T.S. Eliot’s Existential Quest at the Intersection of Theatre, Liturgy and Poetry

ABSTRACT: The paper focuses on T.S. Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral, Eliot’s first and most successful attempt at verse drama, where he combines three aspects which were of vital importance in his life and all his  creative output, i.e.:  the intensity of poetry  fused  with the performative dimension of the theatre and put within the ecclesiastical context enhanced with the frames of liturgy.  At such crossroads of poetry, theatre and liturgy Eliot exposes a mystical streak in human experience and embarks on an existential quest for genuine freedom and fulfilment in human life and the desire for ultimate purification of the world engaged in the combat between good and evil. Eliot’s play testifies to the poet’s conviction of the great role of poetry as the language of prose does not suffice to adequately convey the character of metaphysical experiences and transcendence.

Professor of English Literature in the Institute of English Philology of the Jagiellonian University, Kraków. Head of Section for the Study of Christian Heritage in Literature at the Faculty of English Philology. Main areas of research and interest comprise Christian themes and motifs in the English literature of the 20th century. Author of publications concerning the art and thought of, among others, G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, Muriel Spark, T.S. Eliot and Elizabeth Jennings.