The History of Literature

Episode 777: T.S. Eliot's "Preludes" | "The Story of the Marquis de Cressy" by Marie-Jeanne Riccoboni (with Kate Deimling)

Host: Jacke Wilson
Guest: Kate Deimling (scholar, translator)
Release Date: February 19, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode is a rich exploration of both the renowned but sometimes overlooked T.S. Eliot poem "Preludes" and the restoration to English of an 18th-century French literary figure, Marie-Jeanne Riccoboni, and her novel The Story of the Marquis de Cressy. Host Jacke Wilson first guides listeners through a close reading of “Preludes,” unpacking Eliot’s early angst and urban imagery, before conversing with translator and scholar Kate Deimling about Riccoboni’s life, work, and long-lasting (but nearly lost) literary significance. The episode combines close textual analysis with literary history, feminism, and questions of canon and translation.

Part 1: T.S. Eliot's "Preludes" — Urban Alienation and Modernist Genius

[01:09–44:49] T.S. Eliot Before “The Waste Land”

Eliot's Background and Context for "Preludes"

• Eliot in 1910: Not yet famous, still a student, mainly in Paris with an American academic background.
• Recurring motif: City life as replacement for traditional pastoral/nature — “Your daffodils might be for me flower pots in a windowsill.” (08:00)
• Eliot’s feelings of alienation and outsider status: Not simply privileged, but marked by sadness and searching.

Quote:

“Before we can see, consider an early poem like Preludes, we have to unlearn what we know about Eliot. This is not yet Eliot, the banker who walks through London and is unhappily married.” — Jacke Wilson (06:34)

Introducing “Preludes”

• Not a biography-hunt: Avoid reading the poem as directly about Eliot's own daily life.
• Modernist urbanism: Focus on cityscapes rather than rural Romantic landscapes.
• Title allusion: “Preludes” evokes Wordsworth, but placed in a city, not the Lake District.

Detailed Stanza-by-Stanza Analysis

Stanza I [12:18–16:40]

• Imagery: The city as alive, filled with sensory detail (smell of steaks, rain, lamplight).
• Modernist Mood: Mixture of beauty and filth, life and weariness.
• “Burnt out ends of smoky days”—the day's exhaustion as evocative metaphor.
• Labyrinthine movement from outside to inside, public to private.

Quote:

"What a phrase that is — Burnt out ends of smoky days. Have you thought of a day being burned before? Now it's used up, done like a cigarette in an ashtray or a stick that's charred in the fireplace." — Jacke Wilson (14:13)

Stanza II [18:36–25:12]

• Morning city: “Faint, stale smells of beer”; city dwellers as anonymous insects.
• Solidarity and excitement evoked by the bustle and grime (author’s personal fondness for urban grit).

Quote:

“Actually, I shouldn't say 'they.' Because it's you. You are one of them. You tramp through sawdust, you head for coffee. Even in 1910, Eliot sees this is a populace fueled by coffee.” — Jacke Wilson (18:51)

Stanza III [25:20–31:36]

• Interior/Private space: Dreamlike perspective, “You watched the night revealing the thousand sordid images of which your soul was constituted”.
• Sense of exhaustion, alienation, longing.
• Urban Pastoral: Gutter sparrows instead of countryside birds; dirty, yellowed feet and soiled hands as metaphors for city life.

Stanza IV [31:37–44:49]

• Pronoun shift: Now “he” and “I,” the self and the other.
• Iconic lines: “His soul stretched tight across the skies,” “At four and five and six o’clock.”
• The city as both infinitely gentle and infinitely suffering.
• The close: “The worlds revolve like ancient women / Gathering fuel in vacant lots.” — Imagery of cyclical resilience and caretaking.

Quote:

“The notion of some infinitely gentle, infinitely suffering thing. That's the city for Eliot. City dwellers, all this humanity, they're infinitely suffering. Everywhere are humans and everywhere these humans are in pain. The suffering is infinite. But it's quiet, it's gentle. The noisy, bustling city with all its insistent feet and the lamps being lit and the coffee stands buzzing with energy. But the suffering is here. It's infinite. And it's gentle, infinitely gentle.” — Jacke Wilson (41:58)

Notable Quotes & Analysis Moments

• “An office worker is an insect. What an image.” (16:41)
• “Have you experienced that?...That's the feeling I get again. That's very city like. Have you experienced that?” (25:22)
• “You wipe your hand across your mouth and laugh. He says again. This, to me, is the city having its effect. It's going to make you feel grimy. You'll need to wipe your mouth, but you'll also feel full, sated, like you've just had a big meal and you're just laughing at the spectacle we've seen—quiet and infinite suffering. But we're laughing anyway, because that's what it means to be human.” (43:00)

Part 2: Rediscovering Riccoboni — Interview with Translator Kate Deimling

[46:05–82:35] Rediscovering Marie-Jeanne Riccoboni

Riccoboni's Life & Historical Context

• Born 1713, Paris; complicated, poverty-marked family background (illegitimate, convent childhood).
• Unhappy marriage; acting career in the Comedie Italienne.
• Separated from husband, supported herself and family as a writer.

