-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: Eliot's Poetic Drama (was Eliot on Marston)
From: Peter Montgomery <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
CC:
So now we
should discuss this important passage which you highlighted and
perhaps see
if and how it applies to Eliot
"by giving us the sense of something
behind, more real than any of his
personages and their action, that Marston
established himself among the
writers of genius"
Eliot's plays are
famous for their apparent mediocritiy. If there is a
reality behind the
personages' actions, it is so well dsguised that is never
discussed. One
curiosity is that as far back as TWL, Eliot refers to the
enacted entities
in his plays as "PERSONAGES" rather
than characters, &c. There is a sort
of background resonance in Sweeney
Agonistes. It is so strong it makes one
want the rest of the play.
Certainly some of the characters are two
dimensional, but Sweeney himself is
definitely 3D and very mysterious. Some
of that
resonance has to do with the slum character of the setting.
I
for one would certainly welcome further discussion on the topic.
Personally I
blame Martin Browne for misguiding Eliot in the presentation
of his
characters.
Cheers,
Peter
