G. Wilson Knight

For other people of the same name, see George Knight (disambiguation).

George Richard Wilson Knight (1897–1985) was an English literary critic and academic, known particularly for his interpretation of mythic content in literature, and his essays The Wheel of Fire on Shakespeare's drama. He was also an actor and theatrical director, and considered an outstanding lecturer.

Life

He was educated at Dean Close School and Dulwich College[1] and, after serving as a dispatch rider in World War I in Iraq, India and Persia.[2] At St Edmund Hall, Oxford, he went into teaching. From 1923 to 1931 he taught at Hawtreys, Westgate-on-Sea and at Dean Close School, Cheltenham.[2] His first academic post was at Trinity College, Toronto in 1931. He taught at Stowe School from 1941 to 1946. In 1946 he became a Reader in English Literature at the University of Leeds. He remained at Leeds as Professor of English Literature from 1956 until his retirement in 1962.

At Toronto he produced and acted in the main Shakespearian tragedies at Hart House Theatre. Among his other productions are Hamlet at the Rudolf Steiner Theatre, London in 1935; This Sceptred Isle at the Westminster Theatre London in 1941; and at Leeds the Agamemnon of Aeschylus in 1946; Racine's Athalie in 1947; and Timon of Athens in 1948.[2]

The classical scholar William Francis Jackson Knight (1895–1964), of whom he wrote a biography, was his brother.

Works

See also

References

  1. ↑ Hodges, S, (1981), God's Gift: A Living History of Dulwich College, pages 87, (Heinemann: London)
  2. 1 2 3 G. Wilson Knight, Principles of Shakespearian Production, Pelican Books, 1949, back cover text

External links

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