From The Madding what is the meaning of title?

You're likely referring to the poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot, which famously begins with the line: "Let us go then, you and I, / When the evening is spread out against the sky / Like a patient etherised upon a table".

The title itself is a direct quote from Shakespeare's play "Hamlet", where it's spoken by Polonius: "This above all: to thine own self be true, / And it must follow, as the night the day, / Thou canst not then be false to any man. / Farewell, my blessing season this in thee! / 'Tis a lesson which must be learned, and which is often lost, that the mad are not all fools, and that the sane are not all wise. The best of us are but mad enough to live, and the worst of us are but wise enough to die."

Eliot's poem uses the phrase "The Madding Crowd" (taken from "Hamlet") to evoke a sense of disillusionment, alienation, and the overwhelming chaos of modern life. Prufrock, the speaker, feels lost in a world that seems both absurd and indifferent.

Here's a breakdown of the meaning:

* "Madding": implies a state of frantic, chaotic, and confused activity.

* "Crowd": represents the masses, society, and the overwhelming pressures of modern life.

Therefore, "The Madding Crowd" in the title symbolizes the overwhelming, chaotic, and disillusioning nature of modern society, a world that Prufrock struggles to navigate and find meaning in.