Mask 이론을 통해 본 Yeats의 초기시

Abstract

본고는 문학을 삶에 대한 작가의 이상적인 이미지, 곧 Mask의 구현으로 보는 Yeats의 가장 기본적인 문학관인 Mask이론을 중심으로 Yeats의 초기시를 고찰해 보았다. 그 결과 Yeats의 초기 Mask는 초기 Yeats의 주 문학론인 상징주의가 궁극적 실체로 제시하는 천상의 세계라는 점과 이 세계를 구현하는 대표적인 상징으로 바다 건너 나타나는 이상적인 섬과 장미, 아일랜드 신화차 Maud Gonne의 이미지가 이용되고 있음을 밝혀냈다. 그리고 Mask이론과 상징주의의 결합으로 Yeats의 초기시가 구현하는 초월적인 세계는 이 세계가 오직 상징을 통해서만 제시될 수 있다는 Yeats 스스로의 상징주의 이론과는 달리 어떤 상징으로 구현되든 그 성격은 궁극적으로 불완전한 현세의 삶의 모습에 의해 결정되었음을 고찰했다. 근본적으로 삶에 대한 애정이 짙은 Yeats가 지상의 삶의 가치를 부정하는 초기의 초월적인 Mask에 대해 느끼는 불만과 회의가 때로 그의 초기시에서 Mask와 삶의 갈등을 드러내는 몇 편의 예외적인 작품을 산출했으며, Crossways의 첫 작품이자 Collected Poems의 첫 시인 "The Song of the Happy Shepherd"는 Yeats의 근본적인 문학관은 물론 초기 시세계의 성격을 제시하고 있다는 점에서 새롭게 그 중요성을 인정받아야 한다는 점도 아울러 본고가 밝혀낸 점이다.

The study is an attempt to analyze Yeats's early poetry in the light of his Mask theory which defines the work of art as the embodiment of the writer's Mask of life, i.e. as the embodiment of the writer's ideal image of life. The investigation finally reaches the following conclusion : Yeats's early Mask is the very transcendent realm which Yeats's early Symbolism proposes to evoke and the main symbols used to express this ideal world are the images of Arcadian island across the sea, the rose, the Irish mythic world and Maud Gonne ; the synthesis of Yeats's Mask theory and symbolism in his early poetry causes an interesting characteristic that the nature of his transcendent world is conveyed not by the symbols but by the imperfect human realities in spite of his strong belief that "divine essence" can only be evoked by the symbols ; his transcendent mask cannot be wholly satisfactory to Yeats, the innate lover of life, and the anxiety and doubt caused by this unsatisfactory mask and his restrained strong love of life sometimes find expression in a few exceptional early poems in the form of the conflict between Mask and life ; "The Song of the Happy Shepherd," the first poem of The Collected Poems as well as of Crossways is especially notable for its explicit statement of his life-long poetic creed and the nature of his first Mask.

The study is an attempt to analyze Yeats's early poetry in the light of his Mask theory which defines the work of art as the embodiment of the writer's Mask of life, i.e. as the embodiment of the writer's ideal image of life. The investigation finally reaches the following conclusion : Yeats's early Mask is the very transcendent realm which Yeats's early Symbolism proposes to evoke and the main symbols used to express this ideal world are the images of Arcadian island across the sea, the rose, the Irish mythic world and Maud Gonne ; the synthesis of Yeats's Mask theory and symbolism in his early poetry causes an interesting characteristic that the nature of his transcendent world is conveyed not by the symbols but by the imperfect human realities in spite of his strong belief that "divine essence" can only be evoked by the symbols ; his transcendent mask cannot be wholly satisfactory to Yeats, the innate lover of life, and the anxiety and doubt caused by this unsatisfactory mask and his restrained strong love of life sometimes find expression in a few exceptional early poems in the form of the conflict between Mask and life ; "The Song of the Happy Shepherd," the first poem of The Collected Poems as well as of Crossways is especially notable for its explicit statement of his life-long poetic creed and the nature of his first Mask.