Auden's the Age of Anxiety in a Jungian and Spiritual Context
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Transcript of Auden's the Age of Anxiety in a Jungian and Spiritual Context
Dodson 1
Benjamin Dodson
Dr. Erin D. Sells
English 340
30 April 2010
“The Seven Stages” as a representation of the unattainable salvation of humankind in W.H.
Auden‟s The Age of Anxiety
Auden‟s long poem, The Age of Anxiety: a baroque ecologue, depicts the meeting of
four characters in a Third Avenue bar and whose discussion soon becomes an allegorical
journey filled with metaphor and escapism. The poem comprises of six distinct parts:
“Prologue”, “The Seven Ages”, “The Seven Stages”, “The Dirge”, “The Masque”, and
“Epilogue”. The length of the poem tells the story of man‟s quest for meaning both within a
psychological and spiritual context. This quest begins within Part II and Part III of the poem
as the characters begin from the birth of man in order to divine the roots of their dilemma.
However, within these two parts, Auden reveals the futility of their quest and the depravity
that mankind has doomed itself to. While an attempt is made by the four characters later on in
Parts IV and V to discover meaning through acts of love or intellectual reflection, the attempt
fails due to the irreconcilable revelations that occurred in Parts II and III. “The Seven Ages”
and “The Seven Stages” depict Auden‟s view of man both psychologically and supernaturally,
and Auden ultimately reveals through this journey into the nature of humankind that there
lays an unsolvable problem regarding man‟s existence within this world.
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In order to discuss the inner mechanisms of humankind, Auden creates two layers of
allegories within his poem; one exists on a psychological level while the other exists on a
spiritual level.1 Both allegories follow the same basic plot of the poem: the night opens on the
Night of All Souls during World War II when four strangers meet in a bar on Third Avenue.
They are Malin, Rosetta, Quant, and Emble. Malin works for the Canadian Air Force as a
medical officier; Rosetta is a Jewish businesswoman; Quant is an elderly Irish clerk; Emble is
a college student in the U.S. Navy. As they begin their discussion, which turns into an
escapist journey, the influential works of the psychologist Carl Jung becomes evident.
Auden‟s psychological allegory begins by first manifesting the four characters so that they
align themselves to the Jungian concept of the psyche as four distinct areas: Malin acts as
Thought; Rosetta acts as Feeling; Quant acts as Intuition; Emble acts Sensation2. By using the
characters in such a delineated fashion, Auden can more effectively show each facet of the
human psyche and its relation towards a more holistic goal. When each character eventually
fails to find a solution to human depravity, the message becomes clear that the answer does
not lie within some unseen corner of human nature, but rather beyond any part contained by
man.
At the beginning of the poem, each character appears engaged within their own private
thoughts, each of which contains thoughts of guilt and innocence. As a newscast about World
War II interrupts them, each character interprets the War differently, which in turn reveals
each character‟s own philosophies. As the poem starts into “The Seven Ages”, Auden
structures his poem as the progression of an infant through life until death. Jung again shows
1 Callan, Edward. “Allegory in Auden’s Age of Anxiety.” Twentieth Century Literature 10.4 1965: 155-165. JSTOR.
Web. 13 Apr. 2010. p 155 2 Ibid
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his influence since the division of the ages of man closely relates to the division that Jung
discusses in his “The Stages of Life”.3 4 The use of Jungian archetypes by Auden depicts the
fragmentary nature which Auden views as the mind of man.
