Analysis of The Age of Anxiety

In Auden's lengthy poem, The Age of Anxiety_, he follows the actions and thoughts of four characters who happen to meet in a bar during a war. Their interactions with one another lead them on an imaginary quest in their minds in which they attempt, without success, to discover themselves. The themes and ideas that Auden's The Age of Anxiety conveys reflect his belief that man's quest for self-actualization is in vain. W. H. Auden …

…Hall & Co., 1991. Barrows, Marjorie Wescott, ed., et al. The American Experience: Poetry. New York: MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1974. Kunitz, Stanley J. And Haycraft, Howard, eds. Twentieth Century Authors. New York: The H. W. Wilson Company, 1942. Magill, Frank N., ed. Critical Survey of Poetry. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Salem Press, 1982. Nelson, Gerald. "From Changes of Heart (The Age of Anxiety)." Critical Essays on W. H. Auden. Ed. George W. Bahlke. New York: G. K. Hall & Co., 1991.