Quest For The Necessary : W. H. Auden And The Dilemma Of Divided Consciousness

In this full-length treatment of Auden’s entire body of poetry, Herbert Greenberg systematically demonstrates the essential continuity of Auden’s development and the intellectual coherence of his work. The central preoccupation in Auden’s thought, the author finds, was and is the problem of divided consciousness. In his attempt to place Auden’s work within its proper contexts, Greenberg analyzes a number of poems, especially some of the longer pieces, in detail. His study both corrects some misconceptions concerning Auden’s beliefs and opens his work to a new level of study and understanding. Prefatory Note Acknowledgments Contents I. Introduction: At the Core II. The Thwarted Self III. Acting for Necessity IV. The Questing Ego V. The Failure of Caliban and Ariel VI. Conclusion: The Poet as Anthropologist Index