summary of the naming of cats
Answers
"The Naming of Cats," at its most basic level, talks about how cats have three different names. However, at a deeper level, the poem talks about identity and how people present themselves in different ways to the general public, to their family and friends, and to their most private self when they are alone.
In the poem, the first name a cat possesses is an "everyday" name that any observer can use:
First of all, there's the name that the family use daily,
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James,
Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey--
All of them sensible everyday names.
While some of these everyday names might be "fancier ... some for the gentlemen, some for the dames," they are, nevertheless, "all of them sensible everyday names." This is the "self" we let everyone see - our most public self.
However, the poem's speaker says one name is not enough. Cats also need a name that is ...
... particular,
A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
This is a more individual name, a name that "never belong(s) to more than one cat." It recognizes the uniqueness that is that cat. This is the self we let our friends and family see - one that reveals some of our own uniqueness - our personal traits, talents, desires, likes, and dislikes.
However, even that name does not represent the cat at its deepest essence. That name is known only by the cat:
The name that no human research can discover--
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
This is the self we only let ourselves see, our truest self, with our hidden desires, fears, dreams, beliefs, doubts, and concerns.
As for style, the poem is written in anapest tetrameter, with the accent (primarily) on every THIRD syllable (as marked in bold below):
You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
First of all, there's the name that the family use daily,
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James ...
The poem follows an every-other-line rhyme scheme of ABABCDCDEFEF, and so on. It makes an allusion to the Mad hatter from Alice in Wonderland, and also uses a lot of personification as it talks about cats. This is especially seen in the following passage:
But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular,
A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
Here, we see the cat from a very human perspective; it desires to be seen with dignity so it can maintain its pride.
Eliot also uses repetition and a made-up word, "effanineffable," at the end:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name.
This repetition of the phrase "of the thought" leaves the reader, as well as the cat, in "a rapt contemplation/Of the thought ... of his name" and of the multiple levels of his identity.
Answer:
Explanation:
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, T. S. Eliot's 1939 collection of poetry, contains the poem "The Naming of Cats." It was transformed into a song for Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats in 1981, and it was later used as a phrase for other movies, including Logan's Run (1976). The poem explains to readers how names are given to cats. The poem explains how cats choose their names in a brief, rhythmic dialogue. "A cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES," namely, "a family name," "a special name," and "a clandestine name." The Missouri-born poet's extensive list of cat names was significantly affected by his love of and embrace of British culture, according to English professor Dorothy Dodge Robbins: "After all, his are the monikers of unmistakably London cats; they are not the practical names of Midwestern barn cats." Typically, familial names are names that the cat's "family use on a daily basis." The last example, "Bill Bailey," was taken from the 1902 ballad "Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey," and other examples cited include "Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey." Additionally, the poem offers "fancier" family names inspired by legendary and historical characters like "Plato, Admetus, Electra, and Demeter."
It is argued that some names are "peculiar" yet "dignified," and Eliot uses the made-up names "Munkustrap, Quaxo, Coricopat, Bombalurina, and Jellylorum" as examples. The name "Coricopat," according to Robbins, is said to have been originated from Eugene Field's poem "The Duel" as a linguistic variation of the "Calico Cat." Eliot claims that "no human investigation can find" the "ineffable" secret names of cats because THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS and WILL NEVER CONFESS."
The second song in the musical Cats is "The Naming of Cats." It breaches the fourth wall by greeting the audience and explaining how cats get their names. It is totally spoken and delivered as a slow, creepy chant. While it is spoken in a natural rhythmic manner by the actors in unison, Given that the voices are uttered at a variety of pitches and with various inflections, the chant never adopts a sing-song manner. Cast members enter the crowd as the song is being performed before leaving for backstage as Victoria's dance solo begins. The music is a disjointed, broken elaboration of a motif that was first heard in the overture. It lacks a consistent harmonic structure or key signature. The names of many of the characters—including Bombalurina, Demeter, and Munkustrap—come from the poem.
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