T. S. Eliot and the Mother

This book explores T. S. Eliot's complex relationship with his mother, Charlotte Champe Stearns, and how it influenced his life and works. It challenges traditional views of Eliot's ambivalence towards women and emphasizes the importance of recognizing the pre-Oedipal mother and maternal subjectivity. The book uses a interdisciplinary approach, combining literary critical methods with feminist, maternal, and psychoanalytic theories. It examines Eliot's representations of the mother/mother-child relationship from his early writings to his later plays, focusing on key mid-career works and canonical pieces. The study also sheds light on Charlotte Eliot's life and writings, highlighting her individual experience and subjectivity. It establishes her death in 1929 as a pivotal moment, marking Eliot's New Life and the apotheosis of the feminine symbolized in Ash-Wednesday.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 320 pages
Publication date: 31 May 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This comprehensive book delves into the intricate relationship between T. S. Eliot and his mother, Charlotte Champe Stearns, shedding light on the often overlooked significance of her influence on his life and works. By challenging prevailing notions of Eliot's ambivalence towards women, the book offers a fresh perspective on his complex relationship with his mother. Set within the backdrop of mother-son ambivalence, it explores how Eliot's quest for belief and love intertwined with the development of his maternal poetics. Through a multidisciplinary approach, the chapters incorporate standard literary critical methods alongside innovative feminist, maternal, and psychoanalytic theorizations of mother-child relationships. These maternal thinkers emphasize the importance of recognizing the pre-Oedipal mother and maternal subjectivity, in contrast to traditional, repressive Oedipal models of masculinity. By examining Eliot's evolving representations and articulations of the mother/mother-child relationship across his early writings to his later plays, including pivotal mid-career works such as "Ash-Wednesday" (1930), "Marina" (1930), "Coriolan" (1931–32), and "The Family Reunion" (1939), as well as canonical masterpieces like "The Waste Land" (1922) and "Four Quartets" (1943), the book provides a comprehensive analysis of this significant relationship. Furthermore, the study draws extensively on the vast array of Eliot materials now available, including the new editions of his complete poems, complete prose, and volumes of letters, which are reshaping our understanding of the poet and challenging critical attitudes. Moreover, the book pays unprecedented attention to Charlotte Eliot's life and writings, bringing her individual female experience and subjectivity to the forefront. This groundbreaking work contributes to a deeper understanding of Eliot's creative process and the profound impact of his mother on his artistic journey.

Weight: 625g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367760472