Dante Under The Influence Of T S. Eliot,

This dissertation attempts to define the impact of Dante upon T. S. Eliot's poetry and criticism, and argues that Eliot's literary, religious, social, and political thought, as revealed in his works, is profoundly Dantean. And it is a shortcut to expound Eliot's miscellaneous thoughts in the light of Dante.Firstly, this dissertation concentrates on Dante's critical thoughts and Eliot's criticism on Dantean language, and reaches the conclusion that Dante's merits such as the usage of vernacular language, the lucid visual imagery, the universal language and the abundant allegorical implications, are confirmed by Eliot as the evidence that Dante is a language master. Then through the close reading of Eliot's most representative works, the dissertation attempts to testify that Dante's merits are the highest level which Eliot has striven to reach through emulating Dante all his life. Secondly, this dissertation analyses the various critical ideas presented in the first stage of Eliot's literary career in order to demonstrate that his critical terms are all derived from the study of his favorite Metaphysical Poetry. And based on these critical concepts, Eliot's poetic theory is concluded as Metaphysical Poetry Theory.On the one hand, Eliot establishes his ideal pattern of poetry, and even rewrites the history of English poetry according to Metaphysical Poetry Theory. Eliot honors Dante's Divine Comedy as the best sample of such poetry and takes Dante as the gauge to measure other Metaphysical poets. On the other hand, in the process of exploring the causes of Dissociation of Sensibility, Eliot realizes that, it is the result of the combined effects of changes in literature, religion and philosophy, etc. through history. This realization foreshadows Eliot's shift of attention to religious and cultural criticism later on.Thirdly, the deep influence of Dante on Eliot's conversion to Christianity is investigated. As a philosophy major, Eliot finds that philosophy, symbolizing reason, cannot appease his spiritual conflicts. Acknowledging the limitation of reason, Eliot finds peace in religion at last. Following Dante's and St. Aquinas'spiritual journey, Eliot's conversion is a prudential choice after long contemplation. Furthermore, the uniform medieval order of secular and spiritual lives presented in Dante's and Aquinas'works forms a striking contrast with the chaotic social conditions in which Eliot lives. Thus, the Middle Ages are the Golden Ages. Eliot admires. Eliot's keen insight into the illness of his time, helps to shift his focus to religious criticism and composition of religious poetry. He calls passionately for a renewal of religion and a return to faith.Finally, the dissertation explores the relationship between Eliot's cultural criticism and Dante's thought. In his late literary career, Eliot begins to reflect the fate of modern Europe which is faced with the choice: survive or perish. Eliot conceives the Christian Society to rectify the social illness as a result of the deluge of secularism. Though Eliot's blueprint is not an exact copy of Dante's International Monarchy in detail, his concept of keeping a tensional balance between secular and religious lives based on Dante's related thought. Besides, Dante's International Monarchy is a unity in the double sense of geography and culture of his time and it cannot be repeated in modern times. However, Eliot still cherishes the dream of reuniting European countries and reviving and unifying European culture with Virgil and Dante as emblematic figures symbolizing the unity and continuity of Western Christendom. Aiming at establishing the Christian Society and reuniting European culture, Eliot's cultural criticism constructs a utopia of cultural empire.Influenced by Dante, Eliot probes deeply the significant issues such as tradition and originality, classicism and modernism, secularism and religion, and makes constructive proposals which are still enlightening and inspiring nowadays.