All Topics  
William Archer (critic)

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

William Archer (critic)
 
 
  Topics William Archer (critic) Topic Home

William Archer (23 September 1856 – 27 December 1924), Scottish
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
 critic
Critic

The word critic comes from the Greek language ' , "able to discern", which in turn derives from the word ' , meaning a person who offers reasoned judgment or analysis, value judgment, interpretation, or observation....
, was born in Perth
Perth, Scotland

Perth is a town and former royal burgh in central Scotland. Sitting on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative headquarters of Perth and Kinross council area....
, and was educated at the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh founded in 1582, is an internationally renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom....
, where he received the degree of M.A.
Master of Arts (Scotland)

A Master of Arts in Scotland is an academic degree in humanities and social sciences awarded by the ancient universities of Scotland ? St Andrews University, the University of Glasgow, the University of Aberdeen and Edinburgh University....
 in 1876. He was the son of Thomas Archer
Thomas Archer (pastoralist)

Thomas Archer Order of St Michael and St George, was a pioneer pastoralist and Agent General for Queensland ....
.

He became a leader-writer on the Edinburgh Evening News in 1875, and after a year in Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
 returned to Edinburgh
Edinburgh

Edinburgh ; is the Capital city of Scotland, a position it has held since 1437. It is the seventh largest city in the United Kingdom and the second largest Scottish City status in the United Kingdom after Glasgow....
. In 1879 he became dramatic critic of the London Figaro, and in 1884 of the World, where he remained until 1905.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'William Archer (critic)'
Start a new discussion about 'William Archer (critic)'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


William Archer (23 September 1856 – 27 December 1924), Scottish
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
 critic
Critic

The word critic comes from the Greek language ' , "able to discern", which in turn derives from the word ' , meaning a person who offers reasoned judgment or analysis, value judgment, interpretation, or observation....
, was born in Perth
Perth, Scotland

Perth is a town and former royal burgh in central Scotland. Sitting on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative headquarters of Perth and Kinross council area....
, and was educated at the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh founded in 1582, is an internationally renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom....
, where he received the degree of M.A.
Master of Arts (Scotland)

A Master of Arts in Scotland is an academic degree in humanities and social sciences awarded by the ancient universities of Scotland ? St Andrews University, the University of Glasgow, the University of Aberdeen and Edinburgh University....
 in 1876. He was the son of Thomas Archer
Thomas Archer (pastoralist)

Thomas Archer Order of St Michael and St George, was a pioneer pastoralist and Agent General for Queensland ....
.

He became a leader-writer on the Edinburgh Evening News in 1875, and after a year in Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
 returned to Edinburgh
Edinburgh

Edinburgh ; is the Capital city of Scotland, a position it has held since 1437. It is the seventh largest city in the United Kingdom and the second largest Scottish City status in the United Kingdom after Glasgow....
. In 1879 he became dramatic critic of the London Figaro, and in 1884 of the World, where he remained until 1905. In London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
 he soon took a prominent literary place.

Archer had much to do with introducing Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen

Henrik Johan Ibsen was a major Nineteenth-century theatre Norway playwright of realism drama and poet. He is often referred to as the "father of modern drama" and is one of the founders of modernism in the theatre....
 to the English public by his translation The Pillars of Society
The Pillars of Society

The Pillars of Society is an 1877 play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.Ibsen had great trouble with the writing of this play which came before the series of masterpieces which made him famous throughout the world....
, produced at the Gaiety Theatre, London
Gaiety Theatre, London

The Gaiety Theatre, London was a West End theatre in London, England, located on Aldwych at the eastern end of the Strand, London. The theatre was established as the Strand Musick Hall , in 1864 on the former site of the Lyceum Theatre, London....
, 1880. He also translated, alone or in collaboration, other productions of the Scandinavian stage: Ibsen's A Doll's House
A Doll's House

A Doll's House is an 1879 Play by Norway playwright Henrik Ibsen. Written one year after The Pillars of Society, the play was the first of Ibsen's to create a sensation and is now perhaps his most famous play, and required reading in many secondary schools and universities....
 (1889), The Master Builder
The Master Builder

