Modernist Drama and Referentiality: T.S. Eliot’s Sweeney Agonistes and Walter Benjamin’s Trauerspiel

“Words strain, / Crack and sometimes break, … will not stay in place, Will staystill” (Burnt Norton V). Using words being used by them is rare to Eliot’s thought tormented figures, from his drama Sweeney Agonistes Four Quartets. The struggle with a constant trait of poetry, besides common among modernists all over Europe. His drama’s broken syntax mirrors the clashing mixture Aeschylean tragedy, Aristophanic comedy, popular culture music-hall, cabaret, jazz, which make up play. As result, play brings forth modernistic defamiliarizing, metatheatrical effect, breaking linear rapport between action word, actor gesture, sign signified. Poetic or unfinished poem, has been recently revalued (Chinitz, Buttram, Daniel, Cuda), but its daring avant-garde experimentalism (de Villiers), still eludes interpretations, mainly because far clear reason why Eliot neither finished it nor included theatrical production. If, however, we place context various dramatic theories plays time, may read incongruities, disjunctions things, as one traits that were widely discussed at others, Walter Benjamin Origin German Trauerspiel. Benjamin’s new way looking allegory, stressing self-referential import, help us find more key revolutionary direction had envisaged non-dramatic tragedy. himself said Seneca: “the word no further reality behind it”. Although link conservative modernism messianism would seem unlikely, recent studies have highlighted some their ground (Neilson, Lehman). In order account for play’s language, I dwell on notion dissociation sensibility (1920–1927) comparing allegorical perception, falling apart modern man”.