April 27, 2025 - English Studies

“Metaphor as Argument: Rhetorical and Epistemic Advantages of Extended Metaphors” by Steve Oswald and Alain Rihs: Summary and Critique

“Metaphor as Argument: Rhetorical and Epistemic Advantages of Extended Metaphors” by Steve Oswald and Alain Rihs first appeared in Argumentation (Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht) in 2013.

Introduction: “Metaphor as Argument: Rhetorical and Epistemic Advantages of Extended Metaphors” by Steve Oswald and Alain Rihs

“Metaphor as Argument: Rhetorical and Epistemic Advantages of Extended Metaphors” by Steve Oswald and Alain Rihs first appeared in Argumentation (Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht) in 2013. The article investigates how extended metaphors, particularly in political discourse, function not merely as stylistic embellishments but as powerful argumentative tools with significant rhetorical and epistemic advantages. Oswald and Rihs argue that extended metaphors can self-legitimize through repeated instantiations of metaphorical mappings, effectively leading audiences to accept metaphorical content as literal truth. Moreover, the recognition of an extended metaphor’s sophistication enhances the speaker’s ethos, boosting their perceived competence and trustworthiness. Grounded in cognitive theories like Relevance Theory and epistemic vigilance, the study shows that extended metaphors can fulfill cognitive expectations for coherence and justification, ultimately stabilizing beliefs. In literary theory and discourse analysis, their work is vital because it bridges rhetorical strategies and cognitive processing, revealing how deeply metaphor shapes not just understanding but belief formation and political persuasion.

Summary of “Metaphor as Argument: Rhetorical and Epistemic Advantages of Extended Metaphors” by Steve Oswald and Alain Rihs

🔵 Extended metaphors serve as self-reinforcing arguments.

“Each instantiation of the metaphorical mapping in the text may function as a confirmation of the overall relevance of the main core mapping.” (Oswald & Rihs, 2013)
💬 Comment: Each new use of the metaphor strengthens the main idea, making it seem increasingly true through repetition and coherence.

🟢 Extended metaphors build the speaker’s credibility (ethos).

“The recognition of an extended metaphor’s sophistication and relevance […] can benefit the speaker’s perceived competence.” (Oswald & Rihs, 2013)
💬 Comment: If the metaphor appears clever and fits well, it reflects positively on the speaker’s intelligence and trustworthiness.

🟣 Extended metaphors help satisfy epistemic vigilance filters.

“Extended metaphors may fulfil the requirements of epistemic vigilance and lead to the stabilisation of a belief.” (Oswald & Rihs, 2013)
💬 Comment: Because they seem internally consistent and well-supported, they pass the audience’s mental checks for truthfulness and reliability.

🔴 Comprehension leads to belief in metaphorical communication.

“We will focus on the relationship between understanding and believing and accordingly try to highlight the importance of comprehension with respect to beliefs.” (Oswald & Rihs, 2013)
💬 Comment: The more a metaphor is understood, the more likely it is to be accepted as representing reality.

🟠 Extended metaphors can blur into literal beliefs.

“The metaphor may cease to be perceived as one, turning what was at first metaphorically construed into a representation about an actual state of affairs one can believe to be true.” (Oswald & Rihs, 2013)
💬 Comment: Over time, the audience may forget it was a metaphor and treat the metaphorical idea as literal truth.

🟡 Despite higher processing costs, they provide rhetorical rewards.

“Extended metaphors are demanding in terms of effort […] but their cognitive cost has to be offset by some sort of benefit.” (Oswald & Rihs, 2013)
💬 Comment: Although complex metaphors are mentally taxing, they are justified if they yield strong persuasive or epistemic effects.

🔵 Coherence across instances builds stronger arguments.

“The various occurrences of an extended metaphor in a text can be argumentatively used so as to function as a set of justifications for the metaphor.” (Oswald & Rihs, 2013)
💬 Comment: When a metaphor is consistently woven through discourse, each use reinforces and justifies the overall narrative.

🟢 Extended metaphors imitate analogical argument structures.

“The more you instantiate your target domain in terms of your source domain in an argument, the stronger the argument.” (Oswald & Rihs, 2013)
💬 Comment: Like analogies, metaphors gain strength when their logic is applied consistently and across multiple examples.

🟣 Plausible repeated mappings boost metaphor relevance.

