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Edward Dowden (3 May 18434 April 1913) was an
Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governme ...
,
professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...
, and poet.


Biography

He was the son of John Wheeler Dowden, a merchant and landowner, and was born at
Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
, three years after his brother John, who became
Bishop of Edinburgh The Bishop of Edinburgh, or sometimes the Lord Bishop of Edinburgh is the ordinary of the Scottish Episcopal Diocese of Edinburgh. Prior to the Reformation, Edinburgh was part of the Diocese of St Andrews, under the Archbishop of St Andrews a ...
in 1886. Edward's literary tastes emerged early, in a series of essays written at the age of twelve. His home education continued at
Queen's College, Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...
and at Trinity College, Dublin. He contributed to the literary magazine '' Kottabos.'' He had a distinguished career, becoming president of the
Philosophical Society The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...
, and won the vice-chancellor's prize for English verse and prose, and the first senior moderatorship in ethics and logic. In 1867 he was elected professor of oratory and English literature in Dublin University. Dowden's first book, ''Shakspere: A Critical Study of His Mind and Art'' (1875),Dowden 1875, ''Shakspere: A Critical Study of His Mind and Art'':
Online edition
in
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.
resulted from a revision of a course of lectures, and made him widely known as a critic: translations appeared in
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and
Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries * Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and p ...
; his ''Poems'' (1876) went into a second edition. His ''Shakespeare Primer'' (1877) was translated into
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and German. In 1878 the Royal Irish Academy awarded him the Cunningham gold medal "for his literary writings, especially in the field of Shakespearian criticism." Later works by him in this field included an edition of ''The Sonnets of William Shakespeare'' (1881), ''Passionate Pilgrim'' (1883), ''Introduction to Shakespeare'' (1893), ''Hamlet'' (1899), ''
Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with ''Ham ...
'' (1900), ''
Cymbeline ''Cymbeline'' , also known as ''The Tragedie of Cymbeline'' or ''Cymbeline, King of Britain'', is a play by William Shakespeare set in Ancient Britain () and based on legends that formed part of the Matter of Britain concerning the early Celt ...
'' (1903), and an article entitled "Shakespeare as a Man of Science" (in the ''National Review'', July 1902), which criticized T. E. Webb's ''Mystery of William Shakespeare''. His critical essays "Studies in Literature" (1878), "Transcripts and Studies" (1888), "New Studies in Literature" (1895) showed a profound knowledge of the currents and tendencies of thought in various ages and countries; but his ''The Life of Percy Bysshe Shelley'' (1886) made him best known to the public at large. In 1900 he edited an edition of Shelley's works. Other books by him which indicate his interests in literature include: '' Southey'' (in the "
English Men of Letters English Men of Letters was a series of literary biographies written by leading literary figures of the day and published by Macmillan, under the general editorship of John Morley. The original series was launched in 1878, with Leslie Stephen's bi ...
" series, 1879), his edition of ''Southey's Correspondence with Caroline Bowles'' (1881), and ''Select Poems of Southey'' (1895), his Correspondence of Sir Henry Taylor (1888), his edition of Wordsworth's ''Poetical Works'' (1892) and of his ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1890), his ''French Revolution and English Literature'' (1897; lectures given at Princeton University in 1896), ''History of French Literature'' (1897), ''Puritan and Anglican'' (1900), '' Robert Browning'' (1904) and '' Michel de Montaigne'' (1905). His devotion to
Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tre ...
led to his succeeding Max Müller in 1888 as president of the English Goethe Society. In 1889 he gave the first annual
Taylorian Lecture The Taylorian Lecture, sometimes referred to as the "Special Taylorian Lecture" or "Taylorian Special Lecture", is a prestigious annual lecture on Modern European Literature, delivered at the Taylor Institution in the University of Oxford since 188 ...
at the University of Oxford, and from 1892 to 1896 served as Clark lecturer at
Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...
. To his research are due, among other matters of literary interest, the first account of
Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. A leading writer of the Victorian era, he exerted a profound influence on 19th-century art, literature and philosophy. Born in Ecclefechan, Dum ...
's ''Lectures on periods of European culture''; the identification of Shelley as the author of a review (in ''The Critical Review'' of December 1814) of a romance by Thomas Jefferson Hogg; a description of Shelley's ''Philosophical View of Reform''; a manuscript diary of
Fabre d'Églantine Philippe François Nazaire Fabre d'Églantine (, 28 July 1750 – 5 April 1794), commonly known as Fabre d'Églantine, was a French actor, dramatist, poet, and politician of the French Revolution. He is best known for having invented the names o ...
; and a record by Dr Wilhelm Weissenborn of Goethe's last days and death. He also discovered a ''Narrative of a Prisoner of War under Napoleon'' (published in ''
Blackwood's Magazine ''Blackwood's Magazine'' was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by the publisher William Blackwood and was originally called the ''Edinburgh Monthly Magazine''. The first number appeared in April 1817 ...
''), an unknown pamphlet by
Bishop Berkeley George Berkeley (; 12 March 168514 January 1753) – known as Bishop Berkeley (Bishop of Cloyne of the Anglican Church of Ireland) – was an Anglo-Irish philosopher whose primary achievement was the advancement of a theory he called "immater ...
, some unpublished writings of
William Hayley William Hayley (9 November 174512 November 1820) was an English writer, best known as the biographer of his friend William Cowper. Biography Born at Chichester, he was sent to Eton in 1757, and to Trinity Hall, Cambridge, in 1762; his connec ...
relating to Cowper, and a unique copy of the ''Tales of Terror''. His wide interests and scholarly methods made his influence on criticism both sound and stimulating, and his own ideals are well described in his essay on ''The Interpretation of Literature'' in his ''Transcripts and Studies''. As commissioner of education in Ireland (1896–1901), trustee of the
National Library of Ireland The National Library of Ireland (NLI; ga, Leabharlann Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is the Republic of Ireland's national library located in Dublin, in a building designed by Thomas Newenham Deane. The mission of the National Library of Ireland i ...
, secretary of the Irish Liberal Union and vice-president of the Irish Unionist Alliance, he enforced his view that literature should not be divorced from practical life. His biographical/critical concepts, particularly in connection with Shakespeare, are played with by Stephen Dedalus in the library chapter of James Joyce's ''Ulysses''. Leslie Fiedler was to play with them again in ''The Stranger in Shakespeare''. Dowden married twice, first (1866) Mary Clerke, and secondly (1895) Elizabeth Dickinson West, daughter of the dean of St Patrick's. His daughter by his first wife, Hester Dowden, was a well-known spiritualist medium. Edward Dowden died in Dublin. His ''Letters'' were published in 1914 by Elizabeth and Hilda Dowden.


References

* * Dowden, Edward. (1875). ''Shakespeare: A Critical Study of his Mind and Art''. Henry S. King & Co. (reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2009; )


Further reading

*William M. Murphy. "Prodigal Father: the Life of John Butler Yeats (1839–1922)" (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1978; paperback edition, 1979; revised paperback edition, Syracuse University Press, 2001.) *William M. Murphy, 'Yeats, Quinn, and Edward Dowden,' in "John Quinn: Selected Irish Writers from His Library," ed. Janis and Richard Londraville (Locust Hill Press, 2001).


External links

* *
''In Defense of Harriet Shelley''
– comments on Dowden's ''Life of Shelley'' by Mark Twain * * *
Article in Cassell's ''Universal Portrait Gallery''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dowden, Edward 1843 births 1913 deaths Writers from Cork (city) Irish poets People from Cork (city) Alumni of Queens College Cork Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Shakespearean scholars