THE CRITERION

October 1922

            While in London in 1922, Eliot came into contact with the wife of the owner of The Daily Mail newspaper. Lady Rothermere, the wife of Viscount Rothermere, wanted to start a “‘chic’ publication of literature and the arts” funded by her husband who was interested in having a hand in a London magazine (Harding). The Criterion literary review, in which The Waste Land appears, always had its sights aimed high. From the very beginning, T.S. Eliot was integral to its existence, both as a contributor, and in the role of editor-in-chief, a role in which he acted for the seventeen years that the The Criterion was being published. From 1922 until 1939, the periodical ran as a quarterly, except for a brief period in 1927-1928 where it was published monthly (Harding). The Criterion over time would inevitably reflect some of Eliot’s positions and mindsets, as they changed and as they existed relative to the changing world around him.