The Cambridge Companion to W. B. Yeats (Cambridge Companions to Literature)

This accessible and thought-provoking Companion is designed to help students experience the pleasures and challenges offered by one of the twentieth century's greatest poets. A team of international contributors examine Yeats's poetry, drama and prose in their historical and national contexts. The essays explain and synthesise major aspects and themes of his life and work: his lifelong engagement with Ireland, his complicated relationship to the English literary tradition, his literary, social, and political criticism and the evolution of his complex spiritual and religious sense. First-time readers of Yeats as well as more advanced scholars will welcome this comprehensive account of Yeats's career with its useful chronological outline and survey of the most important trends in Yeats scholarship. Taken as a whole, this Companion comprises an essential introduction for students and teachers of Yeats. Cover......Page 1 The Cambridge Companion to W. B. Yeats......Page 2 Contents......Page 6 Notes on contributors......Page 8 Chronology of Yeats’s life......Page 11 List of abbreviations......Page 16 1 Introduction......Page 18 2 Yeats and Romanticism......Page 36 3 Yeats, Victorianism, and the 1890s......Page 53 4 Yeats and Modernism......Page 76 5 The later poetry......Page 94 6 Yeats and the drama......Page 118 7 Yeats and criticism......Page 132 8 Yeats, folklore, and Irish legend......Page 146 9 Yeats and the occult......Page 161 10 Yeats and gender......Page 184 11 Yeats and politics......Page 202 12 Yeats and the postcolonial......Page 223 Select bibliography......Page 243 Index......Page 249 "This accessible Companion explains and synthesises major themes of Yeats's life and work: his lifelong engagement with Ireland; his complicated relationship to the English literary tradition; his literary, social, and political criticism; and the evolution of his complex spiritual and religious sense. First-time readers of Yeats, as well as more advanced scholars, will welcome this comprehensive account of Yeats's career with its useful chronological outline and survey of the most important current trends in Yeats scholarship as an essential introduction for students and teachers of Yeats."--Jacket Edited By Marjorie Howes, John Kelly. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 226-231) And Index. Few modern writers have had careers as long, varied, and complex as W. B. Yeats.