Eliot married Vivienne Haigh-Wood in 1915. The couple had only met each other three months prior, and their turbulent marriage was very unhappy. Eliot’s deep unhappiness is apparent in many of his poems, particularly The Waste Land with its miserable depiction of marriage. Vivienne loved Eliot, but she suffered with both her physical and mental health. Eliot had his own issues – he was emotionally cold and distant. Their ill-fated relationship caused both of them much anguish and marriage, Eliot wrote:
I came to persuade myself that I was in love with Vivienne simply because I wanted to burn my boats and commit myself to staying in England. And she the poet by keeping him in England. To her, the marriage brought no happiness. To me, it brought the state of mind out of which came The Waste Land.
This admission helps to explain the bleakness present in many of Eliot’s poems.