“The more plausible the metaphorical mappings exploited in an extended metaphor are […] the more its overall perceived relevance increases.” (Oswald & Rihs, 2013)
💬 Comment: Logical, believable connections between metaphor and reality make the audience more likely to accept the metaphor as fitting.

🔴 Extended metaphors can activate confirmation bias.

“Extended metaphor could be thought to cognitively function as an argument meant to ‘de-metaphorise’ the metaphor.” (Oswald & Rihs, 2013)
💬 Comment: As more evidence is presented, audiences may favor information that supports the metaphor, reinforcing belief without skepticism.

Theoretical Terms/Concepts in “Metaphor as Argument: Rhetorical and Epistemic Advantages of Extended Metaphors” by Steve Oswald and Alain Rihs

📌 Term/Concept	📖 Explanation	🛠️ Usage in the Article
🔥 Extended Metaphor	A metaphor elaborated across multiple parts of a discourse, connecting many elements of the source and target domains.	Seen as a powerful argumentative device to stabilize beliefs and even shift metaphorical constructs into literal interpretations.
🧠 Epistemic Vigilance	Cognitive mechanisms humans use to evaluate the trustworthiness and truthfulness of communicated information.	Authors argue extended metaphors can satisfy epistemic vigilance by appearing coherent and plausible, enhancing acceptance of beliefs.
🛤️ Conceptual Mapping	Systematic correspondences between elements of two conceptual domains (source and target).	Repeated mappings in extended metaphors are used to gradually reinforce and validate the metaphorical construal.
🗣️ Ethos	Rhetorical appeal based on the speaker’s credibility, expertise, or character.	Building a sophisticated metaphor boosts the speaker’s perceived competence and trustworthiness.
🧩 Ad hoc Concept Formation	Cognitive process of adjusting or extending a word’s meaning dynamically during communication for relevance.	Used to explain how metaphors are processed — literal meanings are widened or adapted to context.
⚡ Confirmation Bias	Tendency to favor information that confirms existing beliefs or assumptions.	Authors suggest that the repeated affirmations within an extended metaphor trigger confirmation bias, reinforcing belief in the metaphor.
🌐 Relevance Theory (RT)	A theory explaining that communication aims at achieving the most relevant cognitive effects with the least processing effort.	Used as a cognitive basis for why and how extended metaphors are persuasive despite their complexity.
🧵 Coherence	Logical and meaningful connectivity among different parts of a discourse.	The multiple instances of the extended metaphor create coherence, helping build a cumulative argument.
⚖️ Argument by Example	A type of argument where specific instances are used to support a general conclusion.	Each instantiation of the metaphor (e.g., USA’s military actions) acts as an example reinforcing the USA=Empire mapping.
🎭 De-metaphorisation	The process by which a metaphor shifts toward being perceived as literal truth.	Extended metaphors can gradually turn a figurative depiction into a literal belief (e.g., “USA is an empire” becoming a perceived fact).

Contribution of “Metaphor as Argument: Rhetorical and Epistemic Advantages of Extended Metaphors” by Steve Oswald and Alain Rihs to Literary Theory/Theories

🔵 🎯 Cognitive Poetics and Cognitive Literary Theory

📖 The article links metaphor processing to cognitive effort and epistemic effects, directly contributing to cognitive approaches in literary theory.
🗨️ “We will consider possible perlocutionary effects of metaphoric creativity, in particular as to what regards belief fixation…” (Oswald & Rihs, 2013, p. 22)

👉 Shows how literary metaphors aren’t only decorative but also cognitively shape understanding and belief systems.

🟣 🎯 Rhetorical Theory (Neo-Aristotelian Rhetoric)

📖 The paper revives Aristotle’s notions of ethos, pathos, and logos, especially showing how extended metaphors enhance speaker ethos.

🗨️ “Well-thought extended metaphors… can positively influence the speaker’s perceived image.” (Oswald & Rihs, 2013, p. 37)
👉 This connects metaphor to rhetorical persuasion, enriching the study of persuasive strategies in literary and political discourse.

🟠 🎯 Structuralism (through Conceptual Mapping)

📖 Their use of conceptual domains and mappings fits structuralist models where meaning emerges from systematic correspondences between structures.
🗨️ “The metaphor maps systematically establishes correspondences between representations…” (Oswald & Rihs, 2013, p. 5)
👉 Strengthens the idea that meaning in literature is relational, structured through recurring metaphorical patterns.

