George Richard Wilson Knight (1897–1985) was an English

literary critic A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature' ...

and academic, known particularly for his interpretation of mythic content in literature, and ''The Wheel of Fire'', a collection of essays on

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 natio ...

's plays. He was also an actor and theatrical director, and considered an outstanding lecturer.

Early life and education

Knight was educated at

Dean Close School Dean Close School is a co-educational private boarding and day school (for pupils aged 3–18) in the public school tradition, located in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school opened in 1886 and is divided into pre-prep, prepa ...

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2-18 private, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

and, after serving as a dispatch rider in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

,G. Wilson Knight, ''Principles of Shakespearian Production'', Pelican Books, 1949, back cover text he went up to

St Edmund Hall, Oxford St Edmund Hall (also known as The Hall and Teddy Hall) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The college claims to be "the oldest surviving academic society to house and educate undergraduates in any university" and was the las ...

, where he read English. He graduated with second-class honours. After Oxford, he went into teaching. From 1923 to 1931 he taught at Hawtreys, Westgate-on-Sea and at

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

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

Academic career

Knight's first academic post was at

Trinity College, Toronto Trinity College (occasionally referred to as the University of Trinity College) is a University of Toronto#Colleges, federated college of the University of Toronto located at the University of Toronto#St. George campus, St. George campus in Down ...

in 1931. He taught at

Stowe School The Stowe School is a public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13–18 in the countryside of Stowe, England. It was opened on 11 May, 1923 at Stowe House, a Grade I Heritage Estate belonging to the British Crown. ...

from 1941 to 1946. In 1946 he became a Reader in

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

at the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

. He remained at Leeds as a

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 Literature from 1956 until his retirement in 1962. At

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Knight produced and acted in the main Shakespearian tragedies at Hart House Theatre. Among his other productions are ''

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 ...

'' at the Rudolf Steiner Theatre, London in 1935; ''This Sceptred Isle'' at the Westminster Theatre London in 1941; and at Leeds the ''

Agamemnon In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (; ''Agamémnōn'') was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans during the Trojan War. He was the son (or grandson) of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of C ...

'' of

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; ; /524 – /455 BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek Greek tragedy, tragedian often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is large ...

in 1946; Racine's '' Athalie'' in 1947; and ''

Timon of Athens ''The Life of Tymon of Athens'', often shortened to ''Timon of Athens'', is a play written by William Shakespeare and likely also Thomas Middleton in about 1606. It was published in the ''First Folio'' in 1623. Timon of Athens (person), Timon ...

'' in 1948. In the assessment of Jim Walsh, who studied English at Leeds 1948–53 and later became the University's registrar, in Walsh's first year "Wilson Knight dominated the scene as far as I and a lot of other students were concerned", but "to be at close quarters with the man was quite different. He wore a brown sports jacket. Behind on the wall was a photograph of him as Timon of Athens in the production we had all seen — bare shoulders, wild hair and wild eyes. He spoke to us briefly about the course, but his eyes never met ours but seemed to focus entirely on this photograph. I began to feel extremely uncomfortable". A fellow student opined afterwards that "he's a nutter", with Walsh admitting that "I was beginning to come to a conclusion something like that".

Spiritualism

Knight was a believer in

spiritualism Spiritualism may refer to: * Spiritual church movement, a group of Spiritualist churches and denominations historically based in the African-American community * Spiritualism (beliefs), a metaphysical belief that the world is made up of at leas ...

and was a vice-president for the Spiritualist Association of Great Britain.Domelen, John E. Van. (1987). ''Tarzan of Athens: A Biographical Study of G. Wilson Knight''. Redcliffe. p. 149

Works

* ''Myth and Miracle: an Essay on the Mystic Symbolism of Shakespeare'' (1929)
''The Wheel of Fire, Interpretations of Shakespearian Tragedy''
(1930) * ''The Imperial Theme'' (1931)
''The Shakespearian Tempest''
(1932) * ''The Christian Renaissance, with interpretations of Dante, Shakespeare, and Goethe, and a note on T. S. Eliot'' (1933) * ''Shakespeare and Tolstoy'' (1934) * ''Principles of Shakespeare's Production'' (1936) * ''Atlantic Crossing: an Autobiographical Design'' (1936) * ''The Burning Oracle, Studies in the Poetry of Action'' (1939) * ''The Sceptred Isle: Shakespeare's Message for England at War'' (1940) * ''The Starlit Dome: Studies in the Poetry of Vision'' (1941) * ''Chariot of Wrath: the Message of John Milton to Democracy at War'' (1942) * ''The Olive and the Sword: a Study of England's Shakespeare'' (1944) * ''The Dynasty of Stowe'' (1945) * ''Hiroshima, on Prophecy and the Sun-bomb'' (1946)
''The Crown of Life: Essays in Interpretation of Shakespeare's Final Plays''
(1947) * ''Christ and Nietzsche: an Essay in Poetic Wisdom'' (1948) * ''The Imperial Theme: Further Interpretations of Shakespeare's Tragedies, including the Roman Plays'' (1951) * ''Lord Byron: Christian Virtues'' (1952) * ''Byron's Dramatic Prose'' (1953) * ''The Last of the Incas, a Play on the Conquest of Peru'' (1954) * ''Laureate of Peace: on the Genius of Alexander Pope'' (1954) * ''The Mutual Flame: on Shakespeare's Sonnets and The Phoenix and the Turtle'' (1955) * ''Lord Byron's Marriage: The Evidence of Asterisks'' (1957) * ''The Sovereign Flower: on Shakespeare as the Poet of Royalism'' (1958) * ''Ibsen'' (1962) * ''The Golden Labyrinth: a Study of British Drama'' (1962) * ''Byron and Hamlet'' (1962) * ''The Saturnian Quest: a Chart of the Prose Works of

John Cowper Powys John Cowper Powys ( ; 8 October 187217 June 1963) was an English novelist, philosopher, lecturer, critic and poet born in Shirley, Derbyshire, where his father was vicar of the parish church in 1871–1879. Powys appeared with a volume of verse ...

'' (1964) * ''Byron and Shakespeare'' (1966) * ''Gold-Dust, with Other Poetry'' (1968) * ''Shakespeare and Religion: Essays of Forty Years'' * ''Neglected Powers: Essays on 19th and 20th Century Literature'' (1971) * ''Jackson Knight: a Biography'' (1975) * ''Virgil and Shakespeare'' (1977) * ''Shakespeare's Dramatic Challenge: on the Rise of Shakespeare's Tragic Heroes'' (1977) * ''Symbol of Man: on Body-soul for Stage and Studio'' (1979) * ''Shakespearian Dimensions'' (1984) * ''Visions and Vices: Essays on

'' (1989)

References

External links

Papers of George Wilson Knight: 'Road to Kasvin' typescript memoir

* Archival material at
G. Wilson Knight Collection
at the

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center, known as the Humanities Research Center until 1983, is an archive, library, and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe ...