Reading T. S. Eliot: The Rose Garden and After (1930s–1950s)(Routledge Studies in Twentieth-Century Literature)

In “Burnt Norton”, the poetic speaker enters a rose garden, a space of envisioned timeless illumination. This experience sets in motion a spiritual quest, which will confer unity upon Four Quartets. For the poet himself, it inaugurates a creative phase (mid-1930s to late-1950s) that strengthens his sense of faith and community. Eliot, increasingly interested in playwriting, completed his meditative masterpiece (Four Quartets) while undertaking his ambitious project to revive verse drama. Devotion to drama reflects Eliot’s stronger social awareness, leading him to adopt popular forms: the pageant (The Rock), drawing-room comedy (The Cocktail Party, The Confidential Clerk, The Elder Statesman) and children’s literature (Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats). As a critic, he widened his scope to write about social issues (The Idea of a Christian Society, Notes Towards a Definition of Culture). These aspects of Eliot’s career are influenced by concrete historical and biographical circumstances such as the impact of war and his ongoing relationship with Emily Hale, who played a decisive role as his muse, guide, and mentor in his newfound passion for the stage. Reading T. S. Eliot: The Rose Garden and After (1930s-1950s) presents original work by numerous scholars addressing these facets of Eliot’s writing.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: ‘Through the First Gate,’ into the Rose Garden and Beyond Dídac Llorens-Cubedo and Viorica Patea, Part I The Poet, the Rose Garden, and the Playhouse (1930s) Poetics of the Incarnation: T. S. Eliot’s Four Quartets Barry Spurr Experiencing Murder in the Cathedral: How Can ‘Indicative Criticism’ Position Audiences to Appreciate the Play Charles Altieri ‘That moment of mystery’: Eliot’s Practical Cats as a Turning Point Ester Díaz Morillo To Speak Poetry: Eliot’s Project to Revive Verse Drama Natalia Carbajosa Palmero ‘Chiefly your doing’: Emily Hale and the Making of a Playwright Sara Fitzgerald Part II Full-Time Dramatist with a Vision (late 1930s-late 1950s) T. S. Eliot and Classical Drama Peter Liebregts Eliot, Aeschylus, and Aristotle: Theme and Plot in The Family Reunion Jewel Spears Brooker Protean Self and Anagnorisis through Art in T. S. Eliot’s The Confidential Clerk Leonor María Martínez Serrano ‘Proper Sowing’ and ‘right action’ in Eliot’s Plays and Four Quartets Viorica Patea After Four Quartets: T. S. Eliot’s Comedies as Footnotes or Exempla Dídac Llorens-Cubedo Part III Critic with a Wider Scope (1940s-1960s) To Criticize the Dramatist: Eliot on His Plays Teresa Gibert The Responsibility of a Christian Thinker: T. S. Eliot, World War 2, and Post War Reconstruction Joana Rzepa Patristic Christianity in T. S. Eliot’s Philosophy of Education John Rhett Forman Christopher Dawson and Eliot on Culture and Politics Benjamin Lockerd

About the Author :
Dídac Llorens-Cubedo is Associate Professor of English at the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED, Spain). He has published T. S. Eliot and Salvador Espriu: Converging Poetic Imaginations (2013) and co-edited New Literatures of Old: Dialogues of Tradition and Innovation in Anglophone Literatures (2008) and T. S. Eliot. Teatro Completo (2022). Viorica Patea is Professor of English Literature at the University of Salamanca. She has published books on Sylvia Plath, Ezra Pound, and T.S. Eliot. Her edited books include Short Story Theories (2012), Modernism Revisited (2007) with Paul Scott Derrick, and Ezra Pound & the Spanish World (2024) with John Gery.