Anthony David Nuttall (25 April 1937 – 24 January 2007) was an English literary critic and academic. Nuttall was educated at

Hereford Cathedral School Hereford Cathedral School is an independent, co-educational day and boarding school for pupils of ages 3 to 18 years, from Nursery to Sixth Form. Its headmaster is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The school's premi ...

Watford Grammar School for Boys Go Forward with Preparation , established = 1884 ( Single-sex) , type = partially selective academy , religious_affiliation = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Ian A. Cooksey , r_head_label = , ...

and

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of Oxford University, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the ...

, where he studied both Classical Moderations and English Literature. As a postgraduate he wrote a B.Litt thesis on

Shakespeare's William Shakespeare ( 26 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 ...

'' The Tempest'' subsequently published as ''Two Concepts of Allegory'' (1968), and considered by some to be his most original book. Nuttall first taught at

Sussex University , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

where he was successively lecturer, reader and professor of English and where his students included the philosopher A. C. Grayling and the critic and biographer Robert Fraser. After a tumultuous period as pro-vice-chancellor at Sussex, he moved on to New College, Oxford, in 1984, eventually being elected to an Oxford chair. His published works include studies of Shakespeare and works on the connections between philosophy and literature. Prominent among the first is ''Shakespeare the Thinker'' (2007), in which he criticised his earlier work as needlessly forcing Shakespeare into an abstract

metaphysical Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

framework. Instead, Nuttall attempted to undo this tradition through a 'pataphysical approach, where everyday objects such as eggs, tennis rackets, and other mundane phenomena acquire an absurd

metalepsis Metalepsis (from grc-gre, μετάληψις) is a figure of speech in which a word or a phrase from figurative speech is used in a new context. Examples *"I've got to catch the worm tomorrow." **"The early bird catches the worm" is a common m ...

in their satiric relation to Shakespeare's tragedies.' In a more philosophical tradition, ''A Common Sky'' traces the literary repercussions of both the English empiricist tradition and the idea of

solipsism Solipsism (; ) is the philosophical idea that only one's mind is sure to exist. As an epistemological position, solipsism holds that knowledge of anything outside one's own mind is unsure; the external world and other minds cannot be known an ...

. His work is characterised throughout by wide reading (especially in classical sources), common sense, a deep and broad humanity, a robust sense of humour and by occasional—and sometimes eccentric—references to popular culture (In ''Shakespeare the Thinker'', for example, he cites the TV series '' Wife Swap''.) His elder brother

Jeff Nuttall Jeffrey Addison Nuttall (8 July 1933 – 4 January 2004) was an English poet, publisher, actor, painter, sculptor, jazz trumpeter, anarchist and social commentator who was a key part of the British 1960s counter-culture. He was the brother of l ...

was a poet and an important figure in 1960s

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...

. To him he dedicated his book ''The Alternative Trinity'', a study of the

Gnostic Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...

tradition in English literature through

Marlowe Marlowe may refer to: Name * Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593), English dramatist, poet and translator * Philip Marlowe, fictional hardboiled detective created by author Raymond Chandler * Marlowe (name), including list of people and characters w ...

and

Milton Milton may refer to: Names * Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname) ** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet * Milton (given name) ** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free t ...

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

, a poet to whom both brothers had been attracted in their youth, if in rather different ways. A bench outside the chapel of Merton is inscribed with his name together with that of his lifelong friend and college contemporary, Stephen Medcalf.

Selected publications

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nuttall, Anthony English literary critics Shakespearean scholars People educated at Watford Grammar School for Boys Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Academics of the University of Sussex 1937 births 2007 deaths Fellows of New College, Oxford