🟡 🎯 Relevance Theory in Literary Pragmatics

📖 By applying Relevance Theory to literary metaphors, they bridge pragmatics with literary studies.
🗨️ “Relevance is therefore defined here in terms of balance between processing effort and cognitive effect.” (Oswald & Rihs, 2013, p. 12)

👉 This encourages a pragmatic lens for studying how metaphors achieve literary impact based on cognitive processing.

🟢 🎯 Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)

📖 Their analysis of metaphor as a political tool (e.g., USA as Empire) aligns with CDA’s interest in how language shapes ideology.

🗨️ “The extended metaphor functions as an argumentative device geared towards the validation of epistemic claims.” (Oswald & Rihs, 2013, p. 32)
👉 Suggests that literary metaphors are political instruments, influencing public belief, not merely aesthetic flourishes.

🔴 🎯 Post-Structuralism (De-metaphorisation Process)

📖 The fading of metaphor into literal belief connects to post-structuralist ideas about the instability and transformation of meanings.
🗨️ “Extended metaphors may lead their addressee to eventually abandon the metaphorical construal altogether…” (Oswald & Rihs, 2013, p. 24)
👉 Emphasizes how literary language undermines or redefines stable categories over time.

⚪ 🎯 Argumentation Theory in Literature

📖 Positions metaphors not just as stylistic devices but as arguments that structure reader belief, linking to Toulmin’s model and Perelman’s New Rhetoric.
🗨️ “Extended metaphors are ideally suited to contribute material that can be used for argumentative purposes.” (Oswald & Rihs, 2013, p. 18)

👉 Enhances literary theory by showing how narratives subtly argue, not just narrate.

🌟 Summary:

Steve Oswald and Alain Rihs offer a multi-theoretical impact — their work helps literary theory shift toward seeing metaphors as cognitive, rhetorical, discursive, ideological, and argumentative forces, not mere aesthetic ornaments.

Examples of Critiques Through “Metaphor as Argument: Rhetorical and Epistemic Advantages of Extended Metaphors” by Steve Oswald and Alain Rihs

🌟 Literary Work	✍️ Critique through Extended Metaphor Argumentation	📖 Example from the Work	🧠 Link to Oswald & Rihs
🐳 Moby-Dick (Herman Melville)	Melville uses the extended metaphor of the whale as a symbol for fate, evil, and the unknowable, which slowly transforms into a literal force that Ahab fights.	“The whale was no longer a whale; it was the embodiment of all evil.”	Like Oswald & Rihs suggest, the extended metaphor de-metaphorizes, leading readers to believe in the whale as an actual malevolent force.
🍎 Paradise Lost (John Milton)	Milton’s depiction of Satan as a heroic rebel uses an extended metaphor of Satan as a political revolutionary, gradually convincing readers emotionally and cognitively.	“Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven.”	As in Oswald & Rihs’ analysis, the extended metaphor enhances ethos (Satan’s perceived dignity), subtly urging belief in his cause.
👒 The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald)	Fitzgerald’s use of the green light as an extended metaphor for hope and the American Dream evolves until it seems almost a real, driving force behind Gatsby’s tragedy.	“He stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way… and distinguished nothing except a single green light.”	Following Oswald & Rihs, the constant recurrence of the metaphor self-validates the green light as real, making readers emotionally accept it as Gatsby’s destiny.
🦅 Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad)	The “darkness” operates as an extended metaphor for colonial evil, slowly literalizing horror until it becomes undeniable, not symbolic.	“The horror! The horror!”	Per Oswald & Rihs, extended metaphor turns abstraction into apparent truth, fulfilling the epistemic vigilance by linking experiences to believable evil.

Criticism Against “Metaphor as Argument: Rhetorical and Epistemic Advantages of Extended Metaphors” by Steve Oswald and Alain Rihs

🔵 Overemphasis on Cognitive Reception:
The article heavily stresses cognitive processing and belief fixation but downplays emotional and aesthetic responses that also influence metaphor interpretation (especially in literature and poetry).
🟢 Potential Oversimplification of Audience Reactions:
It assumes audiences will process extended metaphors uniformly toward belief acceptance, but real-world audiences may resist, reinterpret, or reject metaphors based on ideology, culture, or context.
🟡 Neglect of Multimodal Metaphors:
The focus is mostly on verbal/metaphorical mappings in text, ignoring that modern political or literary discourse often uses images, sounds, and gestures that extend metaphors non-verbally.

