T.s eliot theory of objective correlative

Literary Criticism

1. Literary Criticism II ENG- 332 Lecture No : 15 “T.S Eliot’s Theory of Objective Correlative” Course: Literary Criticism II- ENG- 332 – Instructor: Siraj Khan, Lecturer in English, Department of English KUST- Email: [email protected] By: Siraj Khan Lecturer in English KUST

2. What the Thunder said? Here is no water but only rock Rock and no water and the sandy road The road winding above among the mountains which are mountains of rock without water.” Topic: T.S Eliot’s Theory of Objective Correlative Course: Literary Criticism II ENG- 332 – Instructor: Siraj Khan, Lecturer in English, Department of English KUST- Email: [email protected]

3. Outlines Poet’s Biography Eliot’s Critical Concepts Theory of Objective Correlative Hamlet and his problems Poetic Process Remarks Topic : T.S Eliot’s Theory of Objective Correlative Course: Literary Criticism II ENG- 332 – Instructor: Siraj Khan, Lecturer in English, Department of English KUST- Email: [email protected]

4. T. S Eliot (September 26, 1888– January 04, 1965 ) American born British Poet, Essayist, Literary Critic, Dramatist, Publisher and editor Eliot is one of the greatest literary critics of England from the point of view of his critical writings. His five hundred essays occasionally published as reviews and articles had a far-reaching influence on literary criticism in the country. His criticism was revolutionary which inverted the critical tradition of the whole English speaking work. Topic : T.S Eliot’s Theory of Objective Correlative Course: Literary Criticism II ENG- 332 – Instructor: Siraj Khan, Lecturer in English, Department of English KUST- Email: [email protected]

5. Objective Correlative For Eliot, the “Objective Correlative” is a pattern of objects, events, actions or a situation that can serve effectively to awaken in the reader an emotional response without being a direct statement of that subjective emotion. The theory of the ‘objective correlative’ is one of the most important critical concepts of T.S. Eliot. It exerted a tremendous influence on the critical temper of twentieth century. In the concept of the ‘objective correlative’, Eliot’s doctrine of poetic impersonality finds its most classic formulation. Topic: T.S Eliot’s Theory of Objective Correlative Course: Literary Criticism II ENG- 332 – Instructor: Siraj Khan, Lecturer in English, Department of English KUST- Email: [email protected]

6. Eliot himself defines ‘ objective correlative’ as “a set of objects, a situation, a chain of events, which shall be the formula” for the poet’s emotion so that “when the external facts are given the emotion is at once evoked.” According to Eliot, the poet cannot communicate his emotions directly to the readers, he has to find some object, suggestive of it and only then he can evoke the same emotion in his readers. So this ‘objective correlative’ is “a set of objects, a situation, a chain of events which shall be the formula of that particular emotion; such that when the external facts, which must terminate in sensory experience, are given, the emotion is immediately evoked.” Topic : T.S Eliot’s Theory of Objective Correlative Course: Literary Criticism II ENG- 332 – Instructor: Siraj Khan, Lecturer in English, Department of English KUST- Email: [email protected]

7. Like Aristotle, Eliot is of the opinion that it is not the business of the poet to ‘say’ but to ‘show’, not to present but to represent. In other words, Eliot’s concept of the objective correlative is based on the notion that it is not the business of the poet to present his emotions directly but rather to represent them indirectly through the ‘objective correlative’ which become the formula for the poet’s original emotions. Topic : T.S Eliot’s Theory of Objective Correlative Course: Literary Criticism II ENG- 332 – Instructor: Siraj Khan, Lecturer in English, Department of English KUST- Email: [email protected]

8. One of the reasons why Eliot admires Dante’s poetry is that Dante’s was ‘a visual imagination,’ because he attempted ‘to make us see what he saw,’ because he did not lose his grasp over ‘the objective correlative.’ If writers or poets or playwrights want to create an emotional reaction in the audience, they must find a combination of images, objects, or description evoking the appropriate emotion. The source of the emotional reaction isn't in one particular object, one particular image, or one particular word. Instead, the emotion originates in the combination of these phenomena when they appear together. Topic : T.S Eliot’s Theory of Objective Correlative Course: Literary Criticism II ENG- 332 – Instructor: Siraj Khan, Lecturer in English, Department of English KUST- Email: [email protected]

9. From the essay Hamlet and his problems “the only way of expressing emotion in the form of art” Objective correlative- “a set of objects, a situation, a chain of events which shall be the formula of that particular emotion” Emotional reaction doesn’t get stimulated from one particular object/image/word It originates in the combination of these when they appear together Topic : T.S Eliot’s Theory of Objective Correlative Course: Literary Criticism II ENG- 332 – Instructor: Siraj Khan, Lecturer in English, Department of English KUST- Email: [email protected]

10. Objective Correlative Objective correlative acts as a medium for the poet to transmit his emotions to the reader in an objective way Work of art as an artifact; an organic whole Successful instance of objective correlative: Sleep Walking scene in Macbeth Hamlet; an artistic failure; lacks objective correlative Topic : T.S Eliot’s Theory of Objective Correlative Course: Literary Criticism II ENG- 332 – Instructor: Siraj Khan, Lecturer in English, Department of English KUST- Email: [email protected]

11. Course: Literary Criticism II ENG- 332 – Instructor: Siraj Khan, Lecturer in English, Department of English KUST- Email: [email protected] Topic : T.S Eliot’s Theory of Objective Correlative Sleep Walking Scene in Macbeth

12. Critical Concepts Eliot devised numerous critical concepts that gained wide popularity and has a broad influence on criticism. ‘Objective co-relative’, ‘Dissociation of sensibility’, ‘Unification of sensibility’ are few of Eliot works hotly debated by critics. His comments on the nature of Poetic Drama and the relation between poetry and drama have done much to bring about a revival of Poetic Drama in the modern age. Even if he had written no poetry, he wouldhave made his mark as a distinguished and subtle (shrewd) critic. Topic : T.S Eliot’s Theory of Objective Correlative Course: Literary Criticism II ENG- 332 – Instructor: Siraj Khan, Lecturer in English, Department of English KUST- Email: [email protected]

13. Eliot’s views on the nature of poetic process are equally revolutionary. According to him, poetry is not inspiration, it is organization. The poet’s mind is like a vessel in which are stored numerous feelings, emotions and experiences. The poetic process fuses these distinct experiences and emotions into new wholes. In his most famous critical essay "Tradition and the Individual Talent", Eliot argues that art must be understood not in a vacuum, but in the context of previous pieces of art. Eliot himself employed this concept on many of his works, especially on his long-poem The Waste Land. Topic : T.S Eliot’s Theory of Objective Correlative Course: Literary Criticism II ENG- 332 – Instructor: Siraj Khan, Lecturer in English, Department of English KUST- Email: [email protected] The Nature of Poetic Process

14. Remarks If writers or poets or playwrights want to create an emotional reaction in the audience, they must find a combination of images, objects, or description evoking the appropriate emotion. The source of the emotional reaction isn't in one particular object, one particular image, or one particular word. Instead, the emotion originates in the combination of these phenomena when they appear together. Topic : T.S Eliot’s Theory of Objective Correlative Course: Literary Criticism II ENG- 332 – Instructor: Siraj Khan, Lecturer in English, Department of English KUST- Email: [email protected]

15. GOOD LUCK Course: Literary Criticism II ENG- 332 – Instructor: Siraj Khan, Lecturer in English, Department of English KUST- Email: [email protected] Topic : T.S Eliot’s Theory of Objective Correlative