'Each way means loneliness-and communion': reading anchoritic literature with TS Eliot

This essay examines the medievalist theme of the solitary recluse in the later poetry and plays of T.S. Eliot and considers the resonances between this image as a locus of Eliot's model of ecclesial communion and comparable elements in medieval reclusive texts themselves. It argues that when read together, these texts suggest a kind of encounter with the past which is not primarily affective or erotic in form, but rather kenotic, a theologically-derived term meaning 'self-emptying.' In other words, these texts set up a paradigm requiring abnegation of the self for communion to be possible. The essay investigates three instances: an allusion to an anchorite in the pageant-play The Rock, the theme of withdrawal to the desert in several plays, and the quotation of Julian of Norwich in Four Quartets. Alongside each it examines medieval conceptualisations of solitary life, which speak to similar concerns and commitments, and concludes that Eliot's medievalism posits a mode of transhistorical encounter that offers a challenge to existing approaches.

Automated summary

This essay examines the theme of the solitary recluse in T.S. Eliot's later poetry and plays, and explores the connections between this image and medieval reclusive texts. It argues that these texts present a form of encounter with the past that is not primarily affective or erotic, but rather derived from theological "self-emptying." The essay investigates specific instances and compares them to medieval conceptualizations of solitary life, ultimately suggesting that Eliot's medievalism offers a transhistorical mode of encounter that challenges existing approaches.