🟠 Possible Confusion Between ‘Literalization’ and ‘Manipulation’:
While they argue that metaphors can “de-metaphorize,” critics might say that this borders on manipulation, blurring the ethical lines between convincing and deceiving audiences.
🔴 Insufficient Treatment of Failed Extended Metaphors:
The paper does not adequately discuss cases where extended metaphors collapse or backfire, leading to skepticism rather than belief.
🟣 Reliance on Relevance Theory Alone:
Their analysis heavily depends on Relevance Theory (Sperber & Wilson), which, while powerful, is not the only cognitive framework for understanding language and metaphor (e.g., Conceptual Metaphor Theory, Frame Semantics).

🟤 Limited Empirical Validation:
Their claims are mainly theoretical and based on close reading; critics might argue that experimental or empirical data (e.g., surveys, comprehension tests) would strengthen or challenge their conclusions.
⚪ Possible Bias in Example Selection:
Using extreme political examples (like Hitler or aggressive nationalism) risks biasing the conclusions about how metaphors operate in less extreme or neutral discourses.

Representative Quotations from “Metaphor as Argument: Rhetorical and Epistemic Advantages of Extended Metaphors” by Steve Oswald and Alain Rihs with Explanation

	Quotation	Explanation
🌟	“Extended metaphors carry self-validating claims that increase the chances of their content being accepted.”	➔ Extended metaphors reinforce themselves through repetition, making the audience more likely to accept them as truth.
🧠	“Extended metaphors may fulfil the requirements of epistemic vigilance and lead to the stabilisation of a belief.”	➔ Extended metaphors can bypass our cognitive defenses by appearing coherent and credible, solidifying beliefs.
✨	“Recurring exploitations of a metaphor can converge towards the justification of the proposed metaphorical construal.”	➔ Repeated metaphor usage incrementally convinces readers that the metaphor reflects reality.
🔥	“Extended metaphors may lead their addressee to eventually abandon the metaphorical construal altogether.”	➔ Through accumulation of examples, audiences may stop seeing the metaphor as figurative and take it literally.
💬	“Processing metaphors is governed by a principle of relevance: cognitive cost must be offset by benefit.”	➔ Audience mental effort in interpreting extended metaphors is rewarded by perceived deeper understanding or truth.
🧩	“Each instantiation of the metaphorical mapping in the text may function as a confirmation of the overall relevance.”	➔ Every metaphorical example acts like a puzzle piece confirming the big picture suggested by the metaphor.
📜	“The discursive nature of extended metaphors makes them approachable with discourse-analytical tools.”	➔ Because they stretch across a whole text, extended metaphors are open to systematic analysis like arguments are.
🚀	“Extended metaphors involve complex multi-stage representational operations triggered cumulatively as discourse unfolds.”	➔ Audiences must continually interpret and update the metaphor throughout the discourse, enhancing its persuasive power.
🛡️	“Extended metaphors can positively influence speaker ethos if their sophistication is recognised by the hearer.”	➔ The more sophisticated the metaphor appears, the more competent and trustworthy the speaker seems.
🎯	“Extended metaphors encourage belief fixation by accumulating examples that match the metaphorical construal.”	➔ The strategic piling of metaphorical instances traps the audience into believing the underlying metaphor as truth.

“A Dialogue of Self and Soul” by William Butler Yeats: A Critical Analysis

“A Dialogue of Self and Soul” by William Butler Yeats first appeared in 1933 as part of his final poetry collection, The Winding Stair and Other Poems.

Introduction: “A Dialogue of Self and Soul” by William Butler Yeats

“A Dialogue of Self and Soul” by William Butler Yeats first appeared in 1933 as part of his final poetry collection, The Winding Stair and Other Poems. The poem is a profound meditation on the internal conflict between the transcendent soul and the passionate, earthly self. Structured as a dramatic dialogue, it stages a philosophical battle: the Soul urges detachment from earthly concerns and the embrace of spiritual ascent, while the Self asserts the value of lived experience, even in its messiness and imperfection. Its popularity stems from Yeats’s bold reimagining of the traditional soul-body dichotomy—not to condemn the self, but to ultimately affirm it. In a striking turn, the Self embraces the cycles of life and suffering, claiming, “I am content to live it all again and yet again”, thereby rejecting the Soul’s yearning for detachment. This subversion of spiritual asceticism in favor of existential acceptance and heroic repetition is what gives the poem its enduring resonance. Yeats’s masterful merging of symbolic imagery—such as Sato’s ancient sword and the winding stair—with existential courage and lyrical power has made this poem one of the most philosophically daring and emotionally compelling pieces in his oeuvre.

