Alchemical dances in Beckett and Yeats

Among other aspects of his thought and work, William Butler Yeats's concern with alchemy exerted a significant influence on the work of Samuel Beckett; this article explores the insight afforded by Yeats's "Rosa Alchemica" and his "The Dance of the Four Royal Persons" into Beckett's Quad. These works in particular of Yeats illuminate Beckett's Quad in terms of alchemy and dance, for the dance-like performance in Quad reflects the alchemical dances that Yeats's works comprise in significant respects. The alchemical writings of Carl Gustav Jung also shed light on the relation of Yeats and Beckett in this regard.