Quant's Domination Of The Fifth Ag Attempt example essay topic

Analysis of The Age of Anxiety by W.H. Aude The themes and ideas in Auden's The Age of Anxiety reflect his belie that man's quest for self actualization is in vain I. Auden's background A. As a 1930's poe 1. Views of Societ 2. Diagnosis of the industrial societ B. Major conflicts of his work II. The Age of Anxiety overview A. As a quest poe 1. Characters's earch for self-actualization 2. Characters' inevitable failure in the ques B. Characters' views on the general situation 1.

Their belief to be in Purgatory when they are allegorically in Hel 2. Their disbelief in impossibility. The Age of Anxiety character analysis A. Quan B. Mali C. Rosett D. Embl IV. Par A. Commonly called "Prologue B. Introduces scene and character C. Characters think aloud to reveal their natur 1. Quant views himself with false admiration 2.

Malin examines the theoretical nature of ma 3. Rosetta endeavors to create an imaginary and happy pas 4. Emble passes his youthful judgment on the others' f ollie V. First act of Part II, "The Seven Ages A. Malin's domination of this ac 1. Serves as a guid 2. Controls the characters through his introduction of each ag B. Others support Malin's theories by drawing from past, present, an potential future experience C. The age 1.

The first ag a. Malin asks the reader to "Behold the infant b. Child is "helpless in cradle and / Righteous still" but already ha "Dread in his dreams 2. The second ag a. Youth, as Malin describes i b. Age at which man realizes "his life-bet with a lying self c.

Naive belief in self and place in life is bundles d. It is the age of belief in the possibility of a futur 3. The third ag a. The sexual awakenin b. Distinction between dream and realit c. Discovery that love, as it was thought to be, is a sharp contrast to lov in the bounds of realit 4.

The fourth ag a. Presents circus imagery "as a form of art too close to life to have an purgative effect on the audience b. Rosetta's definition of life and the worl 5. The fifth ag a.

Conveys the image of man as "an astonished victor b. Man believes he has made peace with the meaning of lif c. Anxiety declines as "He [man] learns to speak / Softer and slower, no to seem so eager d. Man is no longer confined to a prison of prismatic color, but is free i the dull, bland place that is the worl e. Emble's opposition of the fifth ag (1) Refuses to go willingly into middle ag (2) Demands to know why man must "Leave out the worst / Pang o youth (3) Is disturbed by time unlike the others for he is still young enough t have a futur f. Quant's domination of the fifth ag (1) Attempt to eliminate all hop (2) View on man's adaptation to the fifth ag 6.

The sixth ag a. Man begins to show ag b. "Impotent, aged, and successful", Malin's portrayal of a man of thi age is indifferent to the worl 7. The seventh ag a.

Hypothetical man is tired ou b. Malin is ready for this age in contrast to the others' reluctance to di just ye VI. Second act of Part II, "The Seven Stages A. Unlike "The Seven Ages", this act is nothing more than a drea B. "The Seven Stages" is an attempt to find the perfect time of lif C. The stage 1. The first stag a. Each character begins alone, "isolated with his own thoughts b. Justification of the view that the quest is for naught 2.

The second stag a. Is initiated by the first pairing of character (1) Shows possibility of hop (a) Embl (b) Rosett (2) Shows futility of hop (a) Quan (b) Mali 3. The third stag a. Begins as the couples turn in lan (1) Emble and Rosetta by plan (2) Quant and Malin by trai b. The characters complete the third stage without success in their searc for sel 4.

The fourth stag a. Malin speaks for them all in his derogatorative statements about th cit b. Malin passes judgment on its citizens based on the urban surrounding 5. The fifth stag a. Rosetta visits a mansion in which she wishes she were raised and t which she wishes she shall return b.

While Rosetta is within the house, the others examine its exterior an its comparison to the human bod c. Rosetta finds life inside the house no better than befor 6. The sixth stag a. A "forgotten graveyard" is the sett in b. Symbolizes "The results of life 7. The seventh stag a.

