6. The New Criticism and Other Western Formalisms

Introduction to Theory of Literature (ENGL 300) In this second lecture on formalism, Professor Paul Fry begins by exploring the implications of Wimsatt and Beardsley’s theory of literary interpretation by applying them to Yeats’s “Lapis Lazuli.“ He then maps the development of Anglo-American formalism from Modernist literature to the American and British academies. Some time is spent examining the similarities and differences between the works of I. A. Richards and his protegé, William Empson. The lecture finally turns to a discussion of Cleanth Brooks’s conception of unity. 00:00 - Chapter 1. Yeats’ “Lapis Lazuli“ and Tony the Tow Truck 07:18 - Chapter 2. The New Criticism: Modernist and Academic Contexts 13:44 - Chapter 3. Earlier Close Readers: I. A. Richards 24:27 - Chapter 4. Earlier Close Readers: William Empson 37:50 - Chapter 5. Brooks and the “Implications of “Unity“ Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: This course was recorded in Spring 2009.