To understand Eliot's weighty contribution to the pantheon of modernism, one must take account of his dramatic career. Where the Words Are Valid brings to modernist scholars' serious attention a large body of work that has often been glibly patronized and relegated to near-obscurity. Eliot's plays embody more significant connections than disruptions with the rest of his work, and are integrally related to the other elements of his oeuvre. Further, they contain a richly suggestive autobiographical vein that illuminates the persona and psyche of Eliot the playwright and, as well, throwbacks to Eliot as a younger poet and critic.