Jonathan Wordsworth
Encyclopedia
Professor Jonathan Fletcher Wordsworth (1932 – 2006) was a great-great-great nephew of William Wordsworth
and the great-great-grandson of Christopher Wordsworth, the younger brother of the poet and Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. An academic, literary critic and expert on the Romantic
era in literature, Jonathan, as he unpretentiously preferred to be addressed by all, was a leading light on the work of William Wordsworth on whom he concentrated, not always uncritically, the bulk of his academic writings. His many critical pieces, innovative editions and books on his famous ancestral relative include The Music of Humanity (first published in 1969); William Wordsworth: The Borders of Vision (1984); William Wordsworth: The Pedlar, Tintern Abbey, The Two-Part Prelude (1985); and William Wordsworth and the Age of English Romanticism (1987).
Educated at Westminster School and Brasenose College, Oxford, in 1957 he became a Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford
, where there is now a postgraduate scholarship in his name. He was an original and witty teacher who lauded good 'judgement' and stimulated independent thought; and he possessed an intoxicatingly authoritative, humorous and unhackneyed style that inspired and refreshed many of his peers and students. He was later Professor of English Literature at St Catherine's College, Oxford.
His students at Oxford included Martin Amis
, Christopher Reid
, Craig Raine
and N.W.O.Royle, the literary theorist. He was the Chairman of the Wordsworth Trust (1976 – 2002) and its President thereafter. He left behind three wives − the literary theorist Ann (Sherratt) Wordsworth, Lucy Newlyn, Professor of English at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, and Jessica Prince; and seven children − four with Ann and three with Jessica.
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth was a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads....
and the great-great-grandson of Christopher Wordsworth, the younger brother of the poet and Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. An academic, literary critic and expert on the Romantic
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
era in literature, Jonathan, as he unpretentiously preferred to be addressed by all, was a leading light on the work of William Wordsworth on whom he concentrated, not always uncritically, the bulk of his academic writings. His many critical pieces, innovative editions and books on his famous ancestral relative include The Music of Humanity (first published in 1969); William Wordsworth: The Borders of Vision (1984); William Wordsworth: The Pedlar, Tintern Abbey, The Two-Part Prelude (1985); and William Wordsworth and the Age of English Romanticism (1987).
Educated at Westminster School and Brasenose College, Oxford, in 1957 he became a Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth oldest college of the University. The main entrance is on the east side of Turl Street...
, where there is now a postgraduate scholarship in his name. He was an original and witty teacher who lauded good 'judgement' and stimulated independent thought; and he possessed an intoxicatingly authoritative, humorous and unhackneyed style that inspired and refreshed many of his peers and students. He was later Professor of English Literature at St Catherine's College, Oxford.
His students at Oxford included Martin Amis
Martin Amis
Martin Louis Amis is a British novelist, the author of many novels including Money and London Fields . He is currently Professor of Creative Writing at the Centre for New Writing at the University of Manchester, but will step down at the end of the 2010/11 academic year...
, Christopher Reid
Christopher Reid
Christopher Reid is a Hong Kong-born British poet, essayist, cartoonist, and writer. He has been nominated twice for the Whitbread Awards in 1996 and in 1997. A contemporary of Martin Amis, he was educated at Exeter College, Oxford. He is one of the exponents of Martian poetry which employs...
, Craig Raine
Craig Raine
Craig Raine is an English poet and critic born in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, England. Along with Christopher Reid, he is the best-known exponent of Martian poetry.-Life:...
and N.W.O.Royle, the literary theorist. He was the Chairman of the Wordsworth Trust (1976 – 2002) and its President thereafter. He left behind three wives − the literary theorist Ann (Sherratt) Wordsworth, Lucy Newlyn, Professor of English at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, and Jessica Prince; and seven children − four with Ann and three with Jessica.