Reading T. S. Eliot by Llorens-Cubedo, Dídac; Patea, Viorica;

Short description:

Eliot’s career was influenced by concrete historical and biographical circumstances who played a decisive role as his muse, guide, and mentor in his newfound passion for the stage. Reading T. S. Eliot: The Rose Garden and After (1930s-1950s) presents original work by numerous scholars addressing these facets of Eliot’s writing.

Long description:

In “Burnt Norton,” the poetic speaker enters a rose garden, a space of envisioned timeless illumination. This experience sets in motion a spiritual quest, which will confer unity upon Four Quartets. For the poet himself, it inaugurates a creative phase (mid-1930s to late-1950s) that strengthens his sense of faith and community. Eliot, increasingly interested in playwriting, completed his meditative masterpiece (Four Quartets) while undertaking his ambitious project to revive verse drama. Devotion to drama reflects Eliot’s stronger social awareness, leading him to adopt popular forms: the pageant (The Rock), drawing-room comedy (The Cocktail Party, The Confidential Clerk, and The Elder Statesman), and children’s literature (Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats). As a critic, he widened his scope to write about social issues (The Idea of a Christian Society, Notes Towards a Definition of Culture). These aspects of Eliot’s career are influenced by concrete historical and biographical circumstances such as the impact of war and his ongoing relationship with Emily Hale, who played a decisive role as his muse, guide, and mentor in his newfound passion for the stage. Reading T. S. Eliot: The Rose Garden and After (1930s-1950s) presents original work by numerous scholars addressing these facets of Eliot’s writing.

Table of Contents:

Introduction: ‘Through the First Gate,’ into the Rose Garden and Beyond

Dídac Llorens-Cubedo and Viorica Patea,

Part I               The Poet, the Rose Garden, and the Playhouse (1930s)

Poetics of the Incarnation: T. S. Eliot’s Four Quartets

Barry Spurr

Experiencing Murder in the Cathedral: How Can ‘Indicative Criticism’ Position Audiences to Appreciate the Play

Charles Altieri

 ‘That moment of mystery’: Eliot’s Practical Cats as a Turning Point

Ester Díaz Morillo

To Speak Poetry: Eliot’s Project to Revive Verse Drama

Natalia Carbajosa Palmero

‘Chiefly your doing’: Emily Hale and the Making of a Playwright

Sara Fitzgerald

Part II              Full-Time Dramatist with a Vision (late 1930s-late 1950s)

T. S. Eliot and Classical Drama

Peter Liebregts

Eliot, Aeschylus, and Aristotle: Theme and Plot in The Family Reunion

Jewel Spears Brooker

Protean Self and Anagnorisis through Art in T. S. Eliot’s The Confidential Clerk

Leonor María Martínez Serrano

‘Proper Sowing’ and ‘right action’ in Eliot’s Plays and Four Quartets

Viorica Patea

After Four Quartets: T. S. Eliot’s Comedies as Footnotes or Exempla

Dídac Llorens-Cubedo

Part III             Critic with a Wider Scope (1940s-1960s)

To Criticize the Dramatist: Eliot on His Plays

Teresa Gibert

The Responsibility of a Christian Thinker: T. S. Eliot, World War 2, and Post War Reconstruction

Joana Rzepa

Patristic Christianity in T. S. Eliot’s Philosophy of Education

John Rhett Forman

Christopher Dawson and Eliot on Culture and Politics

Benjamin Lockerd