Reader-response Theory In T. S. Eliot’s Critical Oeuvre

This paper shows that T. S. Eliot paves the way for readerresponse 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 readerresponse 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.