Background Information of T S Eliot

Thomas Stearns Eliot was born on September 26, 1888 to a renowned family known for its philanthropic activities in St. Louis, Missouri, particularly his grandfathers contribution for the academic development in the region. His grandfather has helped in the establishment of Utilitarianism school and university in the region. His father Henry Ware Eliot was a successful businessman and mother Charlotte Champe Stearns was a social worker which was a new profession in the early 20th century. Between1898 and 1905, T S Eliot went to Smith Academy, where his studies included Latin, Ancient Greek, French, and German. He began to write poetry when he was 14 years old. Eliot also attended Milton Academy in Massachusetts for a preparatory year. He studied philosophy at Harvard from 1906 to 1909 in order to earn his bachelor's degree after three years, instead of the usual four. Eliot completed his graduation within in three years instead of four years and utilized one year to prepare for Master Degree. In 1908, Eliot discovered Arthur Symons's The Symbolist Movement in Literature. This introduced him to Jules Laforgue, Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine. T S Eliot has started writing poetry at a very early age, but the collection which assisted him to give recognition in literary world was Prufrock and Other Observation wherein his poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock exhibit his own personality and alienation to women owning to age. His poem The Waste Land is said to have been the initial point of modernism that refuted the Victorian concept of orthodox homic world. T S Eliot also tried his hand of critical writing wherein his famous essays include - Tradition and Individual Talent, Hamlet, and The Metaphysical Poets. He also contributed significantly to literary criticism. His teachers, Geroge Santayana and Irving Babbit, encouraged him to search for spiritual relief and therefore, he moved towards oriental philosphy, particularly Hindu Upnishads and Budhnism. The glimpses of Hindu Upnishads could be seen in his most well-known poem The Waste Land which ends with Datta Dayadhvam, Damyata Shanntih, Shantih, Shantih.