T.S. Eliot: A Study in Character and Style

by Ronald Bush

In this major new study, Ronald Bush probes the complex relationship between the life and work of T.S. Eliot, "one of the most subjective and daemonic poets who ever lived, the victim and helpless beneficiary of his own inexorable compulsions and obsessions."(Randall Jarrell) Bush
demonstrates how Eliot's character was torn by the same conflict that charged his greatest an almost unbearable tension between romantic yearning and intellectual detachment. Skillfully combining biography and literary analysis, he examines all the factors that contributed to Eliot's
personal development and explains why these elements were necessary to the production of his poems. From "Prufrock" and The Waste Land through Four Quarters , Bush traces Eliot's journey of artistic development and relates how his work set the standard for all of twentieth-century writing. An
indispensable and beautifully crafted work, T.S. A Study in Character and Style makes a major contribution to the scholarship on one of this century's most significant artists.

Genres: Literary Criticism

300 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

Reviews

[Ella Bloom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't say that this book was an exceptionally interesting read, but it was an important one for the context of my future in the scholarly and literary world. T.S. Eliot is one of my favorite poets, and Bush's commentary brought his words to life. I enjoyed the different levels of Eliot's poetry that he was able to reveal and expose, the religious themes and patriotic messages woven into his words. I feel as though I have garnered a new appreciation for what Eliot does, as an author, and how his works function as reflections of all those who came before him, such as Dante and Yeats. Bush expressed invaluable insights into Eliot's mind, although tortured as it was, that was able to produce such beautiful works that stand as emblems, as the definition of what post-modern poetry should be. As Bush unlocks what makes Eliot's poetry so transcendental, he invites us onto this journey alongside him, as archaeologists, to excavate the meaning of his works and bring it to the surface.

One of the most difficult reads I've had in a long time, but it was incredibly rewarding, in the sense that I opened a window through which I can peer into the soul of Eliot, as now I understand the central driving forces behind each of his works, as well as his own internal conflicts that spurred him to creation.

[Mills College Library]

Biog E427b 1983