Eliot's Opinion

 I think the excerpts of Eliot’s opinions are very interesting. In “Hamlet” I think the chain of the way emotion is formed is very interesting. The idea that emotions and feelings are different definitely shows me something about Eliot’s feelings and relate to “Prufrock.” I think the way Prufrock struggles to convey emotions yet hide feelings is very interesting because as Eliot states, each are developed by different things. I am a little confused by his dislike for Hamlet. I almost feel like he may have been missing the purpose of Shakespeare’s creating a society without definition. I think that as romantics struggle to universalize, so did Shakespeare in creating Hamlet. This is difference between them and modernists. However, I think Eliot does understand the idea of universalizing so I wonder why he didn’t pick up on this.
 As we discussed WAWA I think it applies to Eliot’s perception of literature. While he tries to separate the expressive from it yet still be expressive, I think he ends up making the reader feel more in touch with him than anything. I hope it doesn’t sound like I’m criticizing him. I’m just questioning the contradictions in his opinions, or at least how I perceive them. I perceive that by criticizing Hamlet as being a work to only be appreciated by those who “want to be great” removes the audience as an audience and instead places them in a position of the author, as though they wish to achieve the same things as the writer.