ThomasStearnsEliot解读

(ThomasStearnsEliot)T.S.EliotCVbornSeptember26,1888,St.Louis,Missouri,UnitedStatesdiedJanuary4,1965(aged76),London,Englandoccuptationpoet,dramatist,critic.Nationality:firstAmerican,thenEnglishin1927.Literature:modernismNotableprize:NobelPrizeinLiteraturein1948.LifeBirthandfamilybackground:borninawealthyfamilyofAmerica,parentswerewellculturedEducation:receivedagoodeducationwhenhewasyoung,especiallyclassicalliterature;studiedinHarvardin1906;studiedinParisandOxfordaftergettinghisM.A.degreeMarriage:sufferedintensely,unhappy(workingasateacherandabankclerkwhilecomposingpoetry)Hewasthesonofaprominentindustrialistwhocamefromawell-connectedBostonfamily.Eliotalwaysfeltthelossofhisfamily’sNewEnglandrootsandseemedtobesomewhatashamedofhisfather’sbusinesssuccess;throughouthislifehecontinuallysoughttoreturntotheepicenterofAnglo-Saxonculture,firstbyattendingHarvardandthenbyemigratingtoEngland,wherehelivedfrom1914untilhisdeath.EliotbegangraduatestudyinphilosophyatHarvardandcompletedhisdissertation,althoughtheoutbreakofWorldWarIpreventedhimfromtakinghisexaminationsandreceivingthedegree.Bythattime,though,Eliothadalreadywritten“TheLoveSongofJ.AlfredPrufrock,”andtheWar,whichkepthiminEngland,ledhimtodecidetopursuepoetryfull-time.SmithAcademyMiltonAcademyHarvardSorbonne1906-19101898to19051905Education1910-1911Oxford.19141911-1914THEMEDeath(fourkindsofdeath)SexualityLostgenerationThemodernsocietyfutileandchaoticReligionWarSUBJECTFaith&Doubt,SocialCommentaries,Cities&UrbanLife,Disappointment&Failure,Living,Religion,Nature,WintermajorworksPoetTheLoveSongofJ.AlfredPrufrock(1911)TheWasteLand(1922)(荒原)HollowMan(1925)AshWednesday(1930)FourQuartets(1943)(NoblePrizeforliterature)DramatistSweeneyAginistes《力士斯威尼》MurderintheCathedral《大教堂凶杀案》TheCocktailParty《鸡尾酒会》TheConfidentialClerk《机要秘书》TheFamilyReunion《全家团聚》CritictheSacredWood《神木》EssaysonStyleandOrder《风格及秩序论文集》ElizabethanEssays《伊丽莎白论文集》AfterStrangeGods《拜异教之神》EliotmetEzraPoundin1914,aswell,anditwasPoundwhowashismainmentorandeditorandwhogothispoemspublishedandnoticed.Duringa1921breakfromhisjobasabankclerk(torecoverfromamentalbreakdown),Eliotfinishedtheworkthatwastosecurehimfame,TheWasteLand.Thispoem,heavilyeditedbyPoundandperhapsalsobyEliot’swife,Vivien,addressedthefragmentationandalienationcharacteristicofmodernculture,makinguseofthesefragmentstocreateanewkindofpoetry.PoetryEliot’searlypoeticalworksemployingmyths,religioussymbolism,andliteraryallusion,signifiedabreakwith19th-centurypoetictraditions,expresstheanguishandbarrennessofmodernlifeandtheisolationoftheindividual,particularlyasreflectedinthefailureoflove.Eliotturnedfromspiritualdesolationtohopeforhumansalvation.Hispoetrypresentsdifficultiesofnumerousallusions,useofforeignlanguage,useofmetaphysicalconceit,andanabsenceofobviousnarrativestructure.TheWasteLand,consideredtobearemarkableandextraordinaryachievement,dealswiththefailureofWesterncivilizationasshownbyWorldWarI.PlaysAccordingtohistheory,versedramashouldconformtonatual-rhythmandnotbeconsciouslypoetic.Hisplaysarewritteninablankverseofhisowninvention,inwhichthemetricaleffectisnotseparatedfromthemeaning,thusbringingpoeticaldramatothepopularstage.CriticismEliotwasanextraordinarilyinfluentialcritic,rejectingRomanticnotionsofunfetteredoriginalityandarguingfortheimpersonalityofgreatart.HislatercriticismattemptstosupportChristiancultureagainstwhathesawastheemptyandfragmentedvaluesofsecularism.HisAestheticViewsApoemshouldbeanorganicthinginitself,amadeobject.Onceitisfinished,thepoetwillnolongerhavecontrolofit.Itshouldbejudged,analyzedbyitselfwithouttheinterferenceofthepoet’spersonalinfluenceandintentionalelementsandotherelements.LiteraryCareerFirstperiod1911TheLoveSongofJ.AlfredPrufrock《J.阿尔弗雷德·普鲁弗洛克的情歌》—thefirstmasterpieceofModernisminEnglish1917PrufrockandOtherObservations《普鲁弗洛克及其他》—FirstvolumeofpoetrySecondperiod1922TheWasteLand《荒原》:Eliot’sepochalmasterpiece,arepresentativeworkoftheHighModernismofthe1920s1925TheHollowMan《透明人》:thespiritualandemotionalaridityofmodernmen，exhibitingapessimismThirdperiod1930AshWednesday《圣灰星期三》1943FourQuartets《四个四重奏》—NoblePrizeforliteraturein1948Literarycriticism:SelectedEssays1932,TheUsesofPoetry1933,OnPoetryandPoets1957,etc1935-1958verseplays:MurderintheCathedral《大教堂中的谋杀》preludesPreludesisapoemcomposedbetween1910and1911inFranceandUS.Itisinturnsliteralandimpressionistic,exploringthesordidandsolitaryexistencesofthespirituallymoiledastheyplayoutagainstthebackdropofthedrabmoderncity.Inessence,itisfourpoemsratherthanone,anditisdulylabelledassuch.itcomestojust54lines.Itsfourpartsareuneven,irregularandwritteninfreeversesymptomaticofthespeaker'sstreamofconsciousness.PartIisthirteenlines,partIIten,partIIIfifteenandpartIVsixteen.PreludesIThewintereveningsettlesdownWithsmellofsteaksinpassageways.Sixo’clock.Theburnt-outendsofsmokydays.AndnowagustyshowerwrapsThegrimyscrapsOfwitheredleavesaboutyourfeetAndnewspapersfromvacantlots;TheshowersbeatOnbrokenblindsandchimney-pots,AndatthecornerofthestreetAlonelyca