This document provides an analysis of how T.S. Eliot's poem "The Wasteland" references two other works - Thomas Middleton's play "Women Beware Women" and Shakespeare's poem "Venus and Adonis" - in its portrayal of gender roles and sexuality in early modern society. The analysis argues that Eliot underestimates the oppression of women in both works by focusing only on their use of female sexuality as a tool or weapon, without capturing the full criticism of gender relations. Comparing the two works shows that while they both depicted women using sexuality for gain or control, "Venus and Adonis" added the element of male sexuality also being objectified, which Eliot failed to

1. Christine Rhyne Rhyne 1
Capstone Presentation
Gender Roles and Racial Stigmatism in an Evolving Society
Eliot’s The Wasteland uses intertextuality throughout his poem, however he
did not successfully use all of the cited literary texts. I argue that the citation of
Women Beware Women, when viewed with a contemporary text of the time, “Venus
and Adonis,” underestimates the oppression and objectification of women. I will also
argue that a contemporary text of The Wasteland, Nella Larsen’s Passing, highlights a
similar view of the objectification and oppression of women that Eliot failed to
exemplify, with addition to construct the struggle that racial boundaries implicate to
the female role in society at that time. In my presentation today, I have chosen to
share with everyone my analysis of “Venus and Adonis” and how when glanced with
a portion of my analysis of Women Beware Women, the representation of sexuality is
misconstrued in The Wasteland.
Middleton’s title Women Beware Women can be seen as a message to address
in how women treat other women in society. To look at the denotation of the word
“beware,” the literal or primary meaning states for one to be cautious and alert to a
sense of danger. In a more elaborate scheme, the title can then be read, “Women, be
cautious and alert to the dangers of other women.” Nonetheless, the literal definition
of the play needs to be looked at with a connotative aspect to help understand the
various social overtones, and cultural implications. One example can be that women
need to feel more independent and not rely on another woman for help, because in
this time period women saw each other as a social threat. A social threat in regards
to obtaining a well-off, financially stable husband that can provide a lavish lifestyle,

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and provided a sense of permanence. This can also connote that women in this
period did not trust one another because they could not control their husbands,
lovers, or any man in their life. In other words, because men had all the power in
their cultural society, the only sense of control a woman felt was in her ability to be
sexually appealing to men. Women used their sexuality in an attempt to get what
they wanted. Thus, in regards to the connotation of “women beware women” used
in Middleton’s play, sexuality was used as a weapon as a pitfall to other women.
Contemporary to Women Beware Women, sexuality also played a big part in
Shakespeare’s poem “Venus and Adonis.” Although there is a lack of cultural
capitalism in the poem, Shakespeare does delve into sexual objectification. An
interesting component that can be found in “Venus and Adonis” and not in Women
Beware Women is the ideology that sexuality is not just a weapon that can be used
by a woman. For instance, another character being objectified in “Venus and Adonis”
is Adonis himself. Instead of making a woman be perceived as the most beautiful,
objectified entity in the story, Shakespeare switches the gaze towards the male and
uses Venus as his gateway into transcribing his homoerotic intention into a more
suitable female voice. As a result, the representation of beauty is portrayed to be a
unisex phenomenon. Furthermore, in the poem the representation of beauty being
so influential can be due to Shakespeare’s personal desires in regards to his
sexuality and orientation.

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Yet, it can also be said that Venus’s female role was used to put (what can be
seen as a woman of power) her in her place against the social standards of male
superiority. Venus, the Goddess of love in Roman mythology, however also
illustrates immortality, sexual prowess, beauty and vanity in Shakespeare’s poem.
When she states:
Were I hard-favored, foul, or wrinkled old,
Ill–nurtured, crooked, churlish, harsh in voice,
O’verworn, despised, rheumatic, and cold,
Thick-sighted, barren, lean, and lacking juice,
Then mightst thou pause, for then I were not for thee;
But having no defects, why dost abhor me? (Lines 133- 138)
In this section, Venus signifies how she is not the negative aspects of a woman’s
physique but the valued ones, and it raises the question as to how important the
male gaze can pierce the fragility of beauty. By suggesting that Venus, someone who
is perceived as a superior immortal being, as well as possessing a strong sense of
vanity, can feel or understand emotions that are associated with mortal humans
implies a sense of vulnerability. This vulnerability can be what Shakespeare uses to
unchain Venus from her pedestal on Mount Olympus and set her down among
normal women that prance along the stony pavements of London. By placing this
goddess among normal women, it shows that she is not different from them and that
she does not have the upper hand against men.
The last half of “Venus and Adonis” can be classified as a tragedy for more
than the apparent ending with Adonis’s death. There are other distresses and

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unsettling events that can be found towards the end of the poem. One example can
be the naturalistic implication of beauty being a weakness. This can be seen in the
following lines, “To cross the curious workmanship of Nature / To mingle beauty
with infirmities / And pure perfection with impure defeature /Making it subject to
the tyranny / Of mad mischances and much misery” (lines 734-738). These lines
possess an overtone of the same weak agency found in Middleton’s Women Beware
Women. Venus’ female agency becomes problematic and undermined against the
elements of nature. As a result, “As burning fevers, agues pale and faint / Life-
poisoning pestilence and frenzies wood / The marrow-eating sickness, whose
attaint / Disorder breeds by heating of the blood / Surfeits, impostures, grief, and
damned despair / Swear Nature’s death for framing thee so fair” (lines 739-744).
The love and passion that the goddess felt towards Adonis originated positive
emotions to be balanced out with negative aspects as well, what one could label as a
yin-yang effect. That with love, pain and suffering will be intertwined with it. The
powers of the goddess of love in the end became a dramatic irony. “My love to love
is love but to disgrace it; / For I have heard it is a life in death, / That laughs and
weeps, and all but with a breath”(Lines 412-414). For one that grants love to others;
may not truly receive in return, and if she tries to seek or pursue love, it can lead to
venereal disease or worse.

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Although T.S Eliot’s use of intertextuality briefly glimpses what Women
Beware Women exemplifies, in regards to gender roles and sexuality, it neglects to
epitomize why Middleton’s play on “a game of chess” derides seduction. Instead,
Eliot alludes to it as tool to emphasize his own ideology of what female sexuality and
seduction was portrayed as towards his view of postwar London. Also, when
looking at “Venus and Adonis” as a contemporary to Women Beware Women, the
sexuality portrayed was somewhat similar to what Middleton interpreted it to be,
yet added another gender element to highlight that men can have their own
sexuality be used as a tool for self-gain. When looking at Women Beware Women,
and “Venus and Adonis” together, it can be claimed that Eliot did not do Middleton
justice in his referential citation on the grounds of mis-portraying the elements of
sexuality found between the two texts.