The Cambridge Companion to W. B. Yeats

by Marjorie Howes (Editor), John Kelly (Editor)

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.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction

264 pages, Paperback

First published May 25, 2006

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

*yawn*

[Tori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, kind of. There is quite a bit of overlap between the essays. Critics seem particularly fond of quoting Yeats's father saying that his son is a poet not a philosopher. (I think I got the gist of that wrong, which is kind of pathetic and hilarious considering how many times I read it...) But there is some good historical and critical context for Yeats's work. I particularly liked the one about Yeats and gender (though I though it could have been more in-depth).