Text: “A Dialogue of Self and Soul” by William Butler Yeats

My Soul. I summon to the winding ancient stair;

Set all your mind upon the steep ascent,

Upon the broken, crumbling battlement,

Upon the breathless starlit air,

Upon the star that marks the hidden pole;

Fix every wandering thought upon

That quarter where all thought is done:

Who can distinguish darkness from the soul?

My Self. The consecrated blade upon my knees

Is Sato’s ancient blade, still as it was,

Still razor-keen, still like a looking-glass

Unspotted by the centuries;

That flowering, silken, old embroidery, torn

From some court-lady’s dress and round

The wooden scabbard bound and wound,

Can, tattered, still protect, faded adorn.

My Soul. Why should the imagination of a man

Long past his prime remember things that are

Emblematical of love and war?

Think of ancestral night that can,

If but imagination scorn the earth

And intellect its wandering

To this and that and t’other thing,

Deliver from the crime of death and birth.

My Self. Montashigi, third of his family, fashioned it

Five hundred years ago, about it lie

Flowers from I know not what embroidery—

Heart’s purple—and all these I set

For emblems of the day against the tower

Emblematical of the night,

And claim as by a soldier’s right

A charter to commit the crime once more.

My Soul. Such fullness in that quarter overflows

And falls into the basin of the mind

That man is stricken deaf and dumb and blind,

For intellect no longer knows

Is from the Ought, or Knower from the Known—

That is to say, ascends to Heaven;

Only the dead can be forgiven;

But when I think of that my tongue’s a stone.

My Self. A living man is blind and drinks his drop.

What matter if the ditches are impure?

What matter if I live it all once more?

Endure that toil of growing up;

The ignominy of boyhood; the distress

Of boyhood changing into man;

The unfinished man and his pain

Brought face to face with his own clumsiness;

The finished man among his enemies?—

How in the name of Heaven can he escape

That defiling and disfigured shape

The mirror of malicious eyes

Casts upon his eyes until at last

He thinks that shape must be his shape?

And what’s the good of an escape

If honour find him in the wintry blast?

I am content to live it all again

And yet again, if it be life to pitch

Into the frog-spawn of a blind man’s ditch,

A blind man battering blind men;

Or into that most fecund ditch of all,

The folly that man does

Or must suffer, if he woos

A proud woman not kindred of his soul.

I am content to follow to its source

Every event in action or in thought;

Measure the lot; forgive myself the lot!

When such as I cast out remorse

So great a sweetness flows into the breast

We must laugh and we must sing,

We are blest by everything,

Everything we look upon is blest.

Annotations: “A Dialogue of Self and Soul” by William Butler Yeats

Section	Speaker	Stanza Annotations in Simple English
I.1	Soul	The Soul calls the Self to climb a symbolic spiritual staircase and focus on spiritual truths beyond the physical world. It suggests letting go of thoughts and moving toward a place beyond thinking.
I.2	Self	The Self presents a samurai sword, a symbol of personal experience and earthly action. It appreciates beauty and history in physical objects, suggesting that life and time leave meaningful traces.
I.3	Soul	The Soul questions why a man remembers things tied to love and war. It urges him to rise above earthly desires and find spiritual salvation beyond the cycles of life and death.
I.4	Self	The Self counters that these earthly symbols (like the sword) have value and meaning. He embraces the right to live fully—even to “sin” again through action and emotion.
I.5	Soul	The Soul says that in spiritual fullness, the mind loses all worldly knowledge and becomes one with divine truth. Only the dead can truly be forgiven. The Soul becomes speechless at this thought.
II.1	Self	The Self begins a long monologue. He says life is full of suffering and embarrassment, especially during youth, and people often see distorted versions of themselves in others’ eyes.
II.2	Self	He reflects that even when we try to escape shame, honour finds us again. There’s no real escape from life’s difficulties, but he still accepts it.
II.3	Self	He’s willing to live life over again—even with all its pain and blind confusion—because it’s part of being human. Even foolish love is part of that journey.
II.4	Self	He chooses to accept and forgive his past, and through that forgiveness, finds peace and joy. Everything in life—when embraced fully—is a blessing.

