F. W. Bateson
Encyclopedia
Frederick Wilse Bateson (1901 – 1978) was an English literary scholar and critic.
Bateson was born in Cheshire, and educated at Charterhouse and at Trinity College, Oxford, where he took a BA in English (second class), and then the B.Litt., which he completed in 1927. From 1927-29 he held a Commonwealth Fellowship at Harvard, and from 1929 to 1940 he worked in England, editing the Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature, and occasionally lecturing for the Workers Educational Association (WEA). During the Second World War he worked as a statistical officer for the Buckinghamshire War Agricultural Executive.
He is best remembered for his work of the post-war years. In 1951 he founded the critical journal Essays in Criticism; he edited it until 1972, when he entrusted the editorship to Stephen Wall. Bateson was sceptical of 'scientific' approaches to literary criticism, and of historicist approaches.
He became a fellow of Corpus Christi College in 1963, and was made an Emeritus Fellow on his retirement. In 1931 he married Jan Cancellor; they had two children, a son and a daughter. He died on 16 October 1978.
Bateson is often quoted for his remark, " "If the Mona Lisa
is in the Louvre
, where are 'Hamlet
and Lycidas
?", from Essays in Critical Dissent. He is noted also for his 1959 essay The English School in a Democracy. He is commemorated in Oxford by the annual Bateson lecture, which is published in Essays in Criticism.
Bateson was born in Cheshire, and educated at Charterhouse and at Trinity College, Oxford, where he took a BA in English (second class), and then the B.Litt., which he completed in 1927. From 1927-29 he held a Commonwealth Fellowship at Harvard, and from 1929 to 1940 he worked in England, editing the Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature, and occasionally lecturing for the Workers Educational Association (WEA). During the Second World War he worked as a statistical officer for the Buckinghamshire War Agricultural Executive.
He is best remembered for his work of the post-war years. In 1951 he founded the critical journal Essays in Criticism; he edited it until 1972, when he entrusted the editorship to Stephen Wall. Bateson was sceptical of 'scientific' approaches to literary criticism, and of historicist approaches.
He became a fellow of Corpus Christi College in 1963, and was made an Emeritus Fellow on his retirement. In 1931 he married Jan Cancellor; they had two children, a son and a daughter. He died on 16 October 1978.
Bateson is often quoted for his remark, " "If the Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa is a portrait by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. It is a painting in oil on a poplar panel, completed circa 1503–1519...
is in the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
, where are 'Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
and Lycidas
Lycidas
"Lycidas" is a poem by John Milton, written in 1637 as a pastoral elegy. It first appeared in a 1638 collection of elegies, entitled Justa Edouardo King Naufrago, dedicated to the memory of Edward King, a collegemate of Milton's at Cambridge who drowned when his ship sank in the Irish Sea off the...
?", from Essays in Critical Dissent. He is noted also for his 1959 essay The English School in a Democracy. He is commemorated in Oxford by the annual Bateson lecture, which is published in Essays in Criticism.
Works
- Oxford Poetry (1923) editor
- English Comic Drama 1700-1750 (1929)
- Works of Congreve (1930) editor
- The Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature (1941) five volumes, to 1957
- Towards a Socialist Agriculture (1946) Fabian studies, editor
- English Poetry: A Critical Introduction (1950)
- Twickenham edition of Alexander Pope, Vol. 3.2, Epistles to Several Persons (Moral Essays) (1951) editor
- Wordsworth: A Re-Interpretation (1954)
- English poetry and the English Language (1961)
- A Guide to English Literature (1963)
- A Guide to English and American Literature (1970) with Harrison T. Meserole
- The scholar-critic: An introduction to literary research (1972)
- Essays in Critical Dissent (1972)
- The School for ScandalThe School for ScandalThe School for Scandal is a play written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on May 8, 1777.The prologue, written by David Garrick, commends the play, its subject, and its author to the audience...
(1979) editor