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T. S. Eliot's Intellectual Development, 1922-1939
210 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1972
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June 9, 2014
A detailed study of the gradual change in Eliot's thinking, from the early 1920s, where as author of The Waste Land and The Sacred Wood, he was an expert in Poetry fascinated by Literature, to the point where he was ready to state, in 1934: “At the present time, I am not very much interested in the only subject which I am supposed to be qualified to write about: that is, one kind of literary criticism. I am not very much interested in literature, except dramatic literature: and I am largely interested in subjects which I do not yet know very much about: theology, politics, economics and education.” (qtd Margolis p.177)
If Eliot has lost interest in literature, part of the reason had to be that for someone like himself, who didn’t just want to reinterpret society, but to change it, it was obvious that poetry was the wrong vehicle.
“Of what use is this experimenting with rhythms and words, this effort to find the precise metric and the exact image to set down feelings which, if communicable at all, can be communicated to so few that the result seems insignificant compared to the labour.” (Eliot, ‘Christianity and communism’ Listener, 16 March 932, p.382 qtd Margolis 184)
Margolis traces this development, and part of the value of this book is that he does it through the pages of The Criterion,ELiot's quarterly Journal, tracking the issues which seemed to hold ELiot's attention as editor. As such the book is useful for those of us who don't have access to a complete set of Criterion Articles.
At times the history seems to be revisiting old battles which require far too many footnotes to make sense, but as one chapter headings suggests; "The mutation of the artist" is followed as literary issues give way to theological, economic and cultural ones. Ironically, as Margolis demonstrates, ELiot moves from areas of genuine expertise to areas where he was little more than an intelligent and eloquent amateur, whose passionate Christian opinions on a vast range of topics, were underwritten by nothing more than intelligence and eloquence, and therefore of no more objective value than any other intelligent eloquent individual's.
The date of this book almost guarantees the writing is informed and judicious, rather than opinionated and judgemental, and the prose belongs to that quaint old time when professional academics wrote with the aim of informing their readers in clear and precise prose.
If Eliot has lost interest in literature, part of the reason had to be that for someone like himself, who didn’t just want to reinterpret society, but to change it, it was obvious that poetry was the wrong vehicle.
“Of what use is this experimenting with rhythms and words, this effort to find the precise metric and the exact image to set down feelings which, if communicable at all, can be communicated to so few that the result seems insignificant compared to the labour.” (Eliot, ‘Christianity and communism’ Listener, 16 March 932, p.382 qtd Margolis 184)
Margolis traces this development, and part of the value of this book is that he does it through the pages of The Criterion,ELiot's quarterly Journal, tracking the issues which seemed to hold ELiot's attention as editor. As such the book is useful for those of us who don't have access to a complete set of Criterion Articles.
At times the history seems to be revisiting old battles which require far too many footnotes to make sense, but as one chapter headings suggests; "The mutation of the artist" is followed as literary issues give way to theological, economic and cultural ones. Ironically, as Margolis demonstrates, ELiot moves from areas of genuine expertise to areas where he was little more than an intelligent and eloquent amateur, whose passionate Christian opinions on a vast range of topics, were underwritten by nothing more than intelligence and eloquence, and therefore of no more objective value than any other intelligent eloquent individual's.
The date of this book almost guarantees the writing is informed and judicious, rather than opinionated and judgemental, and the prose belongs to that quaint old time when professional academics wrote with the aim of informing their readers in clear and precise prose.
Displaying 1 of 1 review