Antisemitism The depiction of Jews in some of Eliot's poems has led several critics to accuse him of antisemitism, most forcefully Anthony Julius in his book T. S. Eliot, Anti-Semitism, and Literary Form (1996).Gross, John. Was T.S. Eliot a Scoundrel?, Commentary magazine, November 1996Anthony, Julius. T.S. Eliot, Anti-Semitism, and Literary Form. Cambridge University Press, 1996 In "Gerontion", Eliot writes, in the voice of the poem's elderly narrator, "And the jew squats on the window sill, the owner [of my building] / Spawned in some estaminet of Antwerp."Eliot, T. S. "Gerontion". Collected Poems. Harcourt, 1963. Another example appears in the poem, "Burbank with a Baedeker: Bleistein with a Cigar" in which Eliot wrote, "The rats are underneath the piles. / The jew is underneath the lot. / Money in furs."Eliot, T. S. "Burbank with a Baedeker: Bleistein with a Cigar". Collected Poems. Harcourt, 1963. Julius writes: "The anti-Semitism is unmistakable. It reaches out like a clear signal to the reader." Julius' viewpoint has been supported by Harold Bloom, Christopher Ricks, George Steiner, Tom Paulin and James Fenton.
Antisemitism The depiction of Jews in some of Eliot's poems has led several critics to accuse him of antisemitism, most forcefully Anthony Julius in his book T. S. Eliot, Anti-Semitism, and Literary Form (1996).Gross, John. Was T.S. Eliot a Scoundrel?, Commentary magazine, November 1996Anthony, Julius. T.S. Eliot, Anti-Semitism, and Literary Form. Cambridge University Press, 1996 In "Gerontion", Eliot writes, in the voice of the poem's elderly narrator, "And the jew squats on the window sill, the owner [of my building] / Spawned in some estaminet of Antwerp."Eliot, T. S. "Gerontion". Collected Poems. Harcourt, 1963. Another example appears in the poem, "Burbank with a Baedeker: Bleistein with a Cigar" in which Eliot wrote, "The rats are underneath the piles. / The jew is underneath the lot. / Money in furs."Eliot, T. S. "Burbank with a Baedeker: Bleistein with a Cigar". Collected Poems. Harcourt, 1963. Julius writes: "The anti-Semitism is unmistakable. It reaches out like a clear signal to the reader." Julius' viewpoint has been supported by Harold Bloom, Christopher Ricks, George Steiner, Tom Paulin and James Fenton.