Literary And Poetic Devices: “A Dialogue of Self and Soul” by William Butler Yeats

📘 Example from the Poem	🎨 Device	🧠 Explanation
“winding ancient stair”	🌀 Symbolism	Represents the spiritual or intellectual journey of the soul.
“Still like a looking-glass”	✨ Simile	Compares the sword’s surface to a mirror, symbolizing clarity and precision.
“breathless starlit air”	🌌 Imagery	Creates a vivid night-time scene appealing to the senses.
“Who can distinguish darkness from the soul?”	❓ Rhetorical Question	A question posed for reflection, not to be answered literally.
“Sato’s ancient blade”	🗡️ Allusion	Reference to Japanese culture, symbolizing honor, time, and tradition.
“Still razor-keen, still like a looking-glass”	♻️ Repetition	Repeats “still” to stress the enduring, unchanged nature of the sword.
“Emblems of the day against the tower”	🌞🏰 Contrast	Opposes light (life/self) with darkness (soul/spiritual world).
“Only the dead can be forgiven”	💀 Paradox	Seems contradictory but implies that peace and forgiveness come only in death.
“frog-spawn of a blind man’s ditch”	🐸 Grotesque Imagery	Evokes the messiness and blindness of life with unpleasant visual detail.
“blind man battering blind men”	👁️‍🗨️ Metaphor	Compares humans to blind men attacking each other—highlighting confusion and ignorance.
The dialogue format	🔄 Antithesis	Central conflict between Self (life) and Soul (spirit), creating tension.
Soul and Self as characters	🕊️ Personification	Abstract ideas are given voices and human characteristics.
The entire poem	🎭 Dramatic Monologue	A stylized inner debate between two parts of the speaker’s psyche.
“ascends to Heaven” vs. “live it all again”	⚖️ Juxtaposition	Spiritual escape vs. worldly experience placed side by side.
“pitch into the frog-spawn…”	🧪 Extended Metaphor	Life as a messy ditch—developed over multiple lines.
“mirror of malicious eyes”	🪞 Metaphor	Mirrors symbolize distorted self-perception shaped by others.
“tongue’s a stone”	🪨 Metaphor	Expresses emotional paralysis and inability to speak.
“the crime of birth and death”	🧩 Philosophical Allusion	Refers to the idea of life itself as a cosmic burden or error.
“that most fecund ditch of all”	🌱 Irony	Life’s worst aspects are also fertile and productive—full of meaning.
“We must laugh and we must sing”	🌈 Tone Shift	A surprising, joyful resolution—accepting life in all its messiness.

Themes: “A Dialogue of Self and Soul” by William Butler Yeats

🌀 1. Conflict Between Body and Spirit: “A Dialogue of Self and Soul” by William Butler Yeats dramatizes the timeless philosophical conflict between the earthly self and the spiritual soul. The poem’s title directly signals this internal battle. Throughout the poem, the Soul represents detachment, transcendence, and spiritual ascension: “Fix every wandering thought upon / That quarter where all thought is done.” This evokes the desire to leave behind earthly desires and move toward a divine void. In contrast, the Self insists on the value of experience and the material world, embracing the sword, silk, and memory: “That flowering, silken, old embroidery… / Can, tattered, still protect.” Yeats explores the dualism that underlies human consciousness, rejecting a one-sided ideal. Instead of choosing between the two, he gives both a voice—suggesting that truth lies not in asceticism or indulgence, but in acknowledging the ongoing tension between them.

🔁 2. The Cycle of Life, Death, and Rebirth: In “A Dialogue of Self and Soul” by William Butler Yeats, the theme of eternal recurrence is central, particularly voiced by the Self, who defies the Soul’s wish for release from life. The Self declares boldly: “I am content to live it all again / And yet again.” Rather than seeking escape from the pain and impurity of life, he embraces it fully—including the folly, confusion, and suffering. He even accepts “the frog-spawn of a blind man’s ditch”—a grotesque metaphor for life’s chaotic origins. This acceptance of life’s circular nature ties to Yeats’s interest in cyclical time and the gyre (his symbolic spiral), which appears throughout his work. Unlike the Soul, which seeks linear transcendence, the Self is willing to repeat life’s journey endlessly, turning the act of living—flawed, impure, yet full of learning—into a kind of salvation.

