THE PURSUIT OF THE MEANING OF LIFE IN W. B. YEATS'S THE TOWER

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Shin, Won Kyung Department of English Language and Literature Graduate School Hanyang University, Seoul Advisor: Prof. Rhee, Young Suck, Ph.D.

This dissertation aims to study W. B. Yeats's The Tower to find the meaning of life in the poems of the book with a theme of dualism. Believing that the world is the antithesis of two opposites, Yeats painfully struggles to unify these two opposed worlds in his poetry. His poetry originates from the process of achieving a unity of being in life and art. The Tower published in 1928 reflects much of the essence of his life and philosophy, and he himself thought of The Tower as a unique collection. When it was published, he was in his prime as poet, having already been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923. However, he was in emotional, mental turmoil. He felt his decaying body more acutely than ever, and Ireland was wrecked by constant riots and war. Especially, he seemed to have doubt about his poetic identity, asking fundamental questions as to the relationship between art and action. This collection shows how the poet seeks the meaning of life by treating dualism in different ways in each poem. I study "I See Phantoms of Hatred and of the Heart's Fullness and of the Coming Emptiness," "Sailing to Byzantium," "The Tower," "Leda and the Swan," and "Among School Children" written between 1922 and 1927. In Introduction I present the goals of this dissertation. Chapter I discusses "I See Phantoms of Hatred and of the Heart's Fullness and of the Coming Emptiness." Observing an extreme chaos of the Civil War, the poet concludes that he cannot share his daemonic wisdom with the outer world full of coldness of logic. Chapter II reads "The Tower," which reflects the poet's life and poetic truth as a whole. Tormented by his decaying body, the poet meditates on life and death and eventually reaches an enlightenment - the fact that man can find "Translunar Paradise" on earth. Chapter III discusses "Sailing to Byzantium." In the poem, the old man chooses to sail to Byzantium to search for the meaning of life and new art, while criticizing the modern world he has been in. Chapter IV examines "Leda and the Swan." This poem sees life and history as an eternal cycle of conflict and peace. Chapter V analyzes "Among School Children." While Yeats emphasizes the spiritual world over the material in "Sailing to Byzantium," "Among School Children" takes both the spiritual and the material worlds and achieves a unity of being, in which man is free from constant conflicts between the spiritual and the material worlds.