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T. S. Eliot, the greatly esteemed American author of many poems, plays, and critical essays, held opinions of poetry and drama that might be classified as flavors of the week. Unlike more recent—meaning, the 1960’s until today—critical essayists such as Battaille, Foucault, and Lacan who have gained a greater following, especially among the scholarly types, T. S. Eliot’s opinions have aged, and with the Postmodernist movement his ideas became stale and are now used as references and footnotes, rather than referenced frequently in critical essays as of late.
Eliot’s appeal might best be recognized as his criticism of literary criticism. In his essay “The Perfect Critic”, Eliot opens by stating plainly that Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “was perhaps the greatest of English critics, and in a sense the last.” (Perfect, 1) Elliot’s definition is based upon the pure form that Coleridge emphases in his attempt at a critical approach of a work of poetry or prose. Coleridge held metaphysical beliefs, as did many of his contemporaries during the 17th century, which lent to a straightforward, direct approach to a criticism of a literary subject. Unlike those who came after Coleridge, whose critical responses were a reflection of the critic’s origins and not simply the response to a particular work, Eliot states that critics of more modern times misinterpreted a work of prose or poetry, placing in their criticisms an opinion that is impressionist in nature. Eliot uses Arthur Symons for an example of an “impressionist critic”, showing in his essay how Symons recounts the play Antony and Cleopatra, explaining the events verbatim while interjecting opinions as each subset of activity is retold. As Eliot writes about Symons, “Presented in this rather unfair way, torn apart like the leaves of an artichoke, the impressions of Mr. ... ” (Perfect, 3) And yes, although it is far easier for a simpler mind to conceive of the events being told in the play, the play, Eliot writes, is one that many people are already acquainted with, hold their own opinions on, and so forth.
Approximate Word count = 1559
Approximate Pages = 6.2
(250 words per page double spaced)
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