Vivien Eliot’s literary notoriety rests primarily upon her contested role as the dark muse who inspired

The Waste Land

, written by her husband, T.S. Eliot. Whether or not their troubled marriage contributed significantly to the despair so vividly evoked in that profoundly influential Modernist poem, she was a powerful emotional and material force in his early career, as well as an aspiring Modernist writer in her own right. Her fierce advocacy of her husband’s literary talents – coupled with her practical services as first reader, typist, and collaborator – helped launch and sustain his career as a poet, editor, and critic, most notably through her involvement with the literary magazine he originated and edited,

The Criterion

. From the beginning of the magazine in 1922 and up…

2498 words

Citation: Johnson, Melissa. "Vivien Eliot". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 26 August 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12744, accessed 19 March 2024.]

12744 Vivien Eliot 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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