Reader-Response Theory in T. S. Eliot’s Critical Oeuvre

Abstract

This paper shows that T. S. Eliot paves the way for reader- response theory despite being one of the progenitors of the New Criticism which considers the text as a self-regulating system, or an auto telic artifact. By making a close reading of his essays, one might uncover the roots of what comes later to be known as reader-response criticism. Eliot oft recedes from his claim of a purely aesthetic view of literature, offering, hence, an alternative to a strict New Critical reading of his essays.