T.S. Eliot, a towering figure in 20th-century literature, remains a subject of intense study and admiration. His complex poetry, particularly Four Quartets and The Waste Land, challenges readers with its dense allusions, fragmented structure, and profound exploration of modern consciousness. This guide provides an in-depth look at Eliot’s works, examining his key themes, philosophical influences, and enduring impact.
Understanding Eliot’s Philosophical Landscape
One fascinating aspect of engaging with Eliot’s poetry is the intersection of diverse philosophical perspectives. While often viewed through a religious lens, a closer examination reveals the influence of Aristotelian, Kantian, Freudian, and Wittgensteinian thought. By understanding these underlying philosophical currents, readers can unlock deeper layers of meaning in Eliot’s work.
Aristotelian Echoes in Eliot’s Verse
Aristotle’s “Poetics” offers a valuable framework for understanding Eliot’s approach to poetry. Aristotle emphasizes the importance of “plot” as an imitation of reality through language. He posits that humans learn through imitation and find delight in narratives, even those depicting terrible scenes. Eliot employs “metre” and “rhythm,” techniques discussed by Aristotle, to varying degrees in his poetry. Like Homer, who focused on the actions of men, Eliot introduces memorable characters such as J. Alfred Prufrock and Tiresias, inviting readers to contemplate the human condition.
Candles illuminating a reflective surface
The cathartic elements of pity and fear, central to Greek tragedy, are also prominent in Eliot’s work, driving readers towards the “overwhelming question” – the Platonic and Aristotelian idea of the Good. Aristotle asserts that “every action and choice is thought to aim at some good.” This pursuit of knowledge, especially the challenging task of understanding the soul, as described in Metaphysics informs the complexities of Eliot’s poetic exploration.
Four Quartets: A Journey Towards Simplicity
The conclusion of Four Quartets, specifically Little Gidding, offers a glimpse of hope and resolution. The lines:
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)
And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well
When the tongues of flames are in-folded
Into the crowned knot of fire
And the fire and the rose are one.
These lines suggest that peace and fulfillment are attainable through simplicity and sacrifice. The image of the rose, traditionally associated with tranquility, merging with fire symbolizes a profound transformation. This transformative process echoes the Aristotelian idea that achieving the good requires both the desire for it and significant effort, aligning with the concepts of areté (virtuous activity) and epistemé (knowledge). Through tragedy and epic, Eliot weaves a narrative focused on thought and action, constantly striving to formulate and resolve the “overwhelming question” related to life and death.
Thomas Howard’s interpretation of Eliot’s images as “cases in point” rather than mere symbols helps to avoid overly esoteric interpretations. Thinking, for Eliot, is intertwined with spoken discourse, mirroring Aristotle’s view of humans as rational animals capable of discourse. Eliot identifies four types of thinking: discourse with others, discourse with one other, discourse with oneself, and discourse with God. This interplay of thought and action, guided by Aristotelian “Form,” reflects the human potential for a meaningful life. Aristotle emphasizes the significance of the “end” in shaping our actions and understanding.
Eliot, like many Catholics, embraces the idea of “salvation” and “being born again” through self-knowledge. This concept finds expression in the image “And the fire and the rose are one.” Drawing on Aristotelian hylomorphism, Thomas Howard uses the image of an acorn containing the oak within as a metaphor for transformation. The acorn sacrifices its being to become a majestic oak. Human life, according to both Aristotle and Eliot, shares this hylomorphic characteristic, distinguished by its capacity to contemplate immortality and aspire to divine “everlasting life.” This pursuit demands focused attention, rejecting distractions in favor of disciplined knowledge and compassionate understanding.
The Aristotelian elements of Earth, Air, Water, and Fire, along with the qualities of hot and cold, wet and dry, shape our environment and its cyclical patterns. As Eliot writes in East Coker:
In my beginning is my end. In successionHouses rise and fall, crumble, are extended,Are removed, destroyed, restored, or in their placeIs an open field, or a factory, or a by-pass.Old stone to new building, old timber to new fires,Old fires to ashes, and ashes to the earthWhich is already flesh, fur and faeces,Bone of man and beast, cornstalk and leaf.Houses live and die: there is a time for buildingAnd a time for living and for generationAnd a time for the wind to break the loosened paneAnd to shake the wainscot where the field-mouse trotsAnd to shake the tattered arras woven with a silent motto.
This cyclical view of existence, where beginnings contain ends, emphasizes the transient nature of material things and the enduring cycle of life and death.
Time and the Human Condition
Thomas Howard rightly identifies “Four Quartets” as a meditation on “time.” Drawing from Ecclesiastes (“There is a time for everything under heaven”), Eliot explores the nature of time through different lenses. Aristotle defined time as “the measurement of motion in terms of before and after,” measured by celestial bodies like the sun.