In Part II, Malin introduces each Age since he acts as the most intelligent and
perceptive member of the group, and therefore leads the introduction. In the First Age, each
infant is born with a degree of conflict: “yet already there is / Dread in his dreams.”5 This
conflict arises from a disagreement between Logic and Feeling. The infant experiences “The
fallen families, freedom lost / Love becomes Law.”6 The conflict between Love and Law
shows that division occurs already from birth. In the Second Age, the infant has become a
child and as a result, gained a degree of consciousness. At the same time, the child becomes
further conflicted and divided after realizing he “has laid his life-bet with a lying self / Who
wins or welches.”7 In the Third Age, the human has learned how to love, but only to discover
that “learning to love, at length he is taught / To know he does not.”8 Because the sexual
feelings that man has discovered at this Age merely results as a product of narcissism, the
love ends in disillusionment. Quant‟s description of his journey to Venus Island further
reinforces this idea. The Fourth Age shows the abandonment of Love by humankind as
disillusionment gives way to the harsh reality. By this Age, man no longer yearns for fantasies
of unconditional love or entertains thoughts of being exceptional. Instead, he enters the world
where Love becomes perverted. Emble makes note of the gluttony and lust, not only of sex
3 Callan 158 4 A close relation can also be made to the Shakespearean Seven Ages; however, Auden describes the stages in
much greater psychological terms, and therefore the relation to Jung becomes more relevant. 5 Auden, Wystan Hugh. The Age of Anxiety. Collected Poems. Ed. Edward Mendelson. London: Faber & Faber,
1976. Print. p. 463 6 Ibid
7 Ibid p. 465 8 Ibid p .467
Dodson 4
but also of material wealth. Quant merely replies that “We are mocked by unmeaning.”
Quants remark reflects his belief that any kind of meaning is actually illusory— merely a
product of a mocking unmeaning. By the Fifth Age, man has finally obtained a normalized
and accepted degree of approval and success. Emble voices his fear of never attaining this
success while Quant describes his failure to obtain it. Here, the viewpoints of each character
become increasingly dramatic. In the Sixth Age, man shows himself as unhappy, aging, and
dreaming of the innocence of his childhood (of which never existed). Once again each
character reacts to this Age differently: Quant serves as the physical representation of this
Age, Emble laments losing the key to the garden, and Rosetta dreams of innocent dolls.
Finally, by the Seventh Age, humankind‟s “last illusions have lost patience / With the human
enterprise” and as his demise comes, he “is modest at last.”9 However, as this stage ends, each
of the characters returns to their respective reveries and once again become lost in illusion.
The characters act as if the entire analysis into the psyche of man through each stage of life
had no impact on their respective viewpoints. Rosetta returns to her Innocent Landscape;
Quant declines into thoughts of cynicism and death; Emble worries about the future success
of his life.
Until this point, only the psychological allegory has been discussed, but “The Seven
Ages” can also be interpreted as a spiritual allegory. The beginning of Age of mankind does
not necessarily represent infancy in the physical form, but rather infancy as a metaphorical
device to represent the Fall and the burden of original sin. Consider the previous passage:
Behold the infant, helpless in cradle and
9 Auden 479
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Righteous still, yet already there is
Dread in his dreams at the deed of which
He knows nothing but know he can do
The gulf before him with guilt beyond
Whatever that is, whatever why
Forbids his bound; till that ban tempts him;
He jumps and is judged: he joins mankind
The fallen families, freedom lost,
Love becomes Law.10
The passage here shows that before the infant even becomes of aware of his own existence, he
is aware of the crimes committed by his ancestors. This guilt then leads to the establishment
of bounds, which in turn leads to temptation and then sin. Through these first lines, Auden
describes foremost the roots through which mankind sins, and thus shows depravity at the
heart of humankind‟s nature. The “jump” described refers to the “leap of faith” that all
Christians must commit, and in doing so become “judged.” However, the jump can also mean
a physical jump towards adulthood where he too will be judged, but by mankind. The Love
that becomes Law again refers to the first sin. When original sin was first committed, the
word of God changes from one of Love into one of Law since human beings are now capable
of sin. As “The Seven Ages” progresses, each Age shows an attempt to regain the paradise
10 Auden 463
Dodson 6
that remains lost. As human travel through the Ages, they will attempt to deceive themselves
with thoughts of sexual love or material success (Third Age and Fifth Age). However, such
attempts always fail and each human life ends without ever finding true happiness. Thus, the
religious allegory of this section also shows a failure for a solution on the conscious level.
