"Imagination Is Now the World": W.B. Yeats and the Staging of Visionary Experience

Throughout his career, W.B. Yeats was fascinated by the phenomenology of mental images and the mystical potential of imagination. This article examines how Yeats's beliefs—drawn from occult philosophy and séance experiences—shaped his dramaturgical choices, especially in his Noh-inspired 'plays for dancers.' His convictions about acting, staging, and scenography served an aesthetic and spiritual goal: to transform theatre into a visionary medium that, through poetic language, could restore audiences' connection to the 'world-soul' (anima mundi) in an industrialized, scientific age.

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Abstract

abstract:Throughout his literary career, the poet and dramatist W.B. Yeats displayed a keen interest in the phenomenology of the mental image as well as a deep curiosity about the possible mystical functions of the imagination. This article examines the impact of Yeats's evolving set of beliefs about the power of imaginative vision, including those derived from readings in occult philosophy and personal experiences at séances, upon his dramaturgical decisions as a playwright, particularly in his Noh-inspired "plays for dancers." Yeats's convictions about the most effective kinds of acting, staging, and scenography for these dramatic works served an overarching aesthetic and spiritual project: to transform the theatre into a visionary medium that, through the power of the poetic word, could restore a sense of connection to the "world-soul" or anima mundi for audiences of his industrialized, scientific, objectifying age.