The Master Builder is a Play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It was first published in 1892 in literature and first performed in Berlin on 19 January 1893....
 (1893); Edvard Brandes
Edvard Brandes

Carl Edvard Cohen Brandes was a Denmark politician, critic and author, and the younger brother of Georg Brandes. He was a Master of Arts in eastern philology....
's A Visit (1892); Ibsen's Peer Gynt
Peer Gynt

Peer Gynt is a five-Act play in Verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen. Interpreted in its day as a satire on the Norwegian people personality, Peer Gynt is the story of a life based on avoidance....
 (1892); Little Eyolf
Little Eyolf

Little Eyolf is an 1894 Play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The play was first performed on January 12, 1895 in the Deutsches Theater in Berlin....
 (1895); and John Gabriel Borkman
John Gabriel Borkman

John Gabriel Borkman is the penultimate composition of the Norway playwright, Henrik Ibsen, written in 1896....
 (1897); and he edited Henrik Ibsen's Prose Dramas vols., 1890-1891).

He was a friend of the George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw, was an Irish people playwright.Although Shaw's first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, his talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60 plays....
, and arranged for his plays to be translated into German. An attempted collaboration on a play, Widower's Houses, did not work, and Archer was often critical of Shaw's drama. For a time, Archer lived at 27 Fitzroy Square
Fitzroy Square

Fitzroy Square is one of the Georgian squares in London and is the only one found in the central London area known as in Fitzrovia.The square, nearby Fitzroy Street and the Fitzroy Tavern in Charlotte Street have the family name of Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton, into whose ownership the land passed through his marriage....
 in central London, while Shaw lived at number 29.

During World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
, Archer wrote a series of open letters on behalf of Wellington House
Wellington House

Wellington House is the more common name for Britain's War Propaganda Bureau, which operated during World War I from Wellington House, a building located in Buckingham Gate, London, which was the headquarters of the National Insurance Commission before the War....
, arguing Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
's culpability in starting the conflict. He viewed the Allies (including England) as innocent bystanders, forced into defending the world against German militancy.

His play, The Green Goddess
The Green Goddess (stage play)

The Green Goddess was a popular stage play of 1921 by William Archer .In the three years after its publication, the play toured in both United States and England....
, was produced by Winthrop Ames
Winthrop Ames

Winthrop Ames was an United States theatre Theatre director and Theatrical producer, playwright and screenwriter.For three decades at the beginning of the 20th century, Ames was an important force on Broadway theatre, whose repertoire included directing and producing Shakespeare and classic plays, new plays, and revivals of Gilbert and Su...
 at the Booth Theatre
Booth Theatre

The Booth Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre theatre located at 222 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan, New York City.Architect Henry B....
 in New York
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
. It was a melodrama, and a popular success, although relatively of much less importance to the art of the drama than his critical work.

Among his critical works are:
  • English Dramatists of To-day (1882)
  • Henry Irving
    Henry Irving

    Sir Henry Irving , born John Henry Brodribb, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era. He was the first actor to be awarded a knighthood....
    , a study (1883)
  • About the Theatre (1886)
  • Study in the Psychology of Acting (1886)
  • Masks or Faces? (1888)
  • W. C. Macready
    William Charles Macready

    William Charles Macready was an England actor....
    , a biography (1890)
  • "The Theatrical World" (1893) (5 volumes)
  • America To-day, Observations and Reflections
  • Poets the Younger Generation (1901)
  • Real Conversations (1904)
  • A National Theatre: Scheme and Estimates, with H. Granville Barker, 1907)
  • Through Afro-America (1910)
  • The Life, Trial, and Death of Francisco Ferrer (1911)
  • Play-Making (1912)
  • The Old Drama and the New (1923)
Plays:
  • War is War (1919)
  • The Green Goddess
    The Green Goddess (stage play)

    The Green Goddess was a popular stage play of 1921 by William Archer .In the three years after its publication, the play toured in both United States and England....
     (1921)


External links