The only way of expressing emotion in the form of art is by finding an “Objective correlative”; in other words, a set of
objects, asituation, a chain of events which shall be the formula for that particular emotion; such that when the external facts, which must terminate in sensory experience, are given, the emotion is immediately evoked… The artistic “inevitability” lies in this complete adequacy of the external to the emotion.
- T.S. Eliot in “Hamlet and His Problems”
In simple words: The only way to express emotion through art is by finding an “objective correlative”—a set of objects, a situation, or a sequence of events that acts as a formula for a specific emotion. When these external elements are presented, leading to sensory experience, the emotion is immediately triggered. The “inevitability” of art lies in how perfectly the external elements match the emotion.