While reading The Waste Land, I went down a variety of rabbit trails while attempting to make sense of the numerous allusions throughout the text. One such allusion I spent some time with was the reference to a woman named Marie. She takes over the narrative rather early in the text, though I didn't feel like she was the one speaking from the beginning. The poem starts somewhat traditionally with a discussion of spring (more specifically, April) and winter, though the way in which these seasons are portaryed are rather untraditional. The poem uses words like "dull" and "dead" to describe the conditions in spring, while winter is "warm" and "feeding." 

Then, it seems as if another narrator takes over when it comes to the discussion of summer. We learn that the woman's name is Marie, which, based on a number of sources, was the name of a Countess who knew Eliot. The monologue transcribed in The Waste Land is allegedly a story that Countess Marie Larisch told Eliot. The Countess had a first cousin named Rudolf, who is the Archduke that is referenced in The Waste Land. However, when considering this poem was published in 1922, the Archduke that was on everyone's mind was Franz Ferdinand. Interestingly enough, the same sources that recognized Marie and Eliot as acquaintences also recognized that Franz Ferdinand was Marie's second cousin. Though it's hard to speak authoritatively as to why Eliot might have done this, this passaged caused me to think about Franz Ferdinand as a background character - someone who was irrelevant to this story. However, the death of this man is what sparked World War I. So perhaps he is always relevant and he will always remain a reference, just as the effects of the War will always be relevant to the generation that endured it.

As a whole, the poem/text was a challenge, though it's clear that Eliot intended for it to be one. I found myself comparing this to Dada because of the analysis process it begged me to employ. However, though Dada peices were also a challenge for me, I felt that there was some nostalgia in this piece that wasn't present in Dada. The Waste Land yearned for tradition with the many allusions and references, despite tradition being a difficult place to return to after the war.