Eliot's purpose in writing "The Waste Land" is undoubtedly to depict the profound panorama of futility and anarchy of the present civilization. In order to do this Eliot follows the mythical method. He thinks that this method would enable him to give shape and significance of the disordered condition of contemporary life.
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Parallelism in The Waste Land
He finds a recurring pattern in various myths and by using them he has been able to concretize parallelism between the past and the present. Eliot speaks of a number of wastelands that are so much alike: the Biblical wasteland, the wasteland of King Oedipus, the wasteland of Fisher King, and the modern wasteland. The sterility and desolation of these wastelands were due to the loss of moral values and sexual perversion.
One of the important myths, which is all-pervasive, is that of birth, death, and rebirth. This was the foundation of vegetation and rituals in ancient Egypt. In the Christian faith, it is represented by the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. The historical myths of the Fisher King and Oedipus of Thebes refer to the consequences of sin, which affected the rulers and their lands.
Subsequently, through repentance and penance, the rulers regained their health and their lands became fertile and productive. The idea is that redemption and salvation are possible through suffering and
purification. Similarly, the modern wasteland for all its spiritual barrenness and sexual perversity can be saved by self-reformation and a life of faith, service, and dedication to moral values.
Parallelism may be traced in the character portrayal also. The tragedy of guilty love is portrayed in the story of Tristan and Isolde, and the Hyacinth girl of today. The figure Belladonna, the Lady of the Rocks is a woman of the wasteland, both ancient and modern. The death-in-life of the original wasteland finds a parallel in the passage which describes the plight of the crowd of people 'flowing' over London Bridge.
The modern city becomes "unreal” like the medieval wasteland, like Dante's Limbo, and like Baudelaire's Paris. Again the violation of the Thames daughters corresponds to the rape of the maidens in the Grail legend which brought down a curse upon gods and men. This parallel emphasizes the damage done by a love that is sordid and sterile in modern times.
Conclusion
To sum up, The Waste Land is replete with so many parallels. The parallels are intended to heighten and accentuate the effect of horror which the thought of the modern wasteland is supposed to produce in us. The spiritual bankruptcy of the modern world could not have been more effectively conveyed to us than through these parallels.
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