美國文學TSEliot

1、 (1888-1965) American-born English poet, playwright, and literary critic arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century a major innovator in modern English poetry a leader of the modernist movement famous above all for his revolutionary poem The Waste Land (荒荒原原,1922) The Nobe

2、l Prize in Literature 1948 “for his outstanding, pioneer contribution to present-day poetry”T.S. Eliot receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature, December 1948. The vast accumulations of knowledge or at least of information deposited by the 19th century have been responsible for an equally vast ignor

3、ance. TS Eliot“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. ” - T. S. Eliot. 倫敦4月11日電 英國有一只貓每個月都會自己去搭公交車，而且都在同一站上車，在同一個地方下車，讓當?shù)孛癖姼械绞煮@奇。 據(jù)英國每日郵報10日報道，這只白色貓咪會搭乘英國331路公交車，而且都只搭乘一站就下車。這一有趣的現(xiàn)象最早是由該路公交車司機最早發(fā)現(xiàn)的。司機已經(jīng)為它取了“Macavity”的名字，取自艾略特的詩歌，意為神秘之意。 I. II. 2. The Waste

4、Land 3. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock 4. Four Quartets III. VI. literary critic essaysDrawing of Eliot by Simon Fieldhouse 廣州商學院2007年英美文學True or False10. The famous poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” was written by Ezra Pound.I. born in USA of a bourgeois family originally from New Eng

5、land, who had moved to St. Louis, Missouri. T. S. Eliot (1938)by Wyndham Lewis lived in St. Louis during the first 18 years of his lifeEducation Smith Academy in Saint Louis, US Milton Academy in Mass., US Harvard University, a B.A. and M.A. in philosophy the Sorbonne (索邦大學) in Paris, France Oxford

6、University, UK From 1898 to 1905, Eliot attended Smith Academy where his studies included Latin, Ancient Greek, French, and German. He began to write poetry when he was 14 under the influence of Edward Fitzgeralds Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam a translation of the poetry of Omar Khayyam He said the resul

7、ts were gloomy and despairing, and he destroyed them. After graduation, Eliot attended Milton Academy in Massachusetts for a preparatory year. He studied philosophy at Harvard from 1906 to 1909, earning his bachelors degree after three years, instead of the usual four. Eliot moved to Paris, where fr

8、om 1910-1911, he studied philosophy at the Sorbonne. He attended lectures by Henri Bergson. Eliot was awarded a scholarship to Merton College, Oxford in 1914 Eliot did not settle at Merton, and left after a year. He wrote: “I hate university towns and university people, who are the same everywhere,

9、with pregnant wives, sprawling children, many books and hideous pictures on the walls . Oxford is very pretty, but I dont like to be dead. In a letter in December 1914, Eliot, aged 26, wrote, “I am very dependent upon women.” Less than 4 months later, Thayer introduced Eliot to Vivienne Haigh-Wood,

10、a Cambridge governess. They were married at Hampstead Register Office in June, 1915 The philosopher Bertrand Russell took an interest in Vivienne while the newlyweds stayed in his flat. Some scholars have suggested that she and Russell had an affair, but the allegations were never confirmed. worked

11、first as a teacher then worked as a clerk for Lloyds Bank wrote poetry in his spare timeGeorge Orwell and T.S.Eliot It was in London that Eliot came under the influence of Ezra Pound, who recognized his poetic genius at once assisted in the publication of his work in a number of magazines, most nota

12、bly “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” in Poetry in 1915. Prufrock and Other Observations his first book of poems published in 1917 immediately established him as a leading poet of the avant-garde Eliots reputation began to grow to nearly mythic proportions with the publication of The Waste Land

13、in 1922 now considered by many to be the single most influential poetic work of the 20th centuryIn 1927, Eliot converted to Anglicanism from Unitarianism became a British citizen He specifically identified as Anglo-Catholic, proclaiming himself “classicist in literature, royalist in politics, and an

14、glo-catholic sic in religion.” Eliot renounced his citizenship to the United States and said: “My mind may be American but my heart is British.” In 1932, Eliot left Vivienne in England and went back to Harvard. Upon his return, he arranged for a formal separation from her. Vivienne was committed to

