Meis oculis: Eyes in the early poetry of T. S. Eliot
by Richards, Joshua, M.A., FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY, 2009, 81 pages; 1468626

Abstract:

This study is an examination of ocular imagery in the secular poetry of T. S. Eliot. As a symbol, eyes begin as a metonym for the panoptic vision of society. In the earliest poems, Michel Foucault's conceptions of discipline illuminate the acerbic paranoia attached to ocular imagery and its source in the culture of turn-of-the-century Boston. Towards 1919, the image of eyes becomes an objective correlative for the figure of Dante's Beatrice who represents both earthly and divine love. The loss of sight by the various speakers in both "Gerontion" and The Waste Land is then the loss of connection to both the earthly woman and God. Finally, in The Hollow Men, the tenor and vehicle merge completely so the eyes themselves become the object of desire.

 
AdviserMark Scroggins
SchoolFLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY
SourceMAI/ 47-06, p. , Oct 2009
Source TypeThesis
SubjectsAmerican literature; British and Irish literature
Publication Number1468626
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