10 - From “Squalid Food” to “Proper Cuisine” Food and Fare in the Work of T. S. Eliot

Summary

T. S. Eliot has been a noticeably absent figure in recent studies of modernism and food. Yet, far from being apathetic towards eating and nourishment, Eliot had a sustained fascination with health, nutrition, and the consumption of food, which is clearly identifiable throughout his body of work and warrants closer examination. This chapter will begin by highlighting the variety of Eliot's wide-ranging references to food in his creative output—from the playful to the putrid—before providing a detailed examination of Eliot's engagement with food specifically within the context of his sympathy with and affiliation to the British organic husbandry movement. Through contextualizing the presence of food and fare in Eliot's work in relation to organicism, I shall demonstrate that his engagement with issues such as nutrition, fresh organic produce, and culinary skills was in conformity with the predominant concerns of the British organic husbandry movement from the 1930s to the 1950s. Crucially, this examination of Eliot's engagement with organicism will serve to elucidate our understanding of his prose writings but will also provide a basis for an “organic” reading of Eliot's poetry.

From his earliest collection of poetry, Inventions of the March Hare, Eliot regularly mentions food in his creative output which becomes symbolic of a monotonous ennui devoid of spiritual sustenance. In “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” for example, there are continual references to bites to eat and snacks, including “tea and cakes and ices,” “marmalade,” and “toast.” Similar allusions to food and fare are also appreciable in Eliot's later plays such as The Cocktail Party, which includes frequent mention of nibbles, ranging from “Potato crisps” and “delicious olives” in Act One, Scene One, to “a few biscuits” and “cheese” in Act One, Scene Two. In the opening act of The Cocktail Party, Alex even attempts to rustle up a meal using the limited ingredients contained in Edward's cupboard. This ability to concoct “something out of nothing” (CPP, 372) is a “special skill” (CPP, 368) which Alex claims to have acquired from Eastern Asia. With nothing but “a handful of rice and a little dried fish,” he professes to be able to “make half a dozen dishes” (CPP, 368). Although mealtimes can hardly be said to take center stage in Eliot's other plays, the act of eating and dining can still be seen to inform the central narrative. In The Family Reunion, the play is structured around “tea” and “dinner” respectively (CPP, 285, 317), with the conclusion of the play following the extinction of candles on a birthday cake. Elsewhere, The Elder Statesman commences with a prandial conversation, during which Eggerson recollects a “cheap lunch” in a restaurant in a London store (CPP, 445).