform Kurtz ’ s wife of his death. (Source)Source

III. The stone images  suggests idolatrous worship. The desert imagery ( e.g. dead land, cactus land, hollow valley )  suggests sterility of the modern world. A fading star  establishes a sense of remoteness from reality. (Source)Source

IV. The eyes are not here  a representation of the sterility (modern world), a place where the eyes that offer hope do not exist. From fading star to dying star. The broken jaw  might signify that the civilizing factor has broken, allowing modern men ’ s decline. (Source)Source

IV. Meeting  the final meeting of the lost, hollow souls before they sentenced to the inferno. Tumid river  the River Acheron flowing around hell in Dante ’ s Divine Comedy. Multifoliate rose  a vision of paradise in Divine Comedy. The petals are formed by the souls of the saved in heaven. (Source)Source

V. A service, ritual service “go round the prickly pear”  Chant & choral nursery rhyme The reality/ cactus (footnote 4) vs. the hope/ roses The frustration of impulse “Falls the Shadow” -(footnote 5) related to religion -the frustrating shadow of fear -personification of its negative character (Source)Source

V. The conflict of the series -frustration/ emptiness -irony of impaired lives “ Life is very long ”  the burden of life “ Falls the Shadow ”  “ Kingdom ” is very hard “ whimper ” results from irony & emptiness (Source)Source

Works Cited Eliot, T.S. “ The Hollow Men. ” Baym, Nina, et al. eds. Norton Anthology of American Literature. 6th shorter ed. New York: Norton, "The Hollow Men". Planet Papers. 17 Apr “ T.S. Eliot's "The Hollow Men": a Hypertextual Study of Allusion. ” 17 Apr