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T. S. Eliot

Poetry & Plays

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T.S. Eliot, 1888-1965

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Titles to Look Out For:
1939. The Family Reunion [play]

Titles about T.S. Eliot to Look Out For:
1988. T.S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral by Paul Lapworth

About the Author:
T. S. Eliot was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1888 to New England stock and was educated at Harvard in different disciplines. At the age of 26, he made his permanent home in England, becoming a British subject in 1927. He was married twice, both times to an English wife. The first marriage was not a happy one-his wife had mental problems; but the second marriage was a happy union.
During his time in England, he played a pivotal role in creating the Modern movement-a deliberate turning away from what was left of the influence of Romantic poetry. The poetry of the Modern movement would have contrasted with the last manifestation of that sensitive school of poetry, the Georgians.
Eliot also wrote critical works, writing new views of established authors; these works reinforced his poetic "revolution".
Eliot rediscovered Christianity in the late 1920s (the Anglican church) after years of spiritual searching without firm allegiance. After this rediscovery, all of his work was Christian in its outlook-for example the poems 'Ash Wednesday' and the Ariel poems ('Journey of the Magi', 'A song for Simeon' and 'Marina')
The newly found Christian beliefs pushed Eliot to try and get his message across to a wider audience and he realised that he could use the theatre to do this. 'Murder in the Cathedral' was a product of this realisation.
The success of 'Murder in the Cathedral' encouraged Eliot to try and establish a modern poetic drama, although this was disrupted by World War II. Eliot completed the Four Quartets during WWII, resuming his search for a suitable poetic drama for his audience, namely 'The Cocktail Party' and two further plays.
For further details of T.S. Eliot's life, try Caroline Behr's 'T.S. Eliot: A Chronology of his Life and Work'.

T. S. Eliot at Amazon:

 

 

Eliot, T.S. 'The Family Reunion', published in 1983 by Faber & Faber, pbk, 126pp, ISBN 0571054455. Condition: Good, clean ex-library copy, with some library markings as you'd expect. Has a plastic cover protecting the exterior of the book. Price: £1.40, not including p&p, which is Amazon's standard charge (currently £2.75 for UK buyers, more for overseas customers)
1983, Faber & Faber, pbk
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  • The Family Reunion [top]
    First published in Great Britain in 1939 by Faber & Faber.
    First published in 1963 in the Faber & Faber paperback edition
    Reprinted 1966, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1979 and 1983
    1983:pbk, 126pp, ISBN 0571054455

Setting of the play: The scene is laid in a country house in the North of England

Roles:

Female Roles Description Male Roles Description
Amy Dowager Lady Monchensey Colonel The Honourable Gerald Piper Brothers of Amy's (Dowager Lady Monchensey's) Deceased Husband
Ivy Younger sister of Amy Honourable Charles Piper
Violet Younger sister of Amy Harry Lord Monchensey, Amy's eldest son
Agatha Younger sister of Amy Downing Harry's servant and chauffeur
Mary Daughter of a deceased cousin of Lady Monchensey Dr Warburton Same
Denman Parlourmaid Sergeant Winchell Same

There is also a role called 'The Eumenides' in the play and this appears to be non-speaking and made of several persons (number undefined). The Eumenides is really The Furies by a sycophantic name "The Gracious Ones"

Lapworth, Paul. 'T.S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral', published in 1988 by Macmillan Master Guides, paperback, ISBN 0333372050. Condition: ex-library, quite clean, protected by plastic cover on the exterior. Internal pages mildly tanned with age and there are a few library stamps. Price: £1.85, not including p&p, which is Amazon's standard charge (currently £2.75 for UK buyers, more for overseas customers)
1988, Macmillan Master Guides
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Contents:
General Editor's preface; Acknowledgements; Summary

1. Life and Background
1.1 Life
1.2 Eliot the poetic theorist
1.3 Place in Eliot's writing
1.4 The occasion
1.5. The play's treatment of history

2. Summaries and critical commentary
Part One; Interlude: the Sermon; Part Two

3. What the play is about:
3.1 A process of awareness
3.2 Medieval martyr and the nature of martyrdom
3.3 Relevance of the hero for the 1930s
3.4 Martyrdom's modern significance
3.5 God enters time

4. Technical Features
4.1 Plot and Structure
(a) Exposition and story
(b) Formal Structure
(c) The parts of the play
(d) Linking the parts
(e) Tragic pattern
4.2 Characterisation
(a) Thomas
(b) The Chorus
(c) The Priests
(d) Tempters and Knights
4.3 Verse drama
(a) The choice of verse
(b) Imagery
(c) Dramatic Styles

5. Specimen passage and commentary
6. Critical Reception
7. The Modern Verse Drama Movement

Revision questions
Further Reading

 

 



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