Essay Question
T.
S. Eliot and
Dorothy Parker were post-war writers whose works, though quite
different, reflected the conditions and the society of the Jazz Age.
How did they view the world and in particular how did their writing,
which emerged from the same suffering and confusion, express their
view? In what ways is their work similar and or different? Refer to
specific aspects of their work in your answer.
Essay by: Andrea 8T
Dorothy Parker and T.S.Eliot were both writers of the early
twentieth century. There were many differences as well as
similarities between them. In the Jazz Age people were happy to be
alive and lived their lives by getting the most out of each day.
Entertainment became an important part of day to day life. Dorothy
Parker was a very humorous writer and wrote light, frivolous stories,
even though she had a bleak view of life because many of the men she
liked broke her heart. She tried to commit suicide many times.
T.S.Eliot on the other hand was a very serious poet. His verses
were heavy and difficult to understand. He conveyed more abstract
impressions about modern life whereas Parker wrote about real,
identifiable situations and settings. Eliot’s abstract view of
the world came from a belief that man should base his existence more
on religion and human values, and less on money and materialism.
Dorothy Parker wrote more for the ordinary society, she worked for
several newspapers, magazines and journals of the day like ‘The
New Yorker’, ‘Vanity Fair’ and ‘Life’. These
magazines were for people who liked to read frivolous, entertaining
stories which would amuse them. In the 20’s there was a boom in
journalism, theatre and fiction. People wanted to read and be
entertained. This made people like Dorothy Parker quite
successful.
T.S.Eliot however wrote more for
intellectuals and scholars. His
poems were complicated and the meanings not always clear.
He said so
himself.
His poetry came partly from a personal crisis, his mental
depression
and sickly wife. Like Parker he had a bleak view of life but for
different reasons. He was a dramatic poet, his poems are full of
strange voices,
mystery and impending doom.