The emotional function of the figures in T. S. Eliot's poetic disccourse

Abstract

This study deals with functional attributes of figures in T. S. Eliot's poetic discourse and highlights the centrality of emotive function of the figures. Each figure can be characterized with emotive function or experience as well as certain attributes such as declarative function, discourse type, intertextual and contextual references. The study explores the meanings of figures with their functions in context, implied or conveyed, aroused or portrayed. The study is a stylistic study adopting a research design of content analysis using interpretive qualitative analysis of the texts. The texts are provided by the author's poetry and put under enquiry in terms of the certain categories of the figural attributes. Upon identifying the figures and classifying them regarding functions the study has shown that Eliot's poetry, prevalently because of his particular interest in images and objective correlatives, is more concerned with emotive experience rather than mental speculation. Therefore, the study demonstrates that the figures in Eliot's poetry can be understood through their emotive function.