Man-Woman Relationship in Portrait Of The Lady - T.S Eliot
The Poem "Portrait of the lady" features the constraining relationship of the young narrator and the mature lady. The lady shows the indirect signs of unrequited love or attachment towards the young man but he doesn't feel the same way or we can say that he is not interested in any serious relationship with the lady.
The lady tries her best to win his heart with her loneliness and self-pitying. She maintains her kind attitude with him, showing how much she cares for his friends (him) and how it's difficult for her to live this wretched life.
She tries to advise the man to open himself and not to hold back while he is young.
The young man has an art to remain indifferent, at least on his facial expression and "remain self-possessed" But we know how much he strives to counter or ignore her ill intentions. Whenever the lady talks about her feelings, he tries to change the topic or asks her to walk outdoor for some fresh air. He is reluctant to have a romantic relationship with him.
She even attempts to guilt-trip him so that he may leave the country and continue their "relationship." And she becomes successful in mentally tormenting him by telling him about her fragile condition and the narrator fears if she dies.
The love reflected in the poem is one-sided. And the lady regrets it and devastates at the news of him going abroad. She expresses her heartache of not reaching the bloom of their relationship. The young man doesn't know how to react to it because he doesn't want to offend her feelings and the poem ends with the young man's distressful thoughts of her death.
The lady tries her best to win his heart with her loneliness and self-pitying. She maintains her kind attitude with him, showing how much she cares for his friends (him) and how it's difficult for her to live this wretched life.
"How much it means that I say this to you —
Without these friendships — life, what cauchemar!"
She tries to advise the man to open himself and not to hold back while he is young.
The young man has an art to remain indifferent, at least on his facial expression and "remain self-possessed" But we know how much he strives to counter or ignore her ill intentions. Whenever the lady talks about her feelings, he tries to change the topic or asks her to walk outdoor for some fresh air. He is reluctant to have a romantic relationship with him.
She even attempts to guilt-trip him so that he may leave the country and continue their "relationship." And she becomes successful in mentally tormenting him by telling him about her fragile condition and the narrator fears if she dies.
"But what have I, but what have I, my friend,
To give you, what can you receive from me?
Only the friendship and the sympathy
Of one about to reach her journey's end."
The love reflected in the poem is one-sided. And the lady regrets it and devastates at the news of him going abroad. She expresses her heartache of not reaching the bloom of their relationship. The young man doesn't know how to react to it because he doesn't want to offend her feelings and the poem ends with the young man's distressful thoughts of her death.