T.S. Eliot

1. T.S. Eliot English 11 Honors

2. T.S. Eliot Biography • T.S. = Thomas Stearns Eliot • Born in St. Louis, Missouri (1888) • Graduated from Harvard University • Just before WWI he left the U.S. to live in London. • Friend and contemporary of Ezra Pound • Pound called Eliot “Possum” • Died in 1965

3. Complex Poetry for a Complex World • Has a taste for classical literature • Influenced by the late 19th century French poets (Symbolism) • Portrays the emotional effects that objects suggest • Poetry is an art of recreating states of mind and feeling • “Poetry had to be complex to express the complexities of modern life.” – T.S. Eliot

4. Eliot Believes… • His poetry draws on a wide range of cultural reference to depict a modern world that is in ruins yet somehow beautiful and deeply meaningful. • As Ezra Pound once famously said, Eliot truly did “modernize himself.” • In addition to showcasing a variety of poetic innovations, Eliot’s early poetry also develops a series of characters who fit the type of the modern man as described by Fitzgerald, Faulkner, and others of Eliot’s contemporaries.

5. T. S. Eliot Believes… • The Waste Landin 1922, now considered by many to be the single most influential poetic work of the twentieth century. It takes on the degraded mess that Eliot considered modern culture to constitute, particularly after the first World War had ravaged Europe.

6. Famous Works • The Wasteland – epic poem • Considered the most significant poem of the early 20th century • Describes a civilization that is spiritually empty and paralyzed by indecision • “The Hollow Men” – postscript to The Wasteland • Predicted that world would not end with a bang, but in with a whimper • - We have two choices at the end of the world- renewal or annihilation • “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”

7. T.S. Eliot in Popular Culture • Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats is a collection of whimsical poems by T.S. Eliot about feline psychology and sociology. • It is the basis for the record-setting musical Cats • The poems were written during the 1930s and included by Eliot, under his assumed name "Old Possum," in letters to his godchildren.

8. Hero versus Antihero Hero Antihero Realist: sees things as they are Moral code is quirky/individual Passive & indecisive Not necessarily successful Motivated by primitive lower nature (greed, lust) or self-interest Ordinary person Tarnished knight, sometimes a criminal Can be a bad guy/underdog • Idealist: sees things how he would like them to be • Conventional moral code • Proactive & can make decisions • Succeeds at his ultimate goals • Motivated by a higher calling, pure intentions, or love of a particular person or humanity in general • Extraordinary person • Modern version of a knight in shining armor

9. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” • Heroes are people of action, but the drudgery of modern life has made people observers rather than participants. • Question to ponder: • How can this tragic figure affect his own destiny?

10. Before You Read… • Eliot feels man is helpless in society (unable to make changes in his life) • Prufrock desperately wants to fall in love, but he’s too scared. • Prufrock is… • A tragic figure – defeated before he begins; incapable of affecting his own destiny • Comes to the realization that he is unimportant • Aware of his own despair • Recognizes his own tragic flaw –he’s too timid to engage in life (scared to be rejected)

11. Prufrock is tormented by… • His inability to love and communicate with others • The suffocating environment or closed rooms & narrow streets (symbols for his life) • His inability to break out of his isolation • His acute self-consciousness

12. Literary Terms • Dramatic Monologue: A poem in which a character speaks directly to one or more listeners. • Interior Monologue: Narrator speaks as if he’s talking to the reader, but he’s really talking to himself. • Allusion: Reference to something from the Bible, literature, mythology, history, or popular culture that the author believes the reader is familiar with prior to the reading the work at hand.

13. Epigraph • S’io credesse che mia risposta fosseA persona che mai tornasse al mondo,Questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.Ma perciocche giammai di questo fondoNon torno vivo alcun, s’i’odo il vero,Senza tema d’infamia ti rispondo. • The epigraph of this poem is a six-line quotation from Canto 27 of the Inferno by the Renaissance Italian poet Dante Alighieri.

14. So what is Inferno? • The Inferno tells the story of how a guy (Dante) who has messed up his life badly enough to require some help from the nice folks in heaven. In order to scare him away from sin and other bad things, heaven sends another poet named Virgil to give Dante a guided tour through the horrors of Hell (known as "Inferno" in Italian). Along the way he is guided by some evil and misguided people.

15. Reference to Inferno • The quote from this epigraph is said by one of the characters in the eighth circle of Hell (which has nine circles), where some of the worst of the worst are stuck for eternity. This particular guy’s name is Guido da Montefeltro, and when Dante asks to hear his story, here’s what he says:

16. Guido Says… • "If I thought that my reply would be to someone who would ever return to earth, this flame would remain without further movement; but as no one has ever returned alive from this gulf, if what I hear is true, I can answer you with no fear of infamy.“ • What does this quote mean? Well, Dante is really curious to know why Guido ended up so far down in Hell. But Guido is selfish. He’s afraid that people back on earth will find out about the horrible stuff he did – he’s concerned about his reputation. • On the other hand, Guido knows that no one has ever entered Hell and made it out again, so he figures that it's safe to tell his story because Dante is stuck here. Unfortunately for Guido, Dante is the first human ever to be allowed to pass through Hell and "return to earth," so people do eventually find out about Guido’s sins…from reading the Inferno.

17. Guido • One other thing we should mention: Guido doesn’t even have a body in Hell – he’s not worthy of that – so his entire spirit is just a "flame" that "moves" when he talks. When he says, "this flame would remain without further movement," he means, "I would shut up and not talk to you anymore."

18. Last thing: What did Guido do? Essentially, Guido committed terrible atrocities in war. • But that’s not the worst part. The worst part is that he tried to have himself forgiven before he committed these atrocities. He basically thought he could out-smart God and get into heaven despite doing things that he knew were really bad. It’s like if before you broke your mother’s favorite lamp you asked her, "Mom, if I broke this lamp right now, would you forgive me? . . . Yes? OK." CRASH! • (Note to Guido: You can’t outsmart the creator of the universe.)

19. Why does Eliot choose this epigraph for his poem? • Well, it suggests a couple of things. "Prufrock" might not be a poem about good people, but about bad ones pretending to be good. • The setting of the poem is a kind of hell.