Since the discussion does not produce any kind of solution to the problems that
originally plagued the characters, Quant intuitively chooses Rosetta to take them further on
their quest. Although Rosetta has doubts, she agrees to lead them on a journey homeward
through “the Maze of Time /Seeking its center” by finding the “regressive road to
Grandmother‟s House.”11
By seeking the road to “Grandmother House”, the characters wish
to find some kind of ancestral happiness or meaning in order to rid them of the anxiety that
pervades their lives. Furthermore, the journey acts as a loose attempt to save themselves from
their own guilt and dread.12
This time, instead of Malin, Rosetta acts as the guide to find this
“prehistoric happiness which, by human beings, can only be imagined in terms of a landscape
bearing a symbolic resemblance to the human body.”13
At this point, the characters may also
possess a degree of suspicion for Malin and his “jaundiced self-pity” which causes them to
rebel and have Rosetta lead the discussion instead.14
However, by this time, the other
characters have all achieved an alcohol induced rapport that they may function with Rosetta
as “a single organism.” Thus, Auden wishes to indicate that Rosetta, a representation of the
feminine and the unconscious (feeling), is about to lead the others on a journey into the
11 Callan 159 12 Patrick, Barbara. “Faith, Fantasy, and Art: The Detective-Deliverer in W. H. Auden's ‘The Age of Anxiety.’” South Atlanta Review 53.4 1988: 87-101. Literature Online. Web. 13 Apr. 2010. 13 Auden 482 14 Boly, John R. “Auden and the Romantic Tradition in ‘Age of Anxiety.’” Daedalus 111.3 1982: 149-171. Literature Online. Web. 13 Apr. 2010. p. 157
Dodson 7
unconscious where the conscious psyches will become muted.15
Therefore, “The Seven Ages”
leads into the next section by concluding the unfruitfulness of the conscious psyche and
attempting instead to find meaning from the unconscious being. Thus begins “The Seven
Stages.”
As “The Seven Stages” opens, the lines between psychological allegory and spiritual
allegory become blurred. The Seven Stages can represent “Jung‟s theories on the regenerative
powers of the unconscious.”16
At the same time, the Seven Stages acts as a parallel with
Dante‟s Purgatorio since there exists seven stages and ages with innocence as the eventual
aim.17
However, the parallel ends here because with Dante, the Eden can be regained through
faith. However, no such option exists with Auden. The characters in the poem all search for
the Kingdom of God, although they refer to it as “The Quiet Kingdom.”18
However, “The
Seven Stages” eventually reveal the unattainable nature of this kingdom.
The very fact that the characters misname the Kingdom of God as The Quiet Kingdom
offers insight into their psyche. The characters have no knowledge of God, nor can they
fathom him in any describable terms. Thus, they merely replaced God with word “Quiet”
which would indicate their most revered attribute. The characters wish only for “Quiet”; in
other words, they search for a sense of peace or innocence away from the guilt plaguing them
since birth. The word acts as an antithesis to the anxiety that affects them, and in order from
to be free, the characters must achieve a sense of “quiet” relief.
15
Callan 159 16
Ibid p. 160 17 Spears 232. 18 Auden 482
Dodson 8
With this goal in mind, the characters embark on a journey in the unconscious. The
characters begin in isolation in the beginning, but each of them finds water in order to
continue their quest. The water represents many things: it could represent life or birth which
would symbolize the beginning of their quest begins at infancy; the water could also represent
hope to find the answer and thereby motivate each character‟s continuation in the quest.
Edward Callan describes the water as “the commonest symbol of the unconscious.” Once
water has been obtained, the characters begin their ascent up a mountain and into the “high
heartland.” Here, the symbolism of the landscape as a body as becomes more evident since
the heartland plainly represents the heart of the body. As a result, the heartland also
symbolizes the base for emotions. The second stage sees them journeying to the maritime
plains where each character reveals a characteristic interpretation. For example, Emble views
the plains in military fashion. The Third Stage reveals the Metropolis which acts as the seat of
civilization. The Metropolis looms immensely and in terms of the body, the city acts as the
representation of the brain. The city appears orderly, but certain problems have been ignored.
The city has accounted for everything except the anxiety of its denizens. The Fourth Stage is
spent discussing this fact.
