Four Plays for Dancers - W.B. Yeats

Summary

"Four Plays for Dancers" is a collection of four short, symbolic plays by W.B. Yeats, heavily influenced by the Japanese Noh theatre. Each play explores themes of unfulfilled desire, spiritual quest, love, jealousy, and the intersection of the mortal and immortal worlds, often featuring mythical Irish figures like Cuchulain. The plays are characterized by their stylized ritualistic elements, including masked performers, chanting, and a minimalist stage setting. They delve into profound psychological and spiritual states, depicting characters wrestling with their destiny, longing for the unattainable, or grappling with the consequences of past actions, all while moving towards a mystical or tragic resolution.

Book Sections

Section: At the Hawk's Well

This play opens with three Musicians chanting as a Young Man and an Old Man approach a legendary Hawk's Well. The Old Man has spent fifty years waiting for the miraculous water of the well to flow, which grants immortality, but it flows only rarely. The Young Man, Cuchulain, is drawn to the well by the allure of a supernatural hawk-woman he dreams of, believing she holds the key to his destiny. While the Old Man is distracted by hunger and falls asleep, the Young Man sees the hawk-woman appear and dance. He is enchanted and follows her into the hills, missing the moment the well's water flows. The Old Man wakes to find the water flowing but is too late and too weak to drink it. Cuchulain returns, changed, having encountered something supernatural but still unfulfilled, and departs to seek battles and a more tangible glory, forever marked by his glimpse of the supernatural.

Character	Characteristics	Motivations
Old Man	Weary, persistent, disillusioned	To drink the water of immortality, to escape old age and death.
Young Man	Impetuous, heroic, idealistic (Cuchulain)	To find his destiny, to pursue the mysterious hawk-woman, to experience the supernatural.
Guardian of the Well (Hawk-woman)	Ethereal, mysterious, deceptive, supernatural	To lure mortals, to guard the well, to embody the unattainable.
Musicians	Chorus, narrators, provide atmosphere and commentary	To set the scene, to guide the audience's understanding.

Section: The Only Jealousy of Emer

This play features Cuchulain, who lies in a trance, seemingly near death. His wife, Emer, and his mistress, Eithne Inguba, lament over him. A supernatural figure, the Woman of the Sidhe (or Fand), appears, revealing that she holds Cuchulain's spirit captive. She offers Emer a terrible choice: give up Cuchulain's love forever, and his spirit will return to his body, or keep him, and he will die. Emer, despite her pain and jealousy, chooses to renounce Cuchulain's love, understanding that his life is more important than her claim on his affection. Cuchulain awakens, seemingly without memory of the supernatural encounter or the choice made for him, recognizing only Eithne Inguba, implying Emer's sacrifice has gone unacknowledged by him. The play explores the depths of love, sacrifice, and the enduring nature of jealousy, even among the immortal.

Character	Characteristics	Motivations
Emer	Loyal, proud, deeply loving, self-sacrificing	To save Cuchulain's life, to make the ultimate sacrifice for love.
Eithne Inguba	Young, beautiful, devoted, Cuchulain's mistress	To express her love and sorrow for Cuchulain.
Woman of the Sidhe (Fand)	Ethereal, powerful, manipulative, immortal	To claim Cuchulain's spirit, to test mortal love and jealousy.

Section: The Dreaming of the Bones

A Young Man, an Irish revolutionary who has been fighting for independence, is pursued by soldiers. He seeks refuge in a ruined abbey, where he encounters a strange Man and Woman, whom he believes to be brother and sister. They ask him to lead them to a specific place of burial. As they journey, they reveal that they are the ghosts of Diarmuid and Dervorgilla, ancient lovers whose forbidden love and betrayal led to the invasion of Ireland by the Normans centuries ago. They are condemned to wander, unable to find peace or truly embrace each other, until an Irishman forgives them. The Young Man, consumed by patriotic fervor and the memory of Ireland's suffering, is unable to forgive them, thus sealing their eternal curse and his own sorrowful fate as a fugitive. The play explores themes of historical burden, unforgiven sin, and the cyclical nature of conflict.

