Katherine Dorothea Duncan-Jones (13 May 1941 – 16 October 2022) was an English literature and

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 ...

scholar and was also a Fellow of

New Hall, Cambridge New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

(1965–1966), and then

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The colle ...

(1966–2001). She was also

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 at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, 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 List of oldest un ...

from 1998 to 2001. She was a scholar of Shakespeare and his contemporaries.

Personal life

Duncan-Jones was born on 13 May 1941 to the philosopher Austin Duncan-Jones and the literary scholar Elsie Duncan-Jones (née Phare). Her brother is the historian Richard Duncan-Jones. She was educated at King Edward VI High School for Girls, Birmingham, an all-girls

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

. She studied at

St Hilda's College, Oxford St Hilda's College (full name = Principal and Council of St. Hilda's College, Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. The college is named after the Anglo-Saxon saint Hilda of Whitby and was founded in 1893 as a ...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree and a

Bachelor of Letters Bachelor of Letters (BLitt or LittB; Latin ' or ') is a second bachelor's degree in which students specialize in an area of study relevant to their own personal, professional, or academic development. This area of study may have been touched on in ...

(BLitt) degree: as per tradition, her BA was later promoted to a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

(MA Oxon) degree. Duncan-Jones married the writer A. N. Wilson in 1971. Together they had two daughters: Emily, a classicist, and Bee Wilson, a food writer. They divorced in 1990. Duncan-Jones died from complications of dementia on 16 October 2022, at the age of 81.

Academic career

Duncan-Jones was Mary Ewart Residential Fellow at

, from 1963 to 1965. She was then a

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

, from 1965 to 1966. She then returned to Somerville College and was fellow and tutor in English Literature between 1966 and her retirement in 2001. She was also

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 at the

from 1998 to 2001. She was a senior research fellow of Somerville College from 2001 until her death. In 1991, Duncan-Jones was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the ...

(FRSL). She was a prolific writer and essayist, whose articles often appeared in ''Renaissance Quarterly''. She was a beloved teacher and supported younger scholars, especially women, in academia. For many years, she regularly reviewed productions of early modern drama for ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

''. Her speciality was

early modern literature The history of literature of the early modern period ( 16th, 17th and partly 18th century literature), or early modern literature, succeeds Medieval literature, and in Europe in particular Renaissance literature. In Europe, the Early Modern ...

, and she had particular interests in clowns, transvestism, visual art and Italian and Classical influences on Renaissance British literature. Her early work focused on the work of Sir

Philip Sidney Sir Philip Sidney (30 November 1554 – 17 October 1586) was an English poet, courtier, scholar and soldier who is remembered as one of the most prominent figures of the Elizabethan era, Elizabethan age. His works include a sonnet sequence, ' ...

, the subject of her B. Litt. thesis, of whom she wrote a definitive biography and a collected edition. She wrote a pair of biographies of

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 ...

, notable for their willingness to challenge received wisdom, their situating of Shakespeare within the context of his time, and their lack of "bardolatry"; Duncan-Jones was always well aware that there can be a vast distance between a person and their artistic work. Her biographical writing on Shakespeare pointed to evidence she discovered, through careful study of archives, that the man, if not the poet, was a social climber obsessed with acquiring his coat of arms. Like her earlier work on Sidney, her biographies of Shakespeare unearthed the "man behind the myth". Duncan-Jones is remembered for her love and knowledge of the work of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, her devotion to Renaissance literature and to the Bodleian Library, and her love of live theatre, especially productions of Shakespeare and other Elizabethan and Jacobean dramatists. She produced a definitive edition of Shakespeare's poems for Arden (with Henry Woudhuysen) and of Shakespeare's sonnets (also for the Arden Shakespeare).

Broadcasting

Duncan-Jones made four appearances as a panelist on the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

series '' In Our Time'', discussing Shakespeare's life (2001);

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 ...

(2005); ''

King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...

'' (2008); and ''

The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...

'' (2013).

Selected works

* ''Sir Philip Sidney: Courtier Poet.'' Yale University Press 1991 * ''Sir Philip Sidney: The Major Works,'' editor. Oxford University Press 2009 * ''Shakespeare's Poems'', ed. Katherine Duncan-Jones and H. R. Woudhuysen, London 2007. * ''Shakespeare. An ungentle Life.'' London 2010. * ''Shakespeare. Upstart Crow to Sweet Swan 1592–1623.'' London 2011. * ''Shakespeare's Sonnets,'' editor. Arden 2010.

References

External links

Katherine Duncan-Jones
Oxford University {{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan-Jones, Katherine 1941 births 2022 deaths Shakespearean scholars Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature 20th-century English women writers 21st-century English women writers People educated at King Edward VI High School for Girls, Birmingham Fellows of Somerville College, Oxford Fellows of New Hall, Cambridge Alumni of St Hilda's College, Oxford Historians of English literature English literary historians British women literary historians 20th-century English biographers 21st-century English biographers Deaths from dementia in England