If the “Seven Stages” act as the focal point of the entire poem, the Fifth Stage acts as
the center of this focal point. This stage takes place within the “Big House”, a representation
of where Rosetta grew up, which symbolically acts as a “womb within a womb.”19
Rosetta
enters the Big House happily while her companions wait for some unconscious revelation to
occur within. However, Rosetta instead finds herself mortified upon discovering her
imaginary childhood as corrupted. Instead of finding innocence or relief, she instead discovers
19 Boly 159
Dodson 9
the “mating and malice of men and beasts.”20
The characters flee the scene, and as they do
they share a characteristic remark: Malin fears that failure in their quest represents sin; Quant
wishes to remain average; Emble enjoys a sense of superiority but attempts to appear humble;
Rosetta does not believe she can be first, and thus hopes to be last. The psychological allegory
again appears with these counter-comments that reflect the inner mechanisms of each of facet
in our psyche.
The Sixth Stage shows the characters in the Hermetic Gardens. The Gardens represent
Mother Nature—the “Grandmother‟s House” that Rosetta promised to lead her companions to;
the Gardens also serve as the life producing part in the landscape-body symbolism
(genitalia).21
During this particular part of the journey, each character experiences a sense of
sexual love or attraction but the context implies that such attractions are only narcissistic. For
example, Malin only wishes to have a son because he wishes his son to be created as his own
self-image. A parallel can be drawn between the desires of Malin to create a product in his
own self-image and the story of Man created in the self-image of God. By showing Malin‟s
(thought) desires in such a manner, Auden appeals to the attempts of rationalistic minds to
replace the acts of God through the acts of Man as fruitless endeavors. The beauty of the
Gardens eventually forces the characters to flee into the forest where they recall their sins and
despair of never attaining love.
The section ends with the characters coming upon a vast and apparently empty desert.
The desert acts as an obvious representation of death, and thus coincides nicely with “The
Seven Ages” by beginning and ending with metaphorical representations of life and death.
20 Auden 503 21 Callan 160
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The desert exists “beyond love”22
and exists for the purpose of destroying life. However,
within a spiritual context, the desert may act not only as a symbol of death, but also as “a
symbol of the death of the self that is required before true can occur.”23
The desert does not
exist as entirely dry or empty. Instead, Auden describes the hidden oasis and streams that dot
the desert, and speaks of acrobats who “make unbelievable leaps.”24
These leaps refer to a
“Kierkegaardian leap of faith”25
which involves great risk and pain, and yet are committed
with the “exuberance and death-defying confidence of trapeze artists.”26
However, as the
characters approach this wasteland, they begin to fear their familiar sense of anxiety. Malin in
particular (and appropriately) questions the logic of crossing such a vast wasteland. As a
result, the dread and doubt within each character grows as questions begin to invade their
minds. Malin exclaims “It will take will to cross this waste”27
and as a result, refuses to
attempt the only true Quest that appears the in the entire poem—the search for religious
Choice. The section ends by stating “their fears are confirmed, their hopes denied. For the
world from which their journey has been one long flight rises up before them now…”28
By
ending the section in such a manner, Auden shows that Malin, Quant, Rosetta, and Emble are
all unable to undertake the necessary hardship in order to complete their quest. In their
moment of doubt, the desert disappears and the characters once again awaken to thoughts of
guilt and anxiety.
22
Auden 510 23
Patrick 95 24
Auden 511 25
Patrick 95 26
Ibid 27 Auden 511 28 Ibid p. 512
Dodson 11
The remaining section of the poem describes the various attempts by the characters to
find meaning through other outlets that all ultimately fail. False prophets appear in Part IV,
sexual comfort is sought in Part V, and intellectual reflection made by Malin occurs in Part VI.
In each part, the quest again fails, but by this point, Auden has clearly shown the doomed
nature of this task. The only point in which redemption may have been achieved occurred in
the desert, and Malin correctly realizes this final section. Upon this realization, he despairs:
We would rather be ruined than changed
We would rather die in our dread
Than climb the cross of the moment
And let our illusions die.29
These lines show that Malin knows salvation from the anxiety and evil that lurks within
mankind may only be achieved from the acceptance of Christ. Otherwise, the illusions persist
and humankind is left to a delusory existence with no means of escape.
