# Michelangelo — Poetry character guide

> Michelangelo in Poetry by T. S. Eliot.

**Role:** minor

**First appearance:** 0034-ii-a-game-of-chess

## Who they are

The Renaissance artist referenced in The Waste Land, associated with a painting.

## Relationships

### [Unknown Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_21_se/characters/unknown_narrator)

_psychological_

Michelangelo is referenced as a cultural icon, representing high art and the narrator's internal dialogue about tradition and decay.

## In the story

### [The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_21_se/chapters/the-love-song-of-j-alfred-prufrock)

Referenced in the refrain 'In the room the women come and go / Talking of Michelangelo,' symbolizing the superficial intellectual chatter of society.

### [Portrait of a Lady](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_21_se/chapters/portrait-of-a-lady)

Mentioned indirectly through the allusion to 'the latest Pole' and the Preludes, but not directly present; the reference to 'Chopin' and 'Preludes' evokes artistic sterility.

### [Juvenilia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_21_se/chapters/juvenilia)

Michelangelo is referenced indirectly through the parody of romantic conventions in 'Nocturne'.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_21_se/characters/michelangelo
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_21_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_21_se/characters