Central University of Kashmir.

Assignment on: ELIOT AND HIS AGE. ELIOT AS A Dramatist.

Submitted by: Faizaa Aijaz.
Enrollment no.:2103-cukmr-04.
Program: M.A English.
Semester:2nd.
Course: MEG 202: ENGLISH DRAMA: FROM DRYDEN TO ELIOT.
Submitted to: Dr. Huda.
Dept, of English.
CUK.
Date:
ELIOT AND HIS AGE. ELIOT AS A Dramatist:
Modernism: in a broader sense, is modern thought, character, or practice breaking away
from the rules, traditions and existing ways of writing practiced by earlier authors before the
20th century. In art, modernism breaks away with the ideology of realism and makes use of
past through the use of flashback, recapitulation, and incorporation. This rebellious attitude
flourishes between 1900 and 1930 have, as its basis, the rejection of European culture for
having become too corrupt and artificial. This dissatisfaction with the moral bankruptcy of
everything European led modern thinkers and artists to explore other alternatives, especially
primitive cultures. In literature, ‘modernism’ grows out as a reaction to realism and
naturalism. Generally literary texts after World War I as well as belonging the above qualities
are considered as modern text.

Modernism in Literary texts: In literature, Literary Modernism has its origins in the

late 19th and early 20th centuries, mainly in Europe and North America. The period of high
modernism is twenty years from 1910 to 1930. Some of the high priests of the movement in
literature are T.S. Eliot, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Wallace Stevens, Franz Kafka etc.
First of all, a new emphasis on impressionism and subjectivism which focus on how we see
rather what we see. In this regard a new literary technique, stream of consciousness’, is
employed by James Joyce and his followers such as Virginia Woolf in their writings. Then,
regarding narrative technique modernist literary texts are away from the apparent objectivity
provided by such features as: omniscient external narration, fixed narrative point of view.
However, language is also an important device of modernism to differentiate a literary text
from other texts. In modern literary text emphasizes on colloquial language rather than formal
language.  Finally, a new liking for fragmented forms, discontinuous narratives are obvious in
modernist literary texts. For example- Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett, The Waste
Land by T.S. Eliot are superb example of fragmented forms.

Eliot As a Dramatist: Eliot's fame as a dramatist rest on five plays: (1) Murder in the
Cathedral (2) The Family Reunion (3) The Cocktail Party (4) Confidential Clerk (5) The
Elder Statesman.  T. S. Eliot aimed at reviving poetic drama by writing these plays. His
writing considerably influenced the course of modern English drama.   Eliot's plays must be
examined against the light of his intention which was to bring poetic drama back to the
modern age.  He faithfully kept up the exploration and experimentation that he said was
necessary in achieving greater approximation to the unattainable ideal" of poetic drama. The
plays are the practical applications of his theory of poetic drama and in each, one can observe
his technical skill as a poet. They are in a way, a continuation of his poetry; his attempts to
carry to a larger and wider audience, the themes of his poetry.   Eliot was capable of viewing
his last piece of work with critical detachment and taking up the next work with the intention
of avoiding the mistakes he had made in the earlier one.  Aware that the earlier attempts of
authors at poetic drama had failed because of their lifeless imitations of Elizabethan blank
verse, Eliot turned to an earlier model that of Everyman. But his aim was to forge a new form
suitable for his plays. He managed to develop a flexible verse form from contemporary idiom
which would serve all his purposes. All his plays have in common a preoccupation with the
nature of sainthood and the ability of a saint's death to benefit the life of others. This is, of
course, most obvious in Murder in the Cathedral. All the plays have a kind of double pattern.
On one level, they entertain; on the other hand, they provoke thought on a higher plane.
Eliot's plays embody his tragic sense of life which comes from the awareness of the mystery
and inevitability of suffering. The human condition implies suffering. The choice they make
in a certain situation reveals their character and the level of consciousness they have
achieved. Thomas in Murder in the Cathedral is at the top of the scale in spiritual awareness
and he chooses martyrdom. The element of tragedy in all his plays comes from the awareness
that Man is imperfect, and that he suffers owing to the original sin. Traditional dramatic
categories cannot be applied to Eliot's plays. They cannot be termed either as tragedies or as
comedies. A.G. George calls them "existential plays".  The fault most often found in his play
is that his characters are not individuals and thus lack reality. Another criticism is against the
inclusion of artificial on supernatural elements such as the Furies and the spiritual guardians
Julia and Alec. The sudden switch from a light sense of social comedy to serious and intense
philosophical dialogue is somewhat disconcerting. These are the various criticisms made
against Eliot's plays. The experience presented in the play is also said to be too remote from
ordinary life, to make effective drama.  Eliot's achievement and greatness cannot be
diminished in the light of the criticism levelled against him. At his highest moments he
achieves that fusion of drama and poetry which he advocated. The speech of the Chorus in
Murder in the Cathedral is one clear example of such a fusion . Technically, Eliot
achieved a great deal with his power of phrasing and the careful use of words. His plays are,
undoubtedly, great literature and as such are assured of a permanent place in dramatic
literature.

WORK CITED: Ash, Jackiey. “T.S. Eliot as a Dramatist: Achievements.” Literature

Analysis, Blogger, 17 July 2022, https://www.englishliterature.info/2021/04/t-s-eliot-
as-dramatist-achievements.html.

“Modernism.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 29 June 2022,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernism.

Peter Faulkner, Modernism (Taylor & Francis, 1990). p. 60.