Auden‟s poem acts an incredibly complex and ingenious interplay between the
different parts of psychosomatic man. Not only do using distinct four characters to represent a
single being indicate the fragmentary nature of mankind, the quest and ultimate failure of
these characters to find meaning clearly shows the futility of the task. The two startling
revelations of the entire poem that confirm this occur during the “Seven Stages” at the “Big
House” and the desert. At the Big House, the characters realize the illusory nature of their
existence—one filled with depravity and devoid of meaning or happiness. The desert acts as
29 Ibid p. 530
Dodson 12
the only solution to this, but one that mankind ultimately rejects because of the difficulty of
the task. Although Malin finally realizes that Christ, and only Christ, can offer redemption, he
still rejects the task albeit bitterly. By concluding in such a manner, Auden offers a bleak
vision of humankind: an existence where the inherent weakness of human beings will always
prevent them from ever attaining the salvation they desperately want.
Dodson 13
Annotated Bibliography
Auden, Wystan Hugh. The Age of Anxiety. Collected Poems. Ed. Edward Mendelson. London:
Faber & Faber, 1976. Print.
- The Age of Anxiety serves as the primary source through which I can study the
work and writing of Auden. This text is an original version of the poem when the
poem was first published in 1948, and thus contains very little revisionist marks
that have resulted from a near half-century of literary criticism. The early edition
of this source allows for the most accurate and untouched copy of Auden‟s work
that has been made available.
Boly, John R. “Auden and the Romantic Tradition in „Age of Anxiety.‟” Daedalus 111.3
1982: 149-171. Literature Online. Web. 13 Apr. 2010.
- A critical aspect of analyzing Auden‟s view of human meaning and existence lies
in his opinions of religion. Boly discusses the development of Auden‟s view on
humanism and his eventual conversion to Christianity at the end of the 1930‟s
(Boly 151). After further describing the influences of men such as Blake on Auden
during the 1930‟s, Boly then goes on to detail how Auden‟s viewpoints became
translated onto the page in his work, The Age of Anxiety. In this work, Boly states
that the interplay between “theist and humanist elements is a fascinating process”
(152). This interplay allows for important analysis concerning the role that religion
plays in finding meaning in our human nature. Furthermore, several points are also
made in order to link the influences of Jungian and Freudian concepts within the
The Age of Anxiety. Boly begins by explaining the portrayal of the four main
Dodson 14
characters with the fourfold division of psyche from Jung (154). Such analysis
opens up insight into the manner that Auden wishes to understand human nature
and conduct. Later on, Boly describes how Auden eventually shows in “The Seven
Stages” that “the humanist quest for the liberation of desire must paradoxically
lead to its repression” (163). Here, parallels between Freud and Jung continue to
show themselves within Auden‟s writings, and lend further insight in the
psychology behind Auden‟s writings.
Callan, Edward. “Allegory in Auden‟s Age of Anxiety.” Twentieth Century Literature 10.4
1965: 155-165. JSTOR. Web. 13 Apr. 2010.
- In this article, Edward Callan states that the main problem that Auden believes
plagues humans is “man‟s anxiety with time,” a problem that Auden would
address in his work The Age of Anxiety (Callan 155). This problem becomes
represented in the form of allegories, of which there are two. Callan describes the
first as psychological and the second as spiritual; both allegories share the same
plot that will later on form the framework that Auden employs to construct “an
allegorical modern man in search of a soul” (155). This modern man serves as
vessel to find the good, the true, and the beautiful, but Auden describes the many
problems that face the modern man in his quest for meaning. Auden appears to
show that the barriers to meaning arise from problems within ourselves rather than
our own environment. Callan describes how the Seven Stages that Auden
references in the poem can be compared to the Stages of Life by Jung, but such
stages show themselves to be inadequate solutions in the poem (158-159).
Dodson 15
Eventually, Auden uses the psychological and spiritual allegories attempt to reveal
the solution, but only after the long journey made by the four main characters of
his poem.
Hendon, Paul. The Poetry of W. H. Auden: a reader's guide to essential criticism. Cambridge:
Icon Books, 2000. Print.
