Francis Fergusson (1904–1986) was an American teacher and

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as Art criticism, art, Literary criticism, literature, Music journalism, music, Film criticism, cinema, Theater criticism, theater, Fas ...

, a theorist of

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

and

mythology Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

who wrote ''The Idea of a Theater'', (Princeton, 1949) a book about drama. He contributed an introductory essay to S. H. Butcher’s 1961 translation of Aristotle’s ''Poetics''. His other works include ''Dante's Drama of the Mind: A Modern Reading of the Purgatorio'', which includes his translations of many passages. In ''The Rarer Action'' (Rutgers, 1970), a volume in tribute to Francis Fergusson, the critic

Allen Tate John Orley Allen Tate (November 19, 1899 – February 9, 1979), known professionally as Allen Tate, was an American poet, essayist, social commentator, and poet laureate from 1943 to 1944. Among his best known works are the poems " Ode to th ...

wrote: "''The Idea of a Theater'' is a work comparable in range and depth with Eric Auerbach's ''Mimesis''. There is no other work by an American critic of which this can be said." Born in

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, he completed high school at The Ethical Culture School in New York City, where he befriended future physicist

J. Robert Oppenheimer J. Robert Oppenheimer (born Julius Robert Oppenheimer ; April 22, 1904 – February 18, 1967) was an American theoretical physics, theoretical physicist who served as the director of the Manhattan Project's Los Alamos Laboratory during World ...

. The two later attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

together. He then received a

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Established in 1902, it is ...

and studied briefly at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

before traveling to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

where he befriended

Sylvia Beach Sylvia Beach (14 March 1887 – 5 October 1962), born Nancy Woodbridge Beach, was an American-born bookseller and publisher who lived most of her life in Paris, where she was one of the leading expatriate figures between World War I and World W ...

of Shakespeare and Company. Returning to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, he took acting classes with the Polish director Richard Boleslavski and wrote drama criticism for the Herald Tribune. In the early 1930s he founded the drama division of the then new

Bennington College Bennington College is a private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont, United States. Founded as a women’s college in 1932,

in southwestern Vermont. After nearly a decade at Bennington, he moved on to teach at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

and then at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

, where he taught comparative literature. Among his students were poet Robert PinskyDowning, Ben and Kunitz, Daniel
"Robert Pinsky, The Art of Poetry No. 76"
'' Paris Review'' (Fall 1997) and fiction writer Alan Cheuse.

Bibliography

* Fergusson, Francis. 1949. ''The Idea of a Theater: A Study of Ten Plays, The Art of Drama in a Changing Perspective.'' Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1968. . *''Trope and Allegory: Themes Common to Dante and Shakespeare'' *''Dante's Drama of the Mind: A Modern Reading of the Purgatorio'' *''Literary Landmarks: Essays on the Theory and Practice of Literature'' *''Sallies of the Mind'' *''Shakespeare: The Pattern in His Carpet'' *"Introduction" to ''Aristotle's Poetics'' * Francis Fergusson and Harold Clurman, "On the ''Poetics''," ''Tulane Drama Review'' 4.4 (1960): 23–32.

References

Rutgers University faculty American literary critics 1904 births 1986 deaths 20th-century American non-fiction writers American Rhodes Scholars Harvard University alumni Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters {{US-academic-bio-stub