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Hisworks adopt a prose of a “clinical diagrostician sic anatomizing society” andinterpret social and spiritual acts as failures of communication (Magill 74). His poetry in the 1930’sreflected the world of his era, a world of depression, Fascism, and war. Auden was born in York, England, in 1907, the third and youngestson of Constance and George Auden (Magill 72). The themes andideas that Auden’s “The Age of Anxiety” conveys reflect his belief that man’squest for self-actualization is in vain.
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Theirinteractions with one another lead them on an imaginary quest in their minds inwhich they attempt, without success, to discover themselves. The four remember the despair of the conclusion of “The Seven Stages” rather than the journey itselfIn Auden’s lengthy poem, “The Age of Anxiety”, he follows the actionsand thoughts of four characters who happen to meet in a bar during a war. Follows the characters from the bar to their homesB. As they realize that life has no meaning, thedesert becomes the real world, thus endingthis stage with their awakeningVII. They meet at the edge of the forest with a desertbefore themc. The characters wander deep into a forest, eachtaking a solitary pathb. The sixth stagea.Ī “forgotten graveyard” is the settingb. Rosetta finds life inside the house no betterthan before6. While Rosetta is within the house, the othersexamine its exterior and its comparison tohe human bodyc. Rosetta visits a mansion in which she wishesshe were raised and to which she wishes sheshall returnb. Malin passes judgment on its citizens based onthe urban surroundings5. Malin speaks for them all in his derogatorativestatements about the cityb. The characters complete the third stage withoutsuccess in their search for self4. The third stagea.īegins as the couples turn inland(1) Emble and Rosetta by plane(2) Quant and Malin by trainb. Is initiated by the first pairing of characters(1) Shows possibility of hope(a) Emble(b) Rosetta(2) Shows futility of hope(a) Quant(b) Malin3. Justification of the view that the quest is fornaught2. The first stagea.Įach character begins alone, “isolated with his ownthoughts”b. “The Seven Stages” is an attempt to find the perfect time of lifeC. Unlike “The Seven Ages,” this act is nothing more than a dreamB. Second act of Part II, “The Seven Stages”A. Malin is ready for this age in contrast to theothers’ reluctance to die just yetVI. “Impotent, aged, and successful,” Malin’s portrayalof a man of this age is indifferent to the world7. Quant’s domination of the fifth age(1) Attempt to eliminate all hope(2) View on man’s adaptation to the fifth age6. Emble’s opposition of the fifth age(1) Refuses to go willingly into middle age(2) Demands to know why man must “Leave out the worst / Pang of youth”(3) Is disturbed by time unlike the others for he is still young enough to have a futuref.
W.H. AUDEN AGE OF ANXIETY FREE
Man is no longer confined to a prison of prismaticcolor, but is free in the dull, bland placethat is the worlde. Anxiety declines as “He man learns to speak /Softer and slower, not to seem so eager”d. Man believes he has made peace with the meaning oflifec. Conveys the image of man as “an astonished victor”b. Rosetta’s definition of life and the world5. Presents circus imagery “as a form of art too closeto life to have any purgative effect on theaudience”b. Discovery that love, as it was thought to be, is asharp contrast to love in the bounds of reality4. It is the age of belief in the possibility of afuture3. Naive belief in self and place in life is boundlessd. Age at which man realizes “his life-bet with a lyingself”c. Child is “helpless in cradle and / Righteous still”but already has a “Dread in his dreams”2. Malin asks the reader to “Behold the infant”b. Others support Malin’s theories by drawing from past, present, and potential future experiencesC. Serves as a guide2.Ĭontrols the characters through his introduction of each ageB. Emble passes his youthful judgment on the others’ follies V. Rosetta endeavors to create an imaginary and happy past4. Malin examines the theoretical nature of man3. Quant views himself with false admiration2. Characters think aloud to reveal their nature1. “The Age of Anxiety” character analysisA. Their belief to be in Purgatory when they areallegorically in Hell2. Characters’ views on the general situation1. Characters’ inevitable failure in the questB. As a quest poem1.Ĭharacters’ search for self-actualization2.