TS Eliot is considered one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century and his poetry was heavily influenced by Dante Alighieri. Eliot's meeting with Dante occurred during his college years at Harvard, where he studied philosophy. Eliot read Dante's works extensively in college and may have intended to "apprentice" himself to learn all he could from the master (Sloane). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Dante's influences on Eliot include appearances through direct quotes, similar imagery, and thematic elements. Direct quotes are easy to find because they are written in Italian, but there are also lines from Dante's works that have been translated and slightly adapted to fit Eliot's poetry. Dante's imagery is also prevalent among Eliot's works. Eliot's view of the world as a cold and desolate place was heavily influenced by Dante and his visions of Hell. Similar themes are also evident; Eliot often uses themes such as isolation from Dante's works to express his own internal feelings. At least one of these three elements can be seen in most of Eliot's works, so it is obvious that Dante influenced Eliot. Dante's influences in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" include direct quotations and thematic elements. In "Prufrock" the narrator, Prufrock, appears to be addressing a potential lover. However, Prufrock "knows" too much to simply approach the woman; in his mind he can hear the voices of others mocking and taunting him. Prufrock is very shy about expressing his feelings, and only says this to us readers under the assumption that no one else will hear him admit his fear of others judging him. The entire poem is about Prufrock explaining why he cannot express his feelings of love to the woman he admires. Dante's influence appears for the first time in "Prufrock" as a direct quote from the Divine Comedy as the first epigraph: this fund I will not return alive, if I hear the truth, Without fear of infamy I will answer you. (1-6) The epigraph literally means: "If I thought that my answer was addressed to anyone who could ever return to the world, this flame would no longer tremble; but since, if what I feel is true, no one has ever returned alive from this depth, I answer you without fear of infamy ("The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by TS Eliot)." This sets the tone for the rest of the poem; Prufrock can only express his shame because he thinks no one who hears his confession will condemn him for his cowardice (Drew 827). Prufrock's fear of humiliation appears to be his personal hell; the idea that individuals have their own personal Hell is a thematic influence of Dante. Dante's work, The Divine Comedy, is a collection of different versions of Hell. In “Prufrock” it is obvious that Prufrock feels anguish over his inability to express his love for the woman he admires (Bloom 17). Eliot's frustration appears when he cannot decide whether or not to speak to the woman: and indeed there will be time to ask himself: "Do I have the courage?" and: "Do I have the courage?" It's time to go back and go down the stairs, With a bald patch in the middle of your hair [They will say: "How thinning his hair is!"]. (37-41) Prufrock is obviously frustrated and is even aware of his bald patch when he is debating whether or not to tell the woman he adores how he feels. Prufrock is so concerned with his appearance that even when he tries to talk to the woman, he can't stop thinking about what other people think of him. Prufrock discovers thehis inability to get on with life without worrying about what others think makes him unhappy, providing his own personal hell. Dante's influence appears again in the form of imagery and themes in Eliot's "The Wasteland." At the beginning of "The Wasteland" there is a description of prophetic and apocalyptic travel in a desolate desert. Towards the end there is a very dark section where the narrator walks through the streets of London populated by the ghosts of the dead. The narrator meets a ghost and asks him what happens to the corpses underground. The first part ends with a famous line from the preface of Baudelaire's Fleurs du Mal: ​​"Tu! hypocrite lecteur! -mon semblable, -mon frère!" (76) This quote accuses the reader of sharing the poet's (Martin) sins. In the following passage of Part One, Eliot describes the similarities between the crowd and the flow of souls to Hell in Dante's Inferno. Under the brown mist of a winter dawn, A crowd flowed across London Bridge, so many, I had not thought that death had come. so many undone. Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled, and each man stared straight ahead at his feet. (61-65) These city dwellers are lost, devoid of values, and condemned to Hell for all eternity. The description of London as an “unreal city” suggests that the corruption within the city cannot be imagined and seems like hell to Eliot (Bloom 42). Towards the end of Part One, when Eliot quotes Baudelaire's Fleurs du Mal, the quote implies that the poet and the reader have sinned, thus condemning them to Hell. This exemplifies Dante's theme that each person has sinned and will go to their own personal Hell. Dante's influence becomes evident in the fifth part of "The Wasteland" when Eliot takes an image directly from Dante's Inferno. The first half of the section reaches an apocalyptic climax, when the suffering people become "swarming hooded hordes" and the "unreal" cities of Jerusalem, Athens, Alexandria, Vienna, and London are destroyed, rebuilt, and destroyed again. The poem ends with seemingly random fragments of children's songs, works by Dante, and works of Elizabethan drama. Dante's influence in the fifth part expresses the effects of isolation on the mind. In the following passage the image portrayed is taken directly from Dante's Inferno where Ugolino, damned for treason in the lowest circle of Hell, feels the memory of the key turning to lock him and his children in the Tower of the Hungry to die of hunger (Drew 838).I heard the keyTurn the door once and turn only onceThinking of the key, each in his prisonThinking of the key, each confirms a prisonOnly at nightfall, ethereal voices (411-416)Eliot connects this passage with the reality of human isolation and the idea that memories can be painful even if only you can see them and no one else can. Once again, Dante influences Eliot in the form of descriptive imagery in “The Hollow Men.” “The Hollow Men” is an explanation of how hollow men could not choose their fate, unlike Guy Fawkes, who Eliot alludes to earlier. Fawkes plotted to blow up the English House of Commons in 1605, but was arrested before he could detonate the gunpowder. Fawkes was executed, but he chose his fate, unlike the hollow men who seem to have no control over their final destination. Eliot often mentions different realms where souls are kept; these realms bear a striking resemblance to Dante's visions of the afterlife in the Divine Comedy. The similarities between the Realms mentioned in "The Hollow Men" and Dante's visions of the afterlife are extremely similar. The other Realm of Death in "The Hollow Men" connects>.