The characters wander deep into a forest, each taking a solitary pat b. They meet at the edge of the forest with a desert before the c. As they realize that life has no meaning, the desert becomes the rea world, thus ending this stage with their awakenin VII. The remaining three part A. Follows the characters from the bar to their home B. The four remember the despair of the conclusion of "The Seve Stages" rather than the journey it sel Analysis of The Age of Anxiet In Auden's lengthy poem, The Age of Anxiety, he follows the action and thoughts of four characters who happen to meet in a bar during war. Their interactions with one another lead them on an imaginary quest in their minds in which they attempt, without success, to discover themselves. The themes and ideas that Auden's The Age of Anxiet conveys reflect his belief that man's quest for self-actualization is in vain W.H. Auden was born in York, England, in 1907, the third and youngest son of Constance and George Auden (Magill 72).

His poetry in the 1930' reflected the world of his era, a world of depression, Fascism, and war His works adopt a prose of a "clinical diagnostician [sic] anatomizing society" and interpret social and spiritual acts as failures o communication (Magill 74). They also put forth a diagnosis of th industrial English society among economic and moral decay in the 1930' (Magill 72). Conflicts common in his works are those between war an peace, corruption of modern society, and the "dichotomy between th rich and the poor" (Barrows 317) The Age of Anxiety is, in general, a quest poem. Unlike the idea quest, however, this quest accomplishes nothing.

The characters searc for the meaning of self and, in essence, the meaning of life, but because their search is triggered by intoxication due to alchohol, the quest i doomed from the start. Throughout the quest, the characters belief themselves to be in a form of Purgatory when they are allegorically i Hell. They fail to realize this due to "the modern human condition whic denies possibility but refuses to call it impossible" (Nelson 117) In The Age of Anxiety, there are four characters of significance Quant, the first to be introduced, addresses himself in a mirror, an action typical to a drunken man. He is an aging homosexual widower who find refuge in the mirror because it offers him the easiest way of fac in himself (Nelson 117-118) Malin, the most dominant character overall, is a medical intelligence officer on leave from the Canadian Air Force. His background labels hi as the "would-be doctor and leader" in the world of The Age o Anxiety.

His name is reminiscent, in relation to the war, o malingerer, and the composition of his personality hints at the evil with him (Nelson 118) Rosetta, the most human of the characters, is a department store buyer and comes closer to self-actualization than any of the other characters i the poem. Emble is a young sailor and would-be prince whose wish is t have sex with Rosetta. Ironically, his failure to do so is the primary composition of the climax of the work (Nelson 118) Part I of The Age of Anxiety, the "Prologue" as it is commonly called introduces the scene and characters. The characters each think aloud i monologue so as to reveal their true nature to the reader. Quant view himself with false admiration, and Malin questions the nature of man Rosetta constructs an imaginary past to compensate for a less tha adequate one. Emble, with youthful tact, passes judgment on the others follies (Nelson 118) The first act of Part II, "The Seven Ages", is dominated by Malin, actin as a guide.

He controls the actions of the characters through hi introduction's to each age. The other characters support his theories b drawing from their past, present, and potential future experience (Nelson 118-119) The first age begins with Malin asking the reader to "Behold the infant" a though he is observing us as the infant while his own infancy fails t exist. The child is "helpless in cradle and / Righteous still" but already ha a "Dread in his dreams". By this, Auden means that even when we ar most innocent, we are still imperfect (Nelson 119) The second age is youth, as Malin describes it. It is at this age at whic man realizes "his life-bet with a lying self".

Despite this, man's naiv belief in self and place in life is boundless. It is in this age that the belie in the future is possible (Nelson 119) The third age is termed by Malin as the age of sexual awakening. It is i this age that the distinction between dream and reality begins to surface in the mind of man. With this distinction comes the discovery that love as it was thought to be, is a sharp contrast to love in the bounds o reality (Nelson 119) The fourth age presents circus imagery "as a form of art too close to lif to have any purgative effect on the audience". It is reinforced b Rosetta's definitions of life as an "impertinent appetitive flux", and th world as a "clown's cosmos" (Nelson 119) Malin conveys the image of man as "an astonished victor" in the fifth age Man in this age feel as though he has made peace with the meaning o life. The anxiety of life declines as "He [man] learns to speak / Softer an slower, not to seem so eager".

