"THE CONFIDENTIAL CLERK"
Sir-T. §S. Eliot’s new play The Confidential Clerk was reviewed very harshly in The Listener of April 23. A reviewer is, of course, entitled to his ideas, but so also is an author, and it ill behoves a critic to dismiss a play because apparently he cannot be bothered with unravelling its symbolic meaning. When dealing with a writer of T. S. Eliot’s calibre one is bound to search for a deeper or symbolic meaning under the surface of an apparently trivial action. Such a search would pay dividends, particularly in the case of The Confidential Clerk, because, as a Polish writer in exile, Tymon Terlecki, aptly defined it, Eliot’s last play is a mouse trap set for the public (and it would seem for some reviewers, too) similar to that set by Hamlet for King Claudius. The intricacies of this trap cannot be discussed here in any detail but there can be little doubt that there are two realities in this supposed farce, and that its characters are shown not only in their conventional setting, but also, by subtle implication, in their sometimes embarrassing inner nakedness. The unobtrusive hidden verse form of the dialogue which displeases your reviewer is only one of the many disguises of this artful play. Even a moral is there, concealed, and yet recognisable. More pessimistic than The Cocktail Party, the farce is an indictment of a society whose members have lost faith in the higher values of life, in themselves, and in their fellow beings, and feel, therefore, unhappy and lonely. But even if all these features were a figment of imagination of some "esoteric critics" there still would be some merit in Eliot’s new creation, which is an ennobled poetic version of such a lowbrow literary genre as is farce, The stage success of the play which puzzles your reviewer might have been due to its technical brilliance, to the talent of the producer (E. M. Browne) and to the excellent performances of Margaret Leighton and Denholm Elliott. It could also be that the spectators did hot remain entirely impervious to the deeper meaning of Eliot’s work.
L.
HARTMAN
(Wellington).
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19540514.2.12.1
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
New Zealand Listener, Volume 30, Issue 773, 14 May 1954, Page 5
Word count
Tapeke kupu
360"THE CONFIDENTIAL CLERK" New Zealand Listener, Volume 30, Issue 773, 14 May 1954, Page 5
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Material in this publication is protected by copyright.
Are Media Limited has granted permission to the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa to develop and maintain this content online. You can search, browse, print and download for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Are Media Limited for any other use.
Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
Copyright in the Denis Glover serial Hot Water Sailor published in 1959 is owned by Pia Glover. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this serial and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the Listener. You can search, browse, and print this serial for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Pia Glover for any other use.
Log in