15、a mental hospital in 1938, and remained there until she died. Although Eliot was still legally her husband, he never visited her. In 1957, Eliot at the age of 68 married Esm Valerie Fletcher, who was 32.TS Eliot with his second wife Valerie. Aesthetic views 1. A poem should be an organic thing in it

16、self. Once it is finished, the poet will no longer have control of it. It should be judged, analyzed by itself without the interference of the poets personal influence. 2. Modern life is chaotic, futile, fragmentary, so poetry should reflect this fragmentary nature of life this kind nature of life s

17、hould be projected, not analyzed 3. The poet should draw upon tradition: use the past to serve the resent and future borrow from authors remote in time, alien in language, diverse in interest use the past to underscore what is missing from the presentTechniquesUse of 1. disconnected images/symbols 2

18、. literary allusions/references 3. highly expressive meter and rhythm of free verses 4. metaphysical whimsical images/whims 5. flexible tone The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, 阿爾弗雷德普魯弗洛克的情歌 , 1915 The Waste Land, 荒原 , 1922 The Hollow Men, 空心人 , 1925 Ash Wednesday, 圣灰星期三 , 1930 Four Quartets, 四個四重奏

19、 , 1944His belief: poetry should aim at a representation of the complexities of modern civilization in language such representation necessarily leads to difficult poetry. In rejecting the poetic values of the English romantics and Victorians, Eliot, along with William Butler Yeats and Ezra Pound, se

20、t new poetic standards equal to those established by James Joyce and Marcel Proust in fiction. Pablo Picasso: Les Demoiselles dAvignon (亞維農(nóng)的少女，1907)i. The Waste Land his most famous work written when he was 34Contents 1. Assessment 2. Synopsis: Five sections 3. Two allusions 4. Theme 5. Language &am

21、p; Form 6. Symbolic meaning of “waste land”Assessment The Waste Land, Eliots most important single poem, has been hailed as a landmark and a model of the 20th-century English poetry, comparable to Wordsworths Lyrical Ballads. expressed his horror at the spiritual turmoil of modern Europe. On one lev

22、el it describes cultural and spiritual crisis, reflected in its use of fragmentation and discontinuity. “NAMsibyllam quidem Cuimis eg ipse oculismeis vidi in ampulla pendere，et cum illi pueri dicerent:; repondebat illa: .”For Ezra Poundil miglior fabbro. “是的，我自己親眼看見古米的西比爾吊在一個籠子里。孩子們在問她：西比爾，你要什么，她回答說

23、：我要死。” 獻給埃茲拉龐德最卓越的匠人 The poem is 433 lines long and is divided into 5 sections, which are not logically constructed or connected. Synopsis: Five sections Section I. The Burial of the Dead Section II. A Game of Chess Section III. The Fire Sermon Section IV. Death by Water Section V. What the Thunder

24、SaidSection I: “The Burial of the Dead deals chiefly with The inhabitants in the modern Waste Land, who have lost the knowledge of good and evil, live a sterile, meaningless life. sterile lsterail adj.1 不能生殖的 2 貧瘠的 3枯燥無味的Salvador Dal: ThePersistenceofMemoryIn the last passage of the section, Eliot c

25、onnects the “unreal city” with the city of the dead modern London with Dantes Hell claimed that those who have no faith of religion are actually living dead. To bury the dead is to bury a memory, which brings no hope of growth or renewal. The first section, as the section title indicates, is about d

26、eath. The section begins with the words “April is the cruellest month,” which is perhaps one of the most remarked upon and most important references in the poem. Those familiar with Chaucers poem The Canterbury Tales will recognize that Eliot is taking Chaucers introductory line from the prologuewhi

27、ch is optimistic about the month of April and the regenerative, life-giving season of springand turning it on its head. Just as Chaucers line sets the tone for The Canterbury Tales, Eliots dark words inform the reader that this is going to be a dark poem. Throughout the rest of the first section, as

28、 he will do with the other four sections, Eliot shifts among several disconnected thoughts, speeches, and images. Collectively, the episodic scenes in lines 1 through 18 discuss the natural cycle of death, which is symbolized by the passing of the seasons. The first seven lines employ images of spri

