The Cocktail Party
by T. S. Eliot
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See Also
- T. S. Eliot (Critical Survey of Drama, Second Revised Edition)
- T. S. Eliot (Critical Survey of Poetry: British, Irish, & Commonwealth Poets)
- T. S. Eliot (Cyclopedia of World Authors, Fourth Revised Edition)
- T. S. Eliot (Dictionary of World Biography: The 20th Century)
- T. S. Eliot (Identities & Issues in Literature)
At a glance:
- Author: T. S. Eliot
- First Published: 1949
- Type of Work: Drama
- Type of Plot: Comedy of manners
- Setting: London
- Characters: Edward Chamberlayne, Lavinia, Julia Shuttlethwaite, Celia Coplestone, Peter Quilpe, Alexander MacColgie Gibbs, Sir Henry Harcourt-Reilly
- Genres: Drama, Verse drama, Comedy, Comedy of manners
- Subjects: Twentieth century, Psychology or psychologists, England or English people, Adultery, London, Psychoanalysis or psychoanalysts, Parties, Psychiatry or psychiatrists, Psychotherapy or psychotherapists
- Locales: Europe, London, England, United Kingdom
The Story:
The Chamberlaynes are giving a cocktail party in their London flat. The atmosphere is somewhat strained because Lavinia, the host, is not there, and Edward, her bumbling husband, hastily invents a sick aunt to account for her absence. As usual, Alex has an exotic story to tell, for he travels widely and knows everyone. Julia, a sharp-eyed and sharp-tongued family friend, misses the point of his tale and wonders why Alex and the Maharaja are up a tree. Julia usually misses the point of stories she hears.
The assembly demands that Julia give her inimitable...
(The entire page is 3175 words.)
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