week 16 ts eliot 英国文学导论.ppt

III. Drama Murder in the Cathedral, 大教堂谋杀案, 1935 ---his best-known play The Family Reunion, 家庭聚会, 1939 The Cocktail Party, 鸡尾酒会, 1950 The Confidential Clerk, 1954 The Elder Statesman, 1958 Major achievements in drama writing He was one of the important verse dramatists in the first half of the 20th century. Besides some fragmentary pieces, Eliot had written in his lifetime five full-length plays. All the plays have something to do with Christian themes. His three later plays are also concerned with the subject of spiritual self-discovery but in the form of a sophisticated modern social comedy. Eliot’s major achievement in play writing has been the creation of a verse drama in the 20th century to express the ideas and actions of modern society with new accents of the contemporary speech. literary critic essays Tradition and Individual Talent The Sacred Wood (1920) VI. literary critic essays considered by some to be one of the greatest literary critics of the 20th century During his literary career, he wrote a large number of essays, articles and book reviews. His essays are mainly concerned with cultural, social, religious, as well as literary issues. In particular, Eliot strongly influenced the school of New Criticism. In his famous essay, “Tradition and Individual Talent,” Eliot put great emphasis on the importance of tradition both in creative writing and in criticism. Tradition and the Individual Talent In his critical essay, Eliot argues that art must be understood not in a vacuum, but in the context of previous pieces of art: “In a peculiar sense [an artist or poet]… must inevitably be judged by the standards of the past.” This essay was one of the most important works of the school of New Criticism. Specifically, it introduced the idea that the value of one work of art must be viewed in the context of all previous work—a “simultaneous order” or works. * * * * * * * * * * * At Ezra Pound’s suggestion, the poem was reduced to half the length of earlier