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Este artículo procura responder a la pregunta: “¿Cómo leemos La tierra baldía?” Se trata de un poema de muchos fragmentos y muchas voces, pero la conciencia que vive la experiencia es una, simbolizada por el profeta impotente Tiresias. El método dramático, con su punto de vista limitado y sus identidades fragmentadas, deriva del monólogo dramático victoriano, filtrado por las ironías de Jules Laforgue y la versificación innovadora de los dramaturgos jacobinos. Esta forma de leer el poema se demuestra a través de la lectura, primero, del monólogo “Gerontion,” y luego de pasajes clave de la propia Tierra Baldía. This essay attempts some answers to the question, “How do we read The Waste Land?” It is a poem of many fragments and many voices, but the experiencing consciousness is one, symbolized by the impotent prophet Tiresias. The dramatic method, with its limited viewpoints and fragmented identities, derives from the Victorian dramatic monologue, filtered through the ironies of Jules Laforgue and the innovative versification of the Jacobean playwrights. This way of reading the poem is demonstrated through readings, first, of the monologue “Gerontion,” and then of key passages in The Waste Land itself.

John Ruskin was a writer on a wide variety of subjects, notably art, architecture and questions of social justice, which he always saw in relation to one another. His book The Stones of Venice (1851-53), associates the skill of the medieval Venetian craftsman, his attention to natural forms and his care for his material, with Christian humility in the face of God’s work. The quest for beauty was an ethical matter and art reflected the society that created it. Ruskin had been led to the study of Venice by his discovery in 1845 of the then-neglected painter, Jacopo Tintoretto, whose work in the Scuola Grande di San Rocco overwhelmed him. Tintoretto was not, of course, a medieval artist, but Ruskin believed he was trying to maintain the values of medieval Venice against the pressures of a decadent era. Moreover, Tintoretto had been working for an institution that combined care for art with social responsibility. This paper argues that, when in 1871 Ruskin founded a utopian charity called the Guild of St George, he had the Venetian scuole in mind. ‘Guild’ served as a rough translation of scuola. By this time, he was much preoccupied with Vittore Carpaccio and his work for the Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni as well. St George is the patron saint of England and Carpaccio’s painting of him at war with a fire-breathing monster provided Ruskin with a perfect image of his struggle against the dragons of industrialisation and ruthless competition., Sapere l’Europa, sapere d’Europa