In The Dry Salvages, Eliot captures the multifaceted nature of time:
The sea has many voices,Many gods and many voices. The salt is on the briar rose,The fog is in the fir trees.The sea howlAnd the sea yelp, are different voicesOften together heard: the whine in the rigging,The menace and caress of wave that breaks on water,The distant rote in the granite teeth,And the wailing warning from the approaching headlandAre all sea voices, and the heaving groanerRounded homewards, and the seagull:And under the oppression of the silent fogThe tolling bellMeasures time not our time, rung by the unhurriedGround swell, a timeOlder than the time of chronometers, olderThan time counted by anxious worried womenLying awake, calculating the future,Trying to unweave, unwind, unravelAnd piece together the past and the future,Between midnight and dawn, when the past is all deception,The future futureless, before the morning watchWhen time stops and time is never ending;And the ground swell, that is and was from the beginning,ClangsThe bell.
The sea’s time is distinct from human time, measured by a different rhythm. This contrast highlights the limitations of human perception and the enduring power of natural cycles. While houses may endure for centuries, the “winds of destruction” will eventually dismantle them. Yet, poetry and historical accounts can preserve memories and offer “sharp compassion.” Aristotle emphasized the poet’s task of vividly presenting scenes before the eyes, capturing the essence of human experience.
From Tragedy to Transformation
Eliot’s Four Quartets can be seen as the story of man, the “rational animal capable of discourse.” The story begins with the trees of life and knowledge in a garden and culminates in a garden where the task is to strive for a good-spirited life in the face of distractions, and facing challenges with resilience.
Eliot, through Virgil and Dante, projects his sense of space and place, emphasizing the limitations of materialistic explanations. Individual salvation takes precedence over the salvation of the city or civilization, as the Roman Empire, despite its military might, failed to achieve lasting peace. The earthly city, according to Augustine, carries the seeds of its own destruction, a warning echoed by the Delphic oracle. This perspective connects with the Christian concept of man as a sinner and the Greek emphasis on areté, epistemé, and diké as means of societal rescue. The modern scenes in The Waste Land and Four Quartets, informed by Freud’s “Civilization and its Discontents,” serve as “cases in point” of the lack of meaning in the modern world. These images represent De Civitate Terrana, highlighting the spiritual being’s quest for De Civitate Dei.
The Poet’s Role: Imitation and Judgment
Aristotle states that “The poet being an imitator just like the painter or other maker of likenesses, he must necessarily in all instances represent things in one or other of three aspects, either as they were or are, or as they are said or thought to be or to have been, or as they ought to be.” Eliot uses language in all three aspects: reporting facts, conveying perceptions, and expressing moral judgments. He uses language categorically, to evaluate representations and pass judgements upon them.
The “temporal city” relies on laws created in a categorical spirit. Solon’s laws, which freed the poor and fostered a middle class, exemplify this spirit. Both Solon and Aristotle aimed for the Good, a state resembling De Civitate Dei.
Both Aristotle and Kant viewed the city-state as a hylomorphic phenomenon, evolving over time towards the Good. However, the Delphic prophecy reminds us that “everything created by man is destined for ruin and destruction.” Man’s rationality is imperfect, leading to unstable city-states. Eliot’s Four Quartets strives to liberate us from De civitate terrana by establishing the conditions for De civitate dei, fostering a good-spirited, flourishing life.
Knowing Thyself: Exploring the Soul
Aristotle’s “On the Soul” is a response to the Delphic challenge to “know thyself.” While popular religious views describe the soul as detachable from the body, the hylomorphic account focuses on a deeper understanding of “substance.”
Eliot’s references to the “voices” of gods and the symbolism of fire and the rose constitute an anthropomorphization of physical nature. Understanding the logos of potentiality surpasses the mere legitimation of “facts” through language that attempts to “picture” the world. Understanding and reason require knowledge, such as the knowledge of the human soul, characterized as a “rational animal capable of discourse.” God, for Aristotle, is defined more by his capacity for thinking than by his ability to create the universe. This view avoids unnecessary anthropomorphization. “Form” is understood in terms of Logos or principle, which is difficult to investigate and understand. The phrase “Immortality of the soul” can be understood in terms of “enduring in some form” over long periods of time.
Conclusion
T.S. Eliot’s poetry is a rich tapestry woven with philosophical threads, historical allusions, and profound reflections on the human condition. By exploring the Aristotelian influences and his use of language, readers can navigate the complexities of his work and gain a deeper appreciation for his enduring contribution to literature.