⚔️ 3. Heroism and the Embrace of Experience: “A Dialogue of Self and Soul” by William Butler Yeats reframes heroism not as an escape from suffering but as the courageous embrace of it. The Self claims his identity through symbolic warrior imagery: “Montashigi… fashioned it / Five hundred years ago.” The sword, not just a weapon but an emblem of honor and memory, represents the Self’s connection to history, desire, and action. His proud assertion—“And claim as by a soldier’s right / A charter to commit the crime once more”—is a bold celebration of worldly engagement. Rather than seeing sin and suffering as failures, Yeats positions them as rites of passage, essential to becoming fully human. This existential heroism, choosing to live with full awareness of life’s ugliness and beauty, elevates the Self’s voice as a powerful alternative to spiritual withdrawal.

🌈 4. Forgiveness, Acceptance, and Joy: Toward the end of “A Dialogue of Self and Soul” by William Butler Yeats, the Self reaches a state of profound acceptance and emotional release. This culminates in a redemptive tone shift: “When such as I cast out remorse / So great a sweetness flows into the breast.” Through embracing all aspects of life—shame, error, passion, and struggle—the Self finds not despair but joy. The closing lines, “We must laugh and we must sing, / We are blest by everything,” stand in stark contrast to the Soul’s earlier silence and gloom. Here, forgiveness is not sought from divine judgment, but arises internally through self-compassion and honest reflection. This final moment fuses Yeats’s mysticism with a deep psychological insight, offering an alternative salvation: not in transcendence, but in loving the world as it is—“Everything we look upon is blest.”

Literary Theories and “A Dialogue of Self and Soul” by William Butler Yeats

🎨 Theory	🧠 Interpretation (with Explanation)	📘 Textual Reference from the Poem
🧍‍♂️ Psychoanalytic Theory	Focuses on the inner conflict between the id (Self) and superego (Soul). The poem stages Yeats’s psychological battle between desire and restraint, passion and control. The dialogue form mirrors Freud’s theory of divided consciousness.	“My Soul. I summon to the winding ancient stair… / My Self. The consecrated blade upon my knees”
♻️ Existentialist Theory	Emphasizes individual freedom, meaning-making, and embracing suffering. The Self chooses to affirm life despite its pain: an existential act of agency. This theory interprets Yeats’s Self as a Sartrean hero, choosing to live even knowing the absurd.	“I am content to live it all again / And yet again, if it be life…”
📿 Spiritual / Mystical Theory	Examines Yeats’s symbolic journey toward enlightenment. The Soul urges detachment, echoing Eastern mysticism, while the Self finds transcendence in acceptance rather than escape. Yeats blends Christian, Eastern, and esoteric mysticism in his poetic vision.	“Fix every wandering thought upon / That quarter where all thought is done”
🔥 Modernist Theory	Highlights fragmentation, internal conflict, and anti-romanticism. The poem reflects modernist disillusionment with tradition, challenging spiritual ideals with a grounded embrace of brokenness and imperfection. The Self resists the Soul’s abstract purity with gritty realism.	“Into the frog-spawn of a blind man’s ditch, / A blind man battering blind men”

Critical Questions about “A Dialogue of Self and Soul” by William Butler Yeats

❓ 1. What does Yeats suggest about the value of earthly life versus spiritual transcendence?

“A Dialogue of Self and Soul” by William Butler Yeats explores the tension between two opposing desires: the Soul’s call to transcend the world and the Self’s embrace of lived experience. The Soul seeks detachment and spiritual purity, asking, “Fix every wandering thought upon / That quarter where all thought is done.” It represents the Platonic ideal—freedom from the body and its burdens. However, the Self argues for the sanctity of life in all its flawed beauty, declaring: “I am content to live it all again / And yet again.” Yeats presents a radical idea: that meaning is found not in escape, but in acceptance. Through this debate, he ultimately leans toward affirming life, even with its pain, impurity, and repetition, thus challenging traditional spiritual asceticism.

⚔️ 2. How does Yeats use symbolism to reflect the inner conflict between Self and Soul?

“A Dialogue of Self and Soul” by William Butler Yeats is rich with symbolism that externalizes the internal conflict of the speaker. The poem’s central image—the ancient Japanese sword—embodies the Self’s connection to history, violence, memory, and art. Described as “razor-keen” and “unspotted by the centuries,” the sword represents a life sharpened by conflict yet preserved through dignity and tradition. In contrast, the Soul invokes the “winding ancient stair”, a symbolic spiritual ascent toward transcendence. These two emblems—the stair and the sword—encapsulate the poem’s tension between the spiritual and the worldly. Yeats transforms abstract philosophy into visual, tangible symbols, letting readers see the battle between desire and detachment.