Quote:

“She managed to separate from him...becoming an author was a way that she was able to support herself financially and become independent.” — Kate Deimling (48:22)

Her Career as Novelist

• Debuted at age 44; published a novel nearly every year after.
• Used pseudonym and the ruse of translation (pretending her works were English novels) as a literary marketing device and protective anonymity.
• Gained real commercial and critical success; admired by Diderot and Adam Smith.
• Example: Marie Antoinette reportedly had Riccoboni’s novels disguised as prayer books to read at mass. (54:30)

Themes and Literary Significance

• Themes: Emotion, betrayal, social critique—especially regarding men’s power and women’s vulnerability.
• Proto-feminist viewpoint: “She's often turning the tables and trying to show that women might be accused of vanity or fickleness...but it’s really men who are vain and fickle and flighty.” (58:50)
• Sentiment as a double-edged sword; love as both dangerous and, in some way, necessary or noble.
• Novelists at the time both lauded and feared for sentimental plots—seen as a way to teach virtue or, conversely, as a risk for moral corruption.

Quote:

“She looks like a feminist writer to us today.” — Kate Deimling (60:09)

Why Riccoboni Was Forgotten

• Post-Revolution literary canon largely privileged political or "rational" themes; sentimental and domestic novels sidelined.
• "She’s kind of a victim of the way that literary history was written after the French Revolution, because...sentimental novels or domestic themes that are often treated by women are somewhat pushed aside, as, you know, not being serious enough." — Kate Deimling (55:03)

The Story of the Marquis de Cressy — The Novel

• Plot: Competing loves, social ambition, and the critique of male power.
• Readerly experience: Short, fast-moving, theatrical scenes, less densely physical than Balzac but highly psychological.
• Contemporary resonance: Gender, independence, proto-feminism.

On Translation and Reception

• First new English translation in over 250 years (since 1765).
• Kate Deimling: Found the task exciting and felt “a big responsibility to get it right” (74:00).
• Riccoboni had herself questioned her literary longevity with modesty, but seemed surprised at her own success.
• Fun anecdote: Riccoboni at a party listens to a man praise her book without revealing herself as the author (82:00).

Quote:

“It felt really exciting to kind of rediscover something and to think, you know, I’m going to be the one that’s going to let other people experience this novel.” — Kate Deimling (73:14)

Riccoboni’s Legacy

• Pensioned by the king for her contributions; outlived the ancien régime, but faded into obscurity after the Revolution.
• Ending: "She dies not really being remembered and not in the best financial situation anymore." (79:29)
• The final note is a call for listeners to reconnect with her legacy.

Key Timestamps

• 01:09 — Jacke introduces "Preludes" and Eliot's context
• 12:18 — First stanza analysis: City at dusk
• 18:36 — Second stanza analysis: City in the morning
• 25:20 — Third stanza analysis: Nighttime, interiority
• 31:37 — Fourth stanza: Shift to “he” and “I”; philosophical summing up
• 46:05 — Kate Deimling interview begins: Riccoboni’s life and career
• 58:20 — Discussion of Riccoboni’s themes and feminist perspective
• 64:13 — Links between Riccoboni and Jane Austen
• 68:29 — Translation: Finding and choosing Marquis de Cressy
• 75:11 — Riccoboni's dramatic, visual style
• 79:05 — Late-life, reward, decline, and death
• 82:00 — Party anecdote

Notable Quotes

“The worlds revolve like ancient women gathering fuel in vacant lots.” — T.S. Eliot, quoted by Jacke Wilson (43:41)

“She looks like a feminist writer to us today.” — Kate Deimling (60:09)

“Here are some of the consequences of men’s careless behavior, and I should mend my ways.” — Kate Deimling on Riccoboni’s aim (76:38)

Tone and Style

Jacke Wilson uses humor, warmth, self-deprecation ("I get carried away sometimes"), and a blend of literary scholarship and fan enthusiasm. Kate Deimling brings depth, context, and an accessible scholarly voice, clarifying the history and importance of Riccoboni's work and its translation.

Conclusion

Jacke’s discussion of Eliot's “Preludes” offers a modern, emotionally resonant reading—perfect for the literary enthusiast enticed by urban modernism’s timeless appeal. The conversation with Kate Deimling brings a lost French feminist voice back to the English-speaking world and invites readers to discover (or rediscover) the trailblazing Riccoboni. The episode is both an invitation to marvel at literary technique and a reminder that what once was lost can always be found anew.