Explain with reference to the context 11.97 - 102 (MEG 102) (T.S. ELIOT: THE WASTE LAND (II)

Lines 97-102 in T.S. Eliot's 'The Waste Land' are part of the 'A Game of Chess' section, which is the second part of the poem. In this section, Eliot presents a conversation between a man and a woman, with the woman recounting a dream she had, and the man making sarcastic comments in response.

In the lines 97-102, the woman continues to describe her dream, saying "The change of Philomel, by the barbarous king / So rudely forced; yet there the nightingale / Filled all the desert with inviolable voice / And still she cried, and still the world pursues, / 'Jug Jug' to dirty ears."

The reference to Philomel is significant because it evokes the Greek myth of Philomela, a woman who was raped and then had her tongue cut out by her attacker to prevent her from telling anyone what had happened. The nightingale in the dream represents Philomela, whose voice is still heard even though she has been silenced, and whose song fills the "desert" with an "inviolable voice." The idea of the voice being "inviolable" suggests a sense of spiritual purity or transcendence that is contrasted with the violence and degradation of the physical world.

The final line, "Jug Jug to dirty ears," is a reference to a popular ballad of the time, which Eliot uses to suggest the degradation and corruption of popular culture. The repetition of the phrase "Jug Jug" reinforces the sense of repetition and meaninglessness that pervades the poem as a whole.

Through these lines, Eliot explores themes of violence, degradation, and spiritual emptiness, using vivid imagery and mythological allusion to underscore the sense of disillusionment and despair that characterized modern urban life in the aftermath of World War I. The reference to the nightingale and the idea of the voice being "inviolable" also suggest a sense of hope or transcendence that is present even in the midst of the darkness and decay.