🌀 3. In what way does the poem challenge conventional religious ideas of salvation and forgiveness?

“A Dialogue of Self and Soul” by William Butler Yeats questions traditional religious doctrines by reimagining salvation not as escape into heaven, but as reconciliation with the self. The Soul claims, “Only the dead can be forgiven,” implying that true absolution is only accessible after death, through divine judgment. But the Self resists this fatalistic outlook, choosing instead to forgive himself in life: “Measure the lot; forgive myself the lot!” This moment is a pivotal turn away from external redemption and toward self-forgiveness and agency. Yeats uses this to suggest a more humanistic spirituality, in which grace is found not through otherworldly salvation, but through self-acceptance and the courage to face life’s imperfections.

🌈 4. How does Yeats use structure and tone to reveal the poem’s philosophical resolution?

“A Dialogue of Self and Soul” by William Butler Yeats is structured as a literal dialogue, but it functions more as an internal debate within a single psyche. The division into two sections—I, where the Self and Soul exchange lines, and II, where the Self speaks alone—mirrors the speaker’s growing certainty and emotional shift. The Soul gradually fades from the conversation, ending with the line, “my tongue’s a stone,” suggesting silence, doubt, or surrender. In contrast, the Self takes over with increasing confidence, leading to a tone of joyful resolution: “We must laugh and we must sing, / We are blest by everything.” This structural transition—from conflict to monologue—illustrates how Yeats resolves the poem’s tension. The Self doesn’t defeat the Soul, but transcends the conflict by embracing both joy and suffering, marking a philosophical victory grounded in existential affirmation.

Literary Works Similar to “A Dialogue of Self and Soul” by William Butler Yeats

🧍‍♂️ “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T. S. Eliot
Like Yeats’s poem, this dramatic monologue presents an internal conflict, where the speaker debates action vs. inaction, embodying the modern self’s anxiety and alienation.
🕊️ “The World Is Too Much with Us” by William Wordsworth
Both poems explore the spiritual consequences of detachment from nature and the soul’s yearning for something beyond the material world.
🔥 “Dover Beach” by Matthew Arnold
Arnold’s work, like Yeats’s, confronts the fading of religious certainty and struggles to find meaning amidst spiritual and emotional conflict.

♻️ “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman
Whitman, like Yeats’s Self, affirms the body, life, and all experiences as sacred—offering a bold, joyous embrace of existence in contrast to traditional spirituality.
💀 “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson
This poem, like Dialogue, personifies spiritual elements and meditates on mortality, using symbolism and philosophical tone to explore life beyond death.

Representative Quotations of “A Dialogue of Self and Soul” by William Butler Yeats

🎨	📜 Quotation	🧠 Context	🧾 Theoretical Perspective
🌀	“I summon to the winding ancient stair”	The Soul invites the Self to ascend spiritually, representing the desire to transcend earthly matters.	Spiritual / Mystical Theory
🗡️	“The consecrated blade upon my knees / Is Sato’s ancient blade”	The Self reverently presents a sword, symbol of heritage, memory, and worldly honor.	Psychoanalytic Theory
❓	“Who can distinguish darkness from the soul?”	The Soul questions the nature of consciousness and moral ambiguity.	Philosophical / Modernist Theory
♻️	“I am content to live it all again / And yet again”	The Self embraces life’s repetition and suffering as meaningful.	Existentialist Theory
💀	“Only the dead can be forgiven”	The Soul suggests that true redemption lies only beyond life.	Theological / Fatalist Theory
🪞	“The mirror of malicious eyes / Casts upon his eyes”	The Self reflects on how others’ judgments distort our self-image.	Psychoanalytic / Identity Theory
🌱	“The folly that man does / Or must suffer”	The Self accepts human error as natural and unavoidable.	Humanist / Existentialist Theory
🌈	“So great a sweetness flows into the breast”	Through self-forgiveness, the Self experiences inner peace and joy.	Therapeutic / Psychological Theory
🕊️	“We are blest by everything, / Everything we look upon is blest.”	The poem ends with the Self’s joyful acceptance of life in all its forms.	Affirmative / Post-Spiritual Theory
🧍‍♂️	“A blind man battering blind men”	A metaphor for human ignorance and chaos in worldly existence.	Modernist / Social Critique Theory

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Day: April 27, 2025