T. S. Eliot – Part III

The third Broadstairs lecture continues the reading of the Waste Land and covers its remaining parts three through five. In this presentation, Dr. White includes substantive discussion of the foundation of the poetic art and digresses into an explication of Eliot’s Hollow Men and the latter’s significant essay “Tradition and the Individual Talent.” In reviewing Hollow Men, Dr. White explains its four sources – Guy Fawkes Day, Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, and Dante. He also elaborates on its key themes, such as shame for sin, penance, the betrayal of civilization, and modern man’s inability to act due to the emptiness of his vision. The essential connection between religion and literature is also emphasized.

00:00