DRAMA
Eliot did much to bring about a revival
of English poetic drama, both through his practice n critical pronouncements.
His dramatic
production includes :
1.
The
Rock, a Pageant Play, 1034
2.
Murder
in the Cathedral, 1935
3.
The
Family Reunion, 1939
4.
The
Cocktail Party, 1950
5.
The
Confidential Clerk, 1954
6.
The
Elder Statesman, 1959.
As
a dramatist, his range is narrower than that of his poetry. He began by writing
purely Christian drama. The Rock is a pageant written in collaboration with
E.M. Browne, and Murder in the Cathedral, one of his most significant plays,
deals with the martyrdom of Thomas Becket. The dramatist tries to bring home to
his audiences the real meaning and significance of martyrdom. The setting is
medieval. The later plays also have a religious theme, but the setting is
contemporary and social. By the time of The Family Reunion, Eliot felt a need
to appeal to larger and larger audiences, and hence his use of the verse-form
is not esoteric or subtle, or only for the learned few. These later plays are
basically upper-class drawing-room comedies in the tradition of the Comedy of
Manners, with a strong melodramatic element. They can be enjoyed as such by the
unthinking, while for the more thoughtful there is the religious content- the
meaning of martyrdom to the modern world, and the place in it of the saint.
Eliot’s
plays suffer from a tinge of artificiality which has limited their appeal. They
have been written according to a preconceived theory, and represent a reaction
against the English dramatic tradition. Successful drama in England, with few
exceptions, has never been written to rule and theories. He might have produced
successful plays in the classical style, but they have always seemed artificial
to English audiences.
(C) PROSE
Literary
Criticism
Eliot
stands in the long line of poet-critics with Ben Johnson and including such
names as Dryden, Johnson, Coleridge and Matthew Arnold. Such critics know the
mysteries of their own art and so can speak with force and conviction.
Eliot’s
critical pronouncements, first published largely in the form of articles and
essays, in numerous periodicals and journals of the day, have now been
collected in the following books:
1.
The
Use of Poetry and the Use of Criticism, 1933
2.
The
Ideal of a Christian Society, 1939
3.
Notes
Towards a Definition of Culture, 1948
4.
Selected
Essays, Third Edition, 1951
5.
On
Poetry and Poets, 1957
6.
To
Criticise the Critic, 1965
Traditional
and Individual Talent, Poetry and Drama, the Function of Criticism, The English
Metaphysical Poets, The Frontiers of Criticism, etc., are among his more
popular essays in literary criticism.
The
value of Eliot’s criticism arises from the fact that he speaks with authority
and conviction, and his prose style is as precise and memorable as his poetry.
He has been largely responsible for the revival of interest in the Metaphysical
poets of the 17th century. His rare gift of crystallizing his
thought in striking, trenchant phrases, has gained for him, wide popularity and
appeal. Phrases like, Dissociation of sensibility etc., have gained wide
currency.
Journalism
Eliot
worked as editor of The Criterion from 1922-1939. This literary magazine stood
for the integrity of European culture. It received contributions from all over
Europe on a vide variety of subjects, and its contents reflect the Catholicity
of Eliot’s interests. Eliot himself closed down the magazine when, with the
outbreak of war, it became clear that the breakdown of communication with
Europe was inevitable.
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