"To Criticize the Critic"
Eliot's Perspective on Literary Criticism
- Eliot explores the uses and purposes of literary criticism, reflecting on his own critical work over
the past four decades.
- He distinguishes between different types of literary critics, such as the "Professional Critic" and
the "Critic with Gusto".
- Eliot believes that the criticism of artists writing about their own art carries more authority and
intensity, as they have unique personal insights and experiences that inform their perspectives.
#### The Personal Roots of Eliot's Criticism
- Eliot acknowledges that his own critical work has been largely shaped by his personal tastes,
interests, and poetic preoccupations.
- He suggests that the continued popularity of his early essays on Elizabethan and Jacobean
dramatists stemmed from the "warmth of advocacy" arising from his personal involvement with
those writers.
- Eliot sees his poetry as more influential than his essays in shaping literary tastes and elevating
certain writers, like the Metaphysical poets, to a position of importance.
#### Eliot's Influential Critical Concepts
- Eliot introduced two key critical ideas - the "objective correlative" and the "dissociation of
sensibility" - which had a profound impact on literary criticism.
- While Eliot himself later viewed these concepts as more representative of his personal
preferences than objective principles, they nonetheless provided valuable new ways of analyzing
literary works.
- The enduring value of these ideas lies in their ability to orient critical attention towards problems
of form, structure, and the relationship between art and audience.
#### Eliot's Role as a Mediator Between Past and Present
- Eliot's criticism was characterized by his ability to mediate between the new and experimental,
and the lessons of historical experience.
- He was able to welcome and incorporate the latest trends in poetry and criticism while preserving
a sense of continuity with the past, avoiding both facile iconoclasm and rigid conservatism.
- This position as a "critical consciousness" allowed Eliot to profoundly influence both the avant-
garde and the academic establishment. ((34))
#### Limitations of Eliot's Social and Cultural Commentary
- In contrast to his literary criticism, Eliot's writings on social and cultural topics lack the same level
of synthesis and mediating power.
- His pronouncements on education, politics, and culture tend to be more disconnected from the
contemporary world, reflecting a largely negative and pessimistic perspective.
- While Eliot's moral and religious standards bring important considerations to these discussions,
his answers seem increasingly irrelevant to modern readers.
Overall, Eliot's critical legacy is marked by his profound influence on the direction of literary
criticism, particularly through his introduction of seminal concepts and his ability to bridge the
divide between tradition and innovation. However, his sociocultural commentary reveals the
limitations of his perspective, which struggles to reconcile the past and present in the same way as
his literary criticism.
