Conflicts in Consciousness: T. S. ELIOT'S POETRY AND CRITICISM

From the inner sleeve of "Conflicts in Consciousness" - "Conflicts in Consciousness" challenges the tradition that views Eliot's work as elements of a supremely ordered and unified imagination. Spurr, to the contrary, argues that Eliot's major poems and critical essays reflect an essentially unresolved war between the poet's intellect and intuition. Spurr's primary achievement is to redefine Eliot's poetic evolution as a series of attempts to conquer, discredit or assimilate the irrational forces of his visionary imagination. He traces this obsession through Eliot's major works: "Gerontion," "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," The Waste Land," "The Hollow Men," "Ash Wednesday," "Four Quartets," and the essays.