'Dead Faces Laugh': Alienation and History in the Drama of W.B. Yeats

While Yates is undisputedly one of the greatest poets of the 20th century, the cultural importance of his drama has not received due recognition. This study examines the occultism of his plays as a mode of response to historical patterns shaping modern European culture. Identifying influences and parallels with the continental drama of Maeterlinck, Ibsen, Wedekind, Jarry, Kokoschka, Pirandello and Beckett, Yate's drama is situated within the context of the European avant-garde. Drawing on the writings of Marx, Adorno, Nietzsche, Sartre, Foucault and Baudrillard, the analysis illustrates how Yates' drama participates fully in the modernist critique of bourgeois culture.