The Life and Works of T.S. Eliot
One of the most influential and celebrated writers of the twentieth century was T. S. Eliot. In his writings he was able to successfully capture the feelings of his time. His contributions to the genre of poetry has had a profound effect on modern literature. While Eliot is most well known for his poetry, he was also an accomplished playwright and author of several books of social criticism (Kunitz 303).Thomas Stearns Eliot, the youngest of seven, was born September 26, 1888 in St. Louis Missouri. His father, Henry Ware Eliot, was a Washington University graduate and son of a very respected Unitarian minister. At the time of his son's birth, he had risen to the position of chairman of the Hydraulic Press Brick Company. The city of St. Louis was growing rapidly and the Eliot's brick firm was becoming very successful. (Unger 567). Thomas Eliot's mother, Charlotte Champe Eliot, came from an affluent family in Massachusetts. In her spare time she wrote several books including a biography of her father-in-law (Sencourt 3). The childhood of Thomas Eliot was especially pampered because he was afflicted with a hernia. His parents wealth allowed them to hire an Irish nurse to look after him. Later when Eliot was to attend grammar schoo
"Thomas Stearns Eliot." The Modernist Period. English Dept., University of Georgia. 18 April 2001 .Ellmann, Richard. "The First Waste Land-I." The New York Review of Books 17.8 (1971): 10- 16. When someone begins reading The Wasteland, they are immediately struck by the complex nature of the poem. The interjection of lines written in German and the sudden changes in the basic style and structure of the poem serve to confuse the reader. The average reader would also have difficulty grasping the ornate symbolism, of which The Wasteland was woven. The poem is littered with allusions to a countless number of literary works ranging form the Bible to Dante's Inferno. Only the best read person reads this work and walks away with a basic understanding of all of the themes expressed in this poem (Eliot 37-55). The late twenties thru thirties saw Eliot rise to become a celebrated writer in England. His poetry and plays were very popular and he was regularly asked to give lectures at collages and universities in both Europe and American. His work won numerous awards and he was even granted an audience with the King and Queen of both England and Sweden and Pope Pius XII (Sencourt 100-98). In January of 1957, Eliot was remarried to Valerie Fletcher, his thirty year-old personal secretary (Unger 568). Eight years later, Eliot died of emphysema. A memorial service was held for him at Westminster Abby a month later. In attendance was the Queen and Prime Minister of Britain, President Lyndon Johnson, and Eliot's lifelong friend, Ezra Pound (Sencourt 235). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "T. S. Eliot." Encarta Encyclopedia 99. CD-Rom. Vers. 8.29.00.0912. N.p.: Microsoft, 1998. Kunitz, Stanley J., ed. "Eliot, Thomas Stearns." Twentieth Century Authors: A Biographical Dictionary of Modern Literature. New York: H. W. Wilson Company, 1955. 303. Karr, Mary. "How to Read 'The Waste Land' So It Alters Your Soul." Chronicle of Higher Education 23 Feb. 2001: B7+. During Eliot's years at Harvard, he decided to study abroad in France at the Sorbonne for a year. Here Thomas was free of the constant restraints of the Puritan traditions that followed him from birth. While he was there, he fell in love with the city of Paris, which later became a theme of some of his work. After finishing up his undergraduate work at the Sorbonne, Eliot returned to America to pursue a Ph.D. in philosophy from Harvard. After three years of intense study, Eliot's dissertation, later published as Knowledge and Experience in the Philosophy of F. H. Bradley, won him the Sheldon Traveling Fellowship for one year's study at Oxford University (Sencourt 30-38). Eliot, T.S. "The Wasteland." T.S. Eliot: The Complete Poems and Plays. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World Incorporated, 1962. 37-55. Waggoner, Hyatt H. "Eliot as Poet." The Sewanee Review 92.3 (1984): 432-41. Eliot's masterpiece, The Wasteland, "is a grand consummation of the themes, techniques and styles that Eliot had been developing" (Unger 575). The success of The Wasteland surprised Eliot because originally
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