Character	Characteristics	Motivations
Young Man	Patriotic, embittered, burdened by history	To escape his pursuers, to find freedom for Ireland, to uphold justice.
Man	Ghostly, regretful, seeking peace (Diarmuid)	To be forgiven for his ancient sin, to reunite with his lover.
Woman	Ghostly, sorrowful, seeking peace (Dervorgilla)	To be forgiven for her ancient sin, to reunite with her lover.

Section: Calvary

This play reimagines the biblical story of Christ's crucifixion with a uniquely Yeatsian, symbolic lens, focusing on the loneliness and isolation of Christ (represented by a figure called Christ) and the inability of others to truly understand his sacrifice. Christ encounters various figures: Lazarus, who resents being brought back from death; Judas, who believes his betrayal was foreordained and necessary for the divine plan; and Roman soldiers, who are indifferent. These characters represent different forms of human rejection or misunderstanding of the divine. The play emphasizes Christ's profound solitude in his mission and his realization that even those he came to save are ultimately separate from him, pursuing their own paths and desires. The play culminates in Christ's acceptance of his predestined suffering, highlighting a bleak sense of divine isolation.

Character	Characteristics	Motivations
Christ	Solitary, divine, burdened by destiny	To fulfill his divine purpose, to suffer for humanity, to find understanding.
Lazarus	Resentful, resurrected, clings to mortal life	To escape the burden of immortality/resurrection, to regain a normal existence.
Judas	Predestined, fatalistic, accepts his role	To fulfill his perceived divine mission, to play his part in the sacred narrative.
Three Soldiers	Indifferent, earthly, focused on trivial matters	To perform their duty, to gamble for Christ's clothes, to represent human detachment.

Literary Genre

Poetic Drama, Verse Play, Mythological Drama, Noh Theatre-inspired Drama, Symbolist Drama.

Author Facts

• William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) was an Irish poet and playwright, and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature.
• He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and co-founded the Abbey Theatre in Dublin.
• Yeats was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923 for "his always inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation."
• His early work was often romantic and mystical, drawing heavily on Irish folklore and mythology. His later work became more physical, realistic, and politically engaged, though still steeped in symbolism.
• He was a Senator of the Irish Free State for two terms.

Morals and Curiosities

Morals/Themes:
The plays collectively explore profound themes:

• The pursuit of the unattainable: Characters often chase spiritual or mystical experiences, immortality, or perfect love, only to find them elusive or destructive.
• Sacrifice and its consequences: Love often demands ultimate sacrifice, which may go unacknowledged or lead to new forms of suffering.
• The burden of history and inherited guilt: Past actions, whether personal or national, can haunt generations and prevent peace.
• Loneliness and isolation: Even divine figures or great heroes experience profound solitude in their unique paths.
• The interpenetration of the human and supernatural: The plays blur the lines between the mortal world and the realm of spirits, faeries, and gods.
• The nature of reality and illusion: What characters perceive as real often turns out to be a manifestation of their own desires or spiritual states.

Curiosities:

• Japanese Noh Influence: Yeats was deeply influenced by the Japanese Noh theatre, which he learned about through Ezra Pound's translations from Ernest Fenollosa's notes. He admired its ritualistic nature, masked actors, minimal set design, and spiritual themes. This influence is evident in the structure, symbolism, and performance style of "Four Plays for Dancers."
• Private Performances: Yeats intended these plays for intimate, private performances in drawing-rooms, rather than large public theatres. This allowed for a more intense, focused experience, mirroring the contemplative nature of Noh.
• The Mask: Masks are central to these plays. They were used to de-individualize characters, suggesting universal archetypes and allowing the performers to embody supernatural beings or heightened emotional states more effectively.
• The Musicians as Chorus: The musicians act as a chorus, not only providing music but also narrating, setting the scene, and commenting on the action, a direct parallel to the Noh chorus.
• Cuchulain Cycle: Three of the four plays (At the Hawk's Well, The Only Jealousy of Emer, and Calvary - though Calvary has a different Cuchulain, representing a type) feature or allude to the legendary Irish hero Cuchulain, a recurring figure in Yeats's dramatic work, symbolizing heroic but often isolated and tragic masculinity.
• Symbolism of the Hawk: The hawk in At the Hawk's Well is a potent symbol of the soul's yearning for the divine, the mysterious, and the unattainable, often associated with a wild, untamed spiritual quest.