The Perfection Of Humanity

As the greatest poet and playwright in the Irish Literary Renaissance Movement,Yeats has endowed his literature works with abundant spiritual connotation.Compared with the prosperity of the researches on Yeats poetry,the researches on his plays are limited.Nevertheless,Yeats' plays penetrate his entire literary career and contain his philosophical views on the development of humanity,hence it's necessary to make a comprehensive study of his plays.This thesis attempts to approach to Yeats' plays from the perspective of archetypal criticism.Through analyzing the embodiment of different phases of heroic mode in Yeats' plays,this thesis reaches to a conclusion that the development of Yeats' plays is coincident with the process of hero's exploration in the mental world.This thesis is composed of four chapters.The first chapter introduces heroic archetype and its meaning.Then this chapter introduces the main contents of heroic mode and its similarity with Yeats' concept of hero.The second chapter analyzes Yeats' early plays through the main contents of the separation phase of heroic mode,which indicates Yeats' curiosity and passion for exploring the mental world.The third chapter investigates Yeats' middle plays through hero's exploration in the mental world,which is the content of the initiation phase of heroic mode.This chapter analyzes the interaction between hero and his visions.In such kind of interaction,hero gradually approaches to the clear recognition of the unconscious part of his psyche.The fourth chapter analyzes Yeats' late plays through hero's final illumination in the initiation phase of heroic mode.In his late plays,Yeats focuses on the unity of the conscious part and the unconscious part of hero's psyche,which leads to the perfection of hero's humanity.