Thomas Eliot Research Paper

At this time, T.S. Eliot had just gotten out of college and was undecided in his work. His question was to either become a professor, or to keep writing poems. When T.S. Eliot was in London, Ezra Pound noticed his poetic gift and assisted in the publication of his work in many different magazines. Ezra Pound describes his poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock as “the best poem I have yet had or seen from an American”. Ezra Pound then takes Eliot in as his student. In 1915, he published his first poetic masterpiece called The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock which was written four years before he published this piece.

By looking through a critical lens at T Stearns Eliot’s poetry in light of his 20th century, modernist context, much is revealed about his personal and the rapidly evolving societal beliefs of that era. Through his repeating motif of time and fragmentation throughout his poems, Eliot reveals the prevalent feelings of isolation while in society along with the need to hide one’s feelings and emotions in this degrading society. His exploration of the use of ambiguity and stream of consciousness by Eliot, which is a characteristic of modernist artists, allows his work to resound over decades while being interpreted and differently understood by every audience that encounters them.

American born poet, T.S. Eliot reflects modernistic ideas of isolation, individual perception and human consciousness in his many poems. His poems express the disillusionment of the post–World War I generation with both literary and social values and traditions. In one of Eliot’s most famous poems, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” which was published in 1915, a speaker who is very unhappy with his life takes readers on a journey through the hell he is living in. In this journey, Prufrock criticizes the well-dressed, upstanding citizens who love their material pleasures more than they love other people, while explaining he feels ostracized from the society of women. Eliot’s use of isolation, human consciousness and individual perception is quite evident in his dramatic monologue within the story of J. Alfred Prufrock. Prufrock wants to be seen as a normal citizen who can find friends or a lover, but his anxiety-driven isolation forces him to live a life that relates more to Hell than paradise. In over examining every fine detail of his life, Prufrock perceives himself as useless and even a waste of life. By using many poetic devices including repetition, personification, and imagery Eliot drives readers to feel the painful reality of Prufrock’s life. In “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” T.S Eliot uses modernistic ideas and poetic devices to portray how Prufrock’s life relates to Hell while simultaneously criticizing social aspects of the younger post–World War I generation.

Poetry can sometimes allow one to explore the unknown. However, in some works of poetry, one can realise that some known ideas or values remain relevant to current society. This is certainly applicable to T.S. Eliot’s poems, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and Rhapsody on a Windy Night. Eliot’s manipulation of poetic techniques in both these poems allows the responder to realise that some ideas prevail in both modern and post-modern society. These poems explore the unknown phenomena of the obscurity regarding the purpose and meaning of life. This unknown phenomena causes the persona in both texts to resort to a sense of isolation or alienation. Eliot uses poetic techniques such as metaphors and personification to convey his ideas.

Unlike other forms of literature, poetry can be so complex that everyone who reads it may see something different. Two poets who are world renowned for their ability to transform reader’s perceptions with the mere use of words, are TS Eliot and Walt Whitman. “The love song of J Alfred Prufrock” by TS Eliot, tells the story of a man who is in love and contemplating confessing his emotions, but his debilitating fear of rejection stops him from going through with it. This poem skews the reader’s expectations of a love song and takes a critical perspective of love while showing all the damaging emotions that come with it. “Song of myself”, by Walt Whitman provokes a different emotion, one of joy and self-discovery. This poem focuses more on the soul and how it relates to the body. “Song of myself” and “The love song of J Alfred Prufrock” both explore the common theme of how the different perceptions of the soul and body can affect the way the speaker views themselves, others, and the world around them.

Throughout his college years, Eliot was active in the writing of literature, even having some of his early poetry published in the Harvard Advocate. In England, Eliot met and befriended fellow expatriate Ezra Pound, who was very

It was during this time that she began to suffer from the kidney problems that eventually killed her. She was also plagued by chronic head and tooth aches during this time (Karl, 545). Despite her physical ailments Eliot meticulously researched the book. She took Hebrew lessons with Emanuel Deutsch and the character of Mordecai Cohen is said to be based on him. She also read extensively about Jewish culture and tradition. In a letter Eliot’s would be spouse, George Henry Lewes, writes that of the two buying Judaic books and visiting a synagogue in Frankfurt in the summer of 1873 (Karl, 527).

            I think this style of writing is also a reflection of Eliot's feelings about the time.  Eliot was more of a Modernist than Victorian poet and as such held to beliefs like: there is no higher power in the universe, man is alone on this planet to govern his own affairs, everyone is truly alone, there is no unity, no support, for we live in a godless heartless world (Stacey Donohue).  The floating, confusing, jumbled mix of emotions and directions in this poem mirrors the modernist image of society.

Eliot is not solely criticising modern life in the poem, it also serves as a reflection of Eliot’s social context and his own life, a product of its time.

T.S. Eliot was a writer of both poetry and plays for the theater, so of course he had critics that watched and read his forms of art. Eliot was compared and thought to have been inspired by homeric works, so he was thought to have wrote most of his poetry in forms similar Homer's stories. Eliot’s work in both his poems and his plays were considered brilliant due to the fact that they both symbolized something based in real life times or if they were personal to

Have you ever heard of the famous writer George Eliot? Well if you haven’t then you are going to find out some interesting facts about the writer. George Eliot is from the era 1819-1880 (poetry criticism). When I first learned about George Eliot and read some of their stories, I thought it was a guy because of the name but it turns out that George Eliot is actually a woman that uses the name George because her writer friend Lewes told her to use like a stage name. George Eliot’s real name is Mary Ann Evens.

Guillory maintains that it is Cleanth Brooks who is left with the task of translating Eliot's many ideological concerns;-the doctrine ofimpersonality relative creative invention as articulated in "Tradition and the Individual Talent", the monumental and closed

   Thomas Stearns Eliot was not a revolutionary, yet he revolutionized the way the Western world writes and reads poetry. Some of his works were as imagist and incomprehensible as could be most of it in free verse, yet his concentration was always on the meaning of his language, and the lessons he wished to teach with them. Eliot consorted with modernist literary iconoclast Ezra Pound but was obsessed with the traditional works of Shakespeare and Dante. He was a man of his time yet was obsessed with the past. He was born in the United States, but later became a royal subject in England. In short, Eliot is as complete and total a

Q5 "Much of what Eliot writes about is harsh and bleak, but he writes about it in a way that is often beautiful". Comment fully on both parts of this assertion.

Eliot published many religious works including Idea of a Christian Society. The plays that Eliot wrote in this period reflected a spiritual content as well as many journeys and tasks. His works also became more political. He spoke of how corrupt and apathetic the new age had become. His new political views were probably sparked from his life as a British citizen. Analyzation of Eliot's life provides great insight on why his writing was divided into these four periods. Eliot's demeanor was also evident in his work. Many said that Eliot often had a very serious look about him. He was very sophisticated in his speech and actions, and when he was humorous, it was in a very strange way. He often would make remarks that made very little sense. Both sides of his personality showed up in his work. Most of his writing was serious in nature, but sometimes it was amusing such as his Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. Many people know of this work because the very popular musical Cats was based on it. Both of these were filled with nonsense humor. Eliot's influences made a huge impact on his writing. He was completely immersed in the works from Greek and Roman literature, as well as modern and medieval Europe. Eliot also greatly love the Rubiyat of Omar Khayyam. Much of this influence was evident in the work. One of Eliot's greatest influences was Ezra Pound. Eliot met Ezra Pound in 1914, and that meeting proved to be of great significance to Eliot's writing career. Ezra