LOVE TRIANGLES : T S ELIOT'S 'THE COCKTAIL PARTY'
* T.S. Eliot was from St. Louis, US. Lived from 1888 to
1965. Obtained his Masters from Harvard.

* Shifted to UK in 1914. Nobel Laureate 1948.
* Wrote 'The Cocktail Party' in 1949.
*Poetic drama. (Poems in drama in the 20th Century
was a rare thing).
*The title 'Cocktail Party' refers to parties given by
couples in social circuits. An upper class affair.

* The picture above clearly explains the eternal love
triangle (1 male and 2 females) which Eliot used.
Literature and films have seen hundreds of eternal love
triangles.
*Eliot used the triangle for lifting the Cocktail Party from
a social affair to a religious ceremonious occasion.

* Edward and Lavania are husband and wife. Celia was
the mistress of Edward. Lavania has her own affair
with Peter. Lavania comes to know about Edward and
Celia. Lavania, hence, abstains from the Cocktail
Party given by Eliot.

* Now, Reilly enters the picture as a guest to the
Cocktail Party. Reilly plays the role of a
psychiatrist. Alex and Julie are his assistants.
He succeeds in counselling and convincing Edward
and Lavania that they cannot bear the loss of one
another. They agree to continue their marriage.

* Reilly and Celia's conversation leads to her offering to
leave the scene to Africa. She takes up missionary
work and loses her life in the hands of savageous
heathens. This raises her status to the level of a
martyr and sainthood. Thus the Cocktail Party of
Edward and Lavania becomes a party of reverence
to Celia.

* Earlier, Reilly's role of listening to confessions used to
be paid by priests. Now, the burden shifts to
psychiatrists.

* In 2006 after 56 years, how we can view this
drama? Mistress leaving the scene and losing her life
as missionary in a far off continent?