Here, man discovers he is no longe confined in a prison of prismatic color, but free in the dull, bland plac that is the world (Nelson 119-120) Emble, being the youngest of the four, refuses to drift into the middle age of the fifth age willingly. Instead, he demands to know why ma must "Leave out the worst / Pang of youth". He is unlike the others i that he is still young enough to have an influence on his future (Nelson 120) Quant is more dominant in this age than any other for it is this age tha he represents. In it, he attempts to eliminate all hope for a future.

H feels that "if man cannot adjust to mediocrity, it is too bad... If ma asks for more, the world only gets worse" (Nelson 120) The sixth age is attributed to man's "scars of time", to man's aging "Impotent, aged, and successful", Malin portrays man to be indifferent t the world (Nelson 120) "Hypothetical man" is exhausted when "His last illusions have los patience / With the human enterprise" in the seventh age. Malin greet this age with preparedness, but the other characters feel reluctance i greeting death (Nelson 120) The second act of Part II of The Age of Anxiety, "The Seven Stages, is different from "The Seven Ages" in that the first act is based o experiences and the second act consists entirely of a dream. The purpose of "The Seven Stages" is to determine the ideal time of life for man i which he can reside for eternity (Nelson 121) The first stage begins like all quests begin, with all characters alone They are each "isolated with his own thoughts". Their journey ends i the same fashion, with each of them alone, which labels this as a false quest for nothing is accomplished (Nelson 121) The second stage is initiated by the pairing of the characters.

This pairing represents the possibility of hope with the two youngest, Emble an Rosetta, and it also symbolizes the futility of hope with the two eldest Quant and Malin (Nelson 121) The third stage begins as the couples begin to head inland. Emble an Rosetta travel via plane, which symbolizes the useless attempt to escap life by flying above it. Quant and Malin, on the other hand, travel b train, which represents the same inability to escape life, although thi time the method is through immersion into life (Nelson 121) In the fourth stage, Malin speaks for the group in his derogatory statements about the city. Malin also passes judgment on the people o the city not on the basis of personality content, but on that of th surroundings of which he thinks so lowly (Nelson 122) The fifth stage is reached when the group sights "the big house" while riding on a trolley.

Rosetta, with her false past as an outline, reference the house to one in which she was imaginarily reared, and to which sh shall return. During her visitation to the house, Quant and the other analyze the house's exterior. Quant comments on the house' appearance " The facade has a lifeless look". The house is compared t human being, with its "book-lined rooms" serving as the brain and "th guards at the front gate [who] / Change with the seasons" serving as th senses. Rosetta finds her life within the house no better than befor (Nelson 122) The sixth stage takes place in a "forgotten graveyard". It is observed a "still / Museum [exhibiting] / The results of life", which could either b death or the life that results from death as the "Flitter mice, finches / An flies restore / Their lost milieu" (Nelson 122) The seventh stage begins as each character plunges deep into a dens forest where they are confronted by a vast desert.

Here, Quant asks th question, "Do I love this world so well / That I have to know how i ends?" The four take heed of the question and realize that their quest ha no meaning, and as they do so, their dream world drifts upwards int the realm of consciousness and the vast desert makes the transition t reality (Nelson 122-123) The remaining three parts follow each of the characters from the bar t their respective homes. They each remember the despair of th conclusion of "The Seven Stages", but have no recollection of the journe itself (Nelson 123) Auden has effectively portrayed the flaw of man in his fruitless quest fo the meaning of self. His representations of Quant and Malin as the elder whose future is bleak counters the bright and cheery illusion that Embl and Rosetta may possibly have a future, though, in reality, the only sur future is death Al tick, Richard D. Lives and Letters. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1969 Auden, W.H... 19th Century British Minor Poets. New YorkDelacort Press, 1966 – -.

City Without Walls and Other Poems. New YorkRandom House 1969 – -. Secondary Worlds. New YorkRandom House, 1968 Bahlke, George W., ed. Critical Essays on W.H. Auden.

New YorkG. K Hall & Co., 1991 Barrows, Marjorie Wescott, ed., et al. The American Experience Poetry New York MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1974 Kuntz, Stanley J. And Hay craft, Howard, eds... Twentieth Center Authors.

New York The H.W. Wilson Company, 1942 Magill, Frank N., ed... Critical Survey of Poetry. Englewood Cliffs N.J. Salem Press, 1982 Nelson, Gerald. "From Changes of Heart (The Age of Anxiety). Ed.

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