Wallace Stevens: A Lacanian Reading

Wallace Stevens' complex poetry often eludes the grasp of the most tenacious reader. This critical text attempts an intensive reading of the most obscure verses through the hermeneutical lens of psychoanalytic criticism. Using Lacanian theory, the book corroborates the suspicion of various critics regarding Stevens' psychical health, examining the nature of its crisis and the cause. Avoiding intentional fallacy, the work concentrates on Stevens' language itself, revealing a use of symbols that characterize neurosis, thus shifting criticism from the poet's person to his text. A useful work for university students, scholars, and teachers alike.