Comparing the Symbology and Imagery in T. S. Eliot’s...

In the poems â€Å"The Love Song by J. Alfred Prufrock,† written in 1910, published in 1915, and â€Å"Rhapsody on a Windy Night,† written in 1917, both of which were written by poet and literary-critic T. S. Eliot, the symbolism and imagery of the women represented in mythological means, the locations and landscapes that both protagonists wander through or plan on going to, and the nature that is used in both poems are very similar, yet uniquely different. â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock† is about a man with low self-confidence worrying about going to a party in the evening where he is sure that the women there with reject and ridicule him; â€Å"Rhapsody on a Windy Night† is about a man wandering his way back in the early hours of the morning†¦show more content†¦Female lunar deities have been around for centuries, and have always featured strongly in all different mythologies, Artemis and Hecate of Greek lore being two of the best kno wn, the former also being the goddess associated with young girls and virginity, and the latter being the goddess associated with childbirth (Hard 187). The deity most associated with the moon, however, would be the Triple Goddess, in Neopaganism, most associated with feminine energy. The aspects of the Triple Goddess are the Maiden, Mother and Crone, which are represented by the waxing, full and waning moon, respectively (Hanegraaff 154). The visual imagery of the moon as an abandoned lover, left twisting a dusty paper rose in her hands, is a strong one. Eliot’s description of the moon is very lonely; she is very comforting and gentle, yet completely alone and abandoned, with no company at all. This helps reinforce an aspect in â€Å"Rhapsody†¦Ã¢â‚¬  of the protagonist being solitary and alone, despite occasionally interacting with others, though in an analytical, objective manner, as opposed to the protagonist in â€Å"The Love Song†¦Ã¢â‚¬  where, despite also being alone, on his journey to the party and in his life, does not seem as much as an outcast, for lack of a better word (Manganaro 86). Also, adding on to the idea of single versus plural, in â€Å"Rhapsody†¦,† every person that the protagonist