Approaching An Orderly World:The Cosmological Construction In T.S.Eliot's Four Quartets

Western traditional cosmology, also called Platonic-Ptolemaic cosmology, extends from Pythagoras to Ptolemy, and is interpreted by throngs of Christian exegetes. Although it touches upon myriads of contentious issues, the core of this cosmology consists in treating this universe as a finite and self-maintaining construction. Our earth is placed at the center of the universe and is surrounded by a series of spheres constituted by the planets and the fixed stars. The earth and these concentric spheres were set into a harmonious motion by the primum mobile, or "first mover", outside which lies the empyrean, the domicile of the Judeo-Christian God, the angels, and the saints. This cosmology pinpoints that such an orderly and hierarchical arrangement out of chaos resulted from some cosmic forces, such as love and the divine will. Four Quartets is generally considered as a Christian poem which has epitomized Eliot's Anglo-Catholic beliefs. As Eliot put multifarious elements, both oriental and occidental, into Four Quartets, all these elements could be. to some extent, expatiated upon in the light of cosmology.Considering that cosmology held great sway over Eliot and constituted one of the regnant and recurring motifs that Eliot treated of in Four Quartets over and over. the present dissertation will approach Four Quartets in terms of cosmic time, cosmic space, and finally cosmic movement.The first chapter centers on the cosmic time that is subsumed into three categories of divine time, human time, and wicked time. These three categories will be conducive to explicate Eliot's cosmic envisagement on how to approach an orderly world so as to eschew a chaotic state.The second chapter focuses on the cosmic space that is comprised of the upper world, the natural word, and the lower world. It aims to probe into the inner linear and spatial relationship among the three worlds, all of which epitomize the grim and stark reality in the wake of the Second World War.The third chapter canvasses the cosmic movement in terms of the linear pattern, the cyclical pattern, the co-existential pattern, and the self-sufficient pattern. When combined together, these four patterns are responsive to Eliot's ardent wish for an orderly universe.