29、ng, such as “breeding / Lilacs,” and “Dull roots with spring rain.” In line 8, Eliot tells the reader “Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee.” The time has shifted from spring to summer. And while the reference to Starnbergerseea lake south of Munich, Germanyhas been linked to various

30、aspects of Eliots past, to Eliots readers at the time the poem was published, it would have stuck out for other reasons, given that World War I had fairly recently ended.Section II: “A Game of Chess” giving a rather concrete illustration of the sterile situation A picture of spiritual emptiness is p

31、resented with the reproduction of a contemporary pub conversation between two cockney women. The discussion is constantly interrupted by the pub keepers “Hurry up please its time.”Section III, “The Fire Sermon,” expresses a painfully elegiac feeling by juxtaposing the vulgarity and shallowness of th

32、e modern with the beauty and simplicity of the past. What was once ritualistic meaningful is now despairing emptysection IV, “Death by Water” the drowned Phoenician(腓尼基人) Sailor is an emblem(象征) of futile(無意義的) worries over profit and loss, youth and age. With the curative and baptismal power of the

33、 water images, the drowned Phoenician Sailor also recalls the rebirth of the drowned god of the fertility cults, thus giving an instance of the conquest of death. Section V, “What the Thunder Said” The title appears to be derived from an Indian myth, in which the supreme Lord of the Creation speaks

34、through the thunder. Two allusions a. the Holy Grail b. the Fisher Kinga. the Holy Grail Eliot alludes to various ancient religions as well as to the Holy Grail, finding in them the common thread of the mythic cycle of the death and resurrection of gods. a medieval legend the dish, plate, or cup use

35、d by Jesus at the Last Supper, said to possess miraculous powers Joseph receives the Grail from an apparition of Jesus sends it with his followers to Great Britain uses the Grail to catch Christs blood while interring(埋葬) him a line of guardians to keep it safe in Britain The quest for the Holy Grai

36、l makes up an important segment of the Arthurian cycle.b. the Fisher King he found in a book by Jessie Weston, From Ritual to Romance a mythic figure whose loss of power or fertility produces a corresponding blight(枯萎, 凋零) or drought(干旱) in his kingdom the land be restored to fertility only through:

37、 the death of this king his replacement by a new, young, and vigorous knight Meditation on the state of Western civilization, especially regarding the sense of depression waste futility of the post-World War I eraTheme (1) presents physical disorder and spiritual decadence in the modern western soci

38、ety (2) reflects disillusion and despair of a whole post war generation, anguish, menace, sterility had been afflicting all sensitive members of the postwar generation.(3) concerns with the spiritual breakup of a modern civilization in which human life has lost its meaning (4) reflects the 20th cent

39、ury peoples disillusion and frustration in a meaningless and boring worldLanguage & Form modernist poetry irregular verse, at times free, at times reminiscent of the blank verse of Eliots plays English original with passages in other languages a series of fragmentary dramatic monologues a dense

40、chorus of voices and culture historical quotations, that fade one into another At Ezra Pounds suggestion, the poem was reduced to half the length of earlier drafts (the poem bears a dedication acknowledging Pound as il miglior fabbro, “the better craftsman”) complex scholarly annotations: Special cr

41、edit is given to the work of the anthropologist James Frazer, The Golden Bough Jessie Westons treatment of the Grail legends, From Ritual to RomanceSymbolic meaning of “waste land”The “waste land” in the poem as 1. modern culture having drifted away from its spiritual roots 2. trope(比喻) of destructi

42、ve repetition controlling human history 3. loss of touch with cycles of life and nature 4. images of desolation sterility dryness waste 5. image of a society that feeds upon itself and also lies mired in its own waste.social significanceThe Waste Land is a poem concerned with the spiritual breakup o

43、f a modem civilization in which human life has lost its meaning, significance and purpose. The poem has developed a whole set of historical, cultural and religious themes. It is often regarded as being primarily a reflection of the 20th-century peoples disillusionment and frustration in a sterile(貧瘠

44、的）and futile(無用的) society. 3. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock 1. The Work 2. The characteristics 3. Theme started in 1910 published in Chicago in 1915 the poem that made his name regarded as a masterpiece of the modernist movementLET us go then, you and I, When the evening is spread out against

