HUMS 4308: W. B. Yeats and His Worlds

Instructor: Joe Cleary and Christopher McGowan

Meeting: M 3:30p-5:20p

An advanced introduction to William Butler Yeats’s life and works, focusing on his development as poet, dramatist, and essayist; his role as leading Irish Revivalist, Irish Free State senator, and public figure; and his evolving political and philosophical vision. Topics include Yeats’s theories of artistic creation; his relationship to Irish nationalism and international modernism; his aesthetic and social commitments; and his conceptions of the role of the poet and dramatist in the modern world.