Yeats and Nietzsche on the Tragic Hero

Comparison Essay # 61649

Literature > Comparative Literature
Literature > English
Philosophy

Comparison and contrast of W.B. Yeats and Friedrich Nietzsche on tragic joy and the use of the mask.

2,381 words () | 16 sources | MLA | 2005 United States

Paper Summary:

W. B. Yeats and philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche share certain attitudes about the tragic hero and tragic joy, but differ in the objectives a tragic hero or overman seeks. This paper shows that Yeats seeks a reconciliation of self and anti-self, while Nietzsche seeks drastic cultural changes for all.

From the Paper:

"W. B. Yeats's concept of tragic joy is embodied in a tragic hero unreconciled with his condition in the modern world who acts as a protagonist superior to circumstances and accepts the "desolation of reality" ("Meru, Poems 289) with a disdain for death and an attitude of tragic joy. His attitude is roughly similar to the "amor fati" propounded by the German existentialist philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. How to they compare?"

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APA Citation:

Yeats and Nietzsche on the Tragic Hero (2012, January 15). Retrieved February 13, 2012, from http://www.academon.com/Comparison-Essay-Yeats-and-Nietzsche-on-the-Tragic-Hero/61649

MLA Citation:

"Yeats and Nietzsche on the Tragic Hero" 15 January 2012. Web. 13 Feb. 2012. <http://www.academon.com/Comparison-Essay-Yeats-and-Nietzsche-on-the-Tragic-Hero/61649>