45、the sky Like a patient etherised upon a table;1. Explanation of the Title original title of this poem: “Prufrock Among the Women”. Eliot took the last name of the title character from a sign advertising the William Prufrock furniture company, a business in Eliots hometown.Type of Work: Dramatic Mono

46、loguePrufrock： a modernistic poem in the form of a dramatic monologuedramatic monologue a form invented and practiced principally by Robert Browning Alfred Tennyson Dante Rossetti other Victorians A dramatic monologue presents a moment in which a narrator/speaker discusses a topic in so doing, revea

47、ls his personal feelings to a listener During his discourse, the speaker intentionally and unintentionally reveals information about himself. The main focus of a dramatic monologue is this personal information, not the speakers topic. A dramatic monologue is a type of character study.The Speaker/Nar

48、rator a balding, insecure middle-aged man, who expresses his thoughts about the dull, uneventful, mediocre life he leads as a result of his feelings of inadequacy his fear of making decisions Unable to seize opportunities or take risks (especially with women), he lives in a world that is the same to

49、day as it was yesterday and will be the same tomorrow as it is today. He does try to make progress, but his timidity and fear of failure inhibit him from taking action.Setting The action takes place in the evening in a bleak section of a smoky city. probably St. Louis, London, or any city anywhereCh

50、aracters (1) J. Alfred Prufrock (2) The Listener (3) The Women (4) The Lonely Men in ShirtsleevesJ. Alfred Prufrock the speaker/narrator a timid, overcautious middle-aged man neurotic （神經(jīng)質的） self-important, illogical incapable of action an interesting tragic figure He escorts his silent listener thr

51、ough streets in a shabby part of a city, past cheap hotels and restaurants, to a social gathering where women he would like to meet are conversing. However, he is hesitant to take part in the activity for fear of making a fool of himself. a man caught in a sense of defeated idealism and tortured by

52、unsatisfied desire dare not to seek love because even if he could find it, it would not satisfy his needs He compares himself with Hamlet. As a result of his timidity he has become incapable of action of any sort. The Listener An unidentified companion of Prufrock. The listener could also be Prufroc

53、ks inner self, one that prods him but fails to move him to action.The Women Women at a social gathering. Prufrock would like to meet one of them but worries that she will look down on him.The Lonely Men in Shirtsleeves Leaning out of their windows, they smoke pipes. They are like Prufrock in that th

54、ey look upon a scene but do not become part of it. The smoke from their pipes helps form the haze over the city, the haze that serves as a metaphor for a timid catwhich is Prufrock.Themes a. Loneliness and Alienation b. Indecision c. Inadequacy d. Pessimisma. Loneliness and Alienation Prufrock is a

55、pathetic man whose anxieties and obsessions have isolated him. an ironic contrast between a pretended “l(fā)ove song” and a confession of the speakers incapability of facing up to love and to life in a sterile upper-class worldb. Indecision Prufrock resists making decisions for fear that their outcomes

56、will turn out wrong.c. Inadequacy Prufrock continually worries that he will make a fool of himself and that people will ridicule him for his clothes, his bald spot, and his overall physical appearance.d. Pessimism Prufrock sees only the negative side of his own life and the lives of others.Style Con

57、versational Language Combined With the Stylized Language of Poetry Variations in Line Length and Meter Shifts in the Train of Thought Shifts in Topics Under Discussion Shifts From Abstract to Concrete (and Universal to Particular) Shifts From Obvious Allusions or References to Oblique Allusions or R

58、eferencesVI. VI. Four Quartets Eliots last major poetic sequence, written in four sections from 1935 to 1942 he believed to be his finest achievement religious in a very broad sense more personal than the previous poems exquisitely lyrical and musical in structurethemetheme based on the Christian do

59、gmas of incarnation and resurrection concerned with the quest for the immortal element, the stillness within time or history Man, disillusioned and hopeless in his early poetry, now finds reconciliation in God. Murder in the Cathedral, 大教堂謀殺案大教堂謀殺案, 1935 -his best-known play The Family Reunion, 家庭聚會

60、家庭聚會, 1939The Cocktail Party, 雞尾酒會雞尾酒會, 1950The Confidential Clerk, 1954The Elder Statesman, 1958Major 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.