- This book introduces Auden‟s poetry by comparing his style to works by his
fellow poets as well as from contemporary reviews. The book begins with an
overview of Auden‟s life and works which helps place the poem, The Age of
Anxiety, into a better and more relevant context. After this overview, Hendon uses
the subsequent chapters to discuss central themes prevalent throughout Auden‟s
lifetime while referencing selected extracts. A broad range of topics encompasses
the remaining chapters such as the ambiguity regarding Auden‟s political view, his
perspective on history, and his attitudes towards art. However, the most relevant
issue discussed by Hendon that will lend itself to my research paper would be the
issue of Auden‟s return to the Christian faith. Matters of religion remain central to
Auden‟s quest to find the nature of human conduct and the meanings that lie
behind such nature. As a result, Hendon‟s section concerning faith will be the most
continually referenced part of his book.
Nelson, Gerard. “From Changes of Heart (The Age of Anxiety).” Critical Essays on British
Literature: Critical Essays on W. H. Auden 1991: 117-127. JSTOR. Web. 13 Apr.
2010.
Dodson 16
- In this work, Nelson discusses the changes in the Seven Stages experienced in part
II of The Age of Anxiety. Nelson does not use references to Jung or Freud in his
interpretation of Auden‟s poem, but instead offers his own interpretation on why
the characters of Malin, Rosetta, Quant, and Emble all serve to represent what
Nelson calls the “Changes of Heart” (Nelson 118). The Changes of Heart act as the
central theme to the paper, and explain the purpose of the four characters and their
various stages throughout the entire second part. Here, Nelson interprets the
dream-like quality of the second part of The Age of Anxiety as an attempt by
Auden to find the ideal Stage of a man‟s life that becomes the most meaningful
(122). Through these stages, greater insight into the nature of human beings can be
discovered.
Patrick, Barbara. “Faith, Fantasy, and Art: The Detective-Deliverer in W. H. Auden's „The
Age of Anxiety.‟” South Atlanta Review 53.4 1988: 87-101. Literature Online. Web.
13 Apr. 2010.
- Barbara Patrick acknowledges the analysis of Boly and Callan on the interpretation
of The Age of Anxiety, but offers her own perspective on what serves as the
underlying framework. She first postulates that a plainer framework that Boly and
Callan‟s exists in the form of the Christian framework. Patrick states that “the
characters are clearly inheritors of the Fall” and they are “just as surely seeking
deliverance from that guilt and the resultant anxiety” (Patrick 87). After this
introduction, Patrick then explains Auden‟s preference for detective stories and
then she coins the term “the detective story paradigm” (87). At this point, she
Dodson 17
launches into an argument that explains The Age of Anxiety from the view of a
detective story while simultaneously explaining the poem based on a Christian
framework. As a result, Barbara offers an another unique facet to analyze this
poem from. While Boly discusses the poem on a more romantic and humanist
level, and Callan analyzes the poem using the lens of psychology, Patrick uses
faith and Christianity while also bringing in stylistic elements that Auden employs.
Because this sources offers yet another unique perspective concerning The Age of
Anxiety, this source will serve as a valuable tool to better understand how
influences from his previous work as well as his conversion to Christianity would
affect his writing.
Spears, Monroe K. “Late Auden: The Satirist as Lunatic Clergymen.” The Sewanee Review
59:1 1951: 50-74. JSTOR. Web. 13 Apr. 2010.
- Spears does not directly analyze The Age of Anxiety in this article, but rather points
out the slow evolution of Auden‟s poetry from his early days until his eventual
death. However, does attempt to show that Auden underwent a large
transformation between his early and later work, while The Age of Anxiety serving
as a key pivotal point. Spears in his style. Due to Auden‟s death, the change of
beliefs during the1930‟s shows that the need to eat of impact no longer serves a
central issue, but still mentioned often by Auden. By analyzing the impact of faith
more closely with Auden, and by addressing this issue not only to The Age of
Anxiety but also with a number of other works, Spears allows for a more fair
analysis of The Age of Anxiety since the context of Auden‟s spiritual beliefs may
Dodson 18
then come into play. Spears begins the article comparing the early Auden as the
“pure poet”, much like Yeats and Eliot were initially. However, Auden eventually
descends into the style of a socially responsible poet in which Auden increasingly
uses satire in order to make a “point” about society. As a result of both his
increased faith and his satirical tendencies, Spears eventually decides that the
works of the late Auden came from a man she called a “lunatic clergymen” (51).
However, the context that Spears offers still makes this text both valuable and
relevant to my paper.