HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Clifford Leech (1909–1977) was a prolifically published British-born
professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...
of English at University College at the
University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...
1963-74. In ''The Cambridge Companion to Christopher Marlowe'' (2004), Patrick Cheney, its editor, describes Leech's contribution to
Christopher Marlowe Christopher Marlowe ( ; Baptism, baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), also known as Kit Marlowe, was an English playwright, poet, and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the English Renaissance theatre, Eli ...
studies "historically important." His publications mainly concerned Elizabethan and Jacobean dramatists, including
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
, John Webster and
John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and w ...
. He also wrote a book on American playwright
Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of Realism (theatre), realism, earlier associated with ...
. Leech was a scholarly colleague of
Northrop Frye Herman Northrop Frye (July 14, 1912 – January 23, 1991) was a Canadian literary critic and literary theorist, considered one of the most influential of the 20th century. Frye gained international fame with his first book, ''Fearful Symmetr ...
.


Life

He obtained his M.A. at the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
in 1932 with an essay on the poet
Thomas Southerne Thomas Southerne (12 February 166026 May 1746) was an Irish dramatist. Biography Thomas Southerne, born on 12 February 1660, in Oxmantown, near Dublin, was an Irish dramatist. He was the son of Francis Southerne (a Dublin brewer) and Margare ...
. His doctoral thesis at
Queen Mary, University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University of London. Today, ...
was "Private performances and amateur theatricals (excluding the academic stage) from 1580 to 1660" (1935). While teaching at the
University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charter in 1837. It was the first recognised university to ...
, Leech became Censor then, in 1948, the first Principal of
St Cuthbert's Society St Cuthbert's Society, colloquially known as Cuth's, is a colleges of Durham University, college of Durham University. It was founded in 1888 for students who were not attached to the existing colleges. St Cuthbert's Society is a Bailey college, ...
, one of Durham's collegiate bodies. There he was acclaimed "not only in the quality of his scholarship but also in his services to the Society". He stepped down at Easter 1952. His portrait, by Thomas William Pattison (1894-1983) hangs in the college hall of St Cuthbert's in Durham. In 1964 he succeeded A. S. P. Woodhouse as chairman of the Department of English at University College at the University of Toronto. In 1971 he gave up being general editor of the Revels Plays, a series he had conceived in the mid-1950s in imitation of the New Arden Shakespeare, applying that edition's methods of scholarship to other English plays before 1700. Leech turned over the Revels Plays to F. David Hoeniger. Following his retirement, friends and colleagues established a prize named the 'Clifford Leech Prize', awarded annually for an outstanding PhD thesis on a dramatic topic completed at the Department of English or the Centre of Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies.


Publications

Leech's earliest published works were many essays and articles for scholarly periodicals. Later, he edited his own and others' essays into published collections. *''Shakespeare's Tragedies, and Other Studies in Seventeenth Century Drama'' (1950) *"Webster as a Dramatic Poet" (essay), in ''John Webster: A Critical Study'' (1951) *''John Ford and the Drama of His Time'' (1957) *"History for the Elizabethans" (essay), in ''Shakespeare: A Chronicle'' (1962) *''The John Fletcher Plays'' (1962) *''John Ford'' (1963) *''O'Neill'' (1963) *''Webster: The Duchess of Malfi'' (1963) *"When writing becomes absurd" ''and'' "The acting of Shakespeare and Marlowe": ''two addresses'' (1964) *"Shakespeare's Greeks" (essay), in ''Stratford Papers on Shakespeare'', edited by B. W. Jackson (1964) *''Marlowe: A Collection of Critical Essays'' (1964) *''Shakespeare: The Tragedies: a Collection of Critical Essays'', ed. by C. Leech (1965) *''Essays on Marlowe'', ed. by C. Leech (1965) *''Tragedy'' (1969) *''The Dramatist's Experience, with other essays in literary theory'' (1970) *"On Editing One's First Play" (article), ''Studies in Bibliography'' (1970) *''The Revels History of Drama in English'' (with T. W. Craik; 1975) *''Christopher Marlowe: Poet for the Stage'', ed. by Anne Lancashire (1986) *"The Moral Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet" (essay), ''Critical Essays on Romeo and Juliet'', ed. Joseph A. Porter (1997) Leech also contributed essays to numerous volumes of ''Shakespeare Survey'', including volumes one, three, six, seven, eight, nine, eleven, twelve, and twenty-six. His contributions deal with the meaning of ''Measure for Measure'', with Shakespeare's style and language, the playwright himself, the comedies, and ''
Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
''.


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leech, Clifford 1909 births 1977 deaths Alumni of Queen Mary University of London Academics of Durham University Canadian literary critics Academic staff of the University of Toronto Shakespearean scholars 20th-century poets British emigrants to Canada