Título: T. S. Eliot
Seção: Allegations of anti-Semitism
Background: Thomas Stearns Eliot,  (26 September 1888 - 4 January 1965) was a British essayist, publisher, playwright, literary and social critic, and "one of the twentieth century's major poets". He moved from his native United States to England in 1914 at the age of 25, settling, working, and marrying there. He eventually became a British subject in 1927 at the age of 39, renouncing his American passport. Eliot attracted widespread attention for his poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" (1915), which was seen as a masterpiece of the Modernist movement.

Conteúdo: The depiction of Jews in some of Eliot's poems has led several critics to accuse him of anti-Semitism. This case has been presented most forcefully in a study by Anthony Julius: T. S. Eliot, Anti-Semitism, and Literary Form (1996). In "Gerontion", Eliot writes, in the voice of the poem's elderly narrator, "And the jew squats on the window sill, the owner [of my building] / Spawned in some estaminet of Antwerp." Another well-known example appears in the poem, "Burbank with a Baedeker: Bleistein with a Cigar". In this poem, Eliot wrote, "The rats are underneath the piles. / The jew is underneath the lot. / Money in furs." Interpreting the line as an indirect comparison of Jews to rats, Julius writes, "The anti-Semitism is unmistakable. It reaches out like a clear signal to the reader." Julius's viewpoint has been supported by literary critics such as Harold Bloom, Christopher Ricks, George Steiner, Tom Paulin and James Fenton.  In a series of lectures delivered at the University of Virginia in 1933, published under the title After Strange Gods: A Primer of Modern Heresy (1934), Eliot wrote of societal tradition and coherence, "What is still more important [than cultural homogeneity] is unity of religious background, and reasons of race and religion combine to make any large number of free-thinking Jews undesirable." Eliot never re-published this book/lecture. In his 1934 pageant play The Rock, Eliot distances himself from Fascist movements of the Thirties by caricaturing Oswald

user: What were the allegations ?

assistant: The depiction of Jews in some of Eliot's poems has led several critics to accuse him of anti-Semitism.

user: What did he write that caused him to be accused?

assistant: In "Gerontion", Eliot writes, in the voice of the poem's elderly narrator, "And the jew squats on the window sill,

user: Did he write any other examples of anti-Semitism?

assistant: Another well-known example appears in the poem, "Burbank

user: What did he say in that poem?

assistant: Eliot wrote, "The rats are underneath the piles. / The jew is underneath the lot. / Money in furs.

user: Did he write anything else?

assistant: Eliot wrote of societal tradition and coherence,

user: What did he have to say about this?

assistant: What is still more important [than cultural homogeneity] is unity of religious background, and reasons of race and religion combine to make any large number of free-thinking Jews undesirable.

user: Were any books written about his views?

assistant: CANNOTANSWER

user: What  does the article say about his plays?

assistant: accuse him of anti-Semitism.

user: Did anyone defend him?

assistant: CANNOTANSWER