Response to T.S. Eliot's video: Lady Bell's two cents.

When read aloud (and theatrically), The Wasteland sounds much like a play. The characters come to life, seem to come out of the page, and dialect and common vernacular give the poem a certain dynamic and rhythm. The drama of the stanzas is more apparent, and , quite frankly, it's just easier to understand. I was wondering if Eliot had intended for this poem to be real aloud all along. Did he ever read his poetry aloud? Because, although certain "allusive" parts are inaccessible to the common man, much of the dialouge is comphrehendable and even inviting.

link to TS Eliot Makeup

link to Encyclopedia of Modern American Literature

He did read his poetry outloud, and I believe the video had sound clips of him doing so.  Although I found his reading the least dramatic and just boring, although Chris's ideas on why he did this are interesting...

--Alexandra Bindon

Response from Devin Thomas:

I agree completely! I think hearing the poem read aloud (as Dr. Powers suggested in class) helps in understanding the particuarly voices/personas Eliot evokes in this poem. Despite the unnecessarily dramatic/corny cuts between actors in the film, the reading really brought the poem to an accessible level, particularly the "Game of Chess" we discussed in class as well as the scene in the pub.