TMA 03

Option B

‘An intellectual migration from America to Europe significantly shaped T.S Eliot’s modernism.’ Discuss this statement via a close analysis of the form and content of ‘Cousin Nancy’ and ONE other poem of your choice from Prufrock and Other Observations.

To attempt to answer this question it is important to understand the reasons behind Eliot’s decision to migrate from America to Europe, and how this move was influenced by his intellectual beliefs in the modernist movement. It is also essential to understand these beliefs and this can be achieved through an analysis of the poetic techniques used in the Prufrock poems. By focusing this essay on a discussion of Cousin Nancy and The Boston Evening Transcript specifically an insight into modernist writing and Eliot’s dissatisfaction of America can be discussed in tandem. This joint discussion will highlight how Eliot’s physical migration to Europe was influenced by a wish to intellectually migrate away from American literature towards European modernist ideals.

Cousin Nancy was written in the second period of the Prufrock poems that covers the timescale of 1914/15. At this time Eliot had moved to England, and so the poems from this period covered his reflections of the USA from a European perspective. Eliot’s poetry at this time was heavily influenced by European modernism and had been developed earlier through an awareness of French symbolism, particularly a study of LaForgue. These styles of writing, which are evident in the two poems that will be discussed, were very different to the American literature of the time which had not embraced modernism with as much conviction as their European contemporaries. American writers were influenced more by a sense of Individualism and Transcendentalism that stemmed from their sacred study of ‘the enormity and sublimity of the landscape that God had provided for them’ (quoted in Heath and Boreham, p.165). Their attitudes leading up to the start of the Twentieth Century followed more Romantic beliefs than Modernist themes and Cousin Nancy reflects Eliot’s frustrations at this insular way of thinking that seemed stuck on reflection rather than progression.

The poem focuses on the grand and trivial movements of Cousin Nancy, as she changes and redefines the shape and trends of ‘New England’. The ‘hills’ are described as ‘barren’ which suggests that this area shows no sign of growth or development. This description needs to be placed in the context of Eliot’s allusion to ‘New England’, which was the adopted home of American Transcendentalism, and was pioneered by Ralph Waldo Emerson. With the knowledge of insight it is clear to see that Eliot’s description of this barren land symbolizes an attack on American Literature’s lack of progressive style, which concentrated on an attempt to define its environment rather than change it. With this in mind it is easy to see that Cousin Nancy symbolizes the modernist movement that is creeping into American culture from Europe through writers such as Eliot and breaking down the old ‘barren’ traditions. By also describing ‘New England’ as ‘barren’ Eliot is hinting at the lack of literary history and ‘limitations of US culture’ that he felt restricted any growth or progression in his writing, and contrasts it with the symbol of modernism that ‘Miss Nancy Ellicott’ represents of a more cultured Europe and the new things it offers (quoted in Brown and Gupta, p.238). This symbolism evokes fragmentary thoughts from the poet persona as the observations of the breaking of the hills bring visions of:

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        Riding to hounds  

        Over the cow-pasture.

This image alludes to the rich history of the landscapes of England, with its rural hunts and farming traditions, and by doing so compares the difference between the strength of European culture and modernism to the fragility of America’s insular reflective background.    

Where the land offers very little sign of life, ‘Miss Nancy Ellicott’ is full of vigour, and by using a double meaning of the verb ‘smoked’ Eliot offers up the image that she is not only displaying modern trends but is actually burning with life ...

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