George Richard Wilson Knight (1897-1984) was an English literary critic and academic, known particularly for his interpretation of mythic content in literature, and his essays The Wheel of Fire on Shakespeare's drama. He was also an actor and theatrical director, and considered an outstanding lecturer.
He was educated at Dulwich College, and after serving as a despatch rider in World War I, at St. Edmund Hall, Oxford. He went into teaching; his first academic post was at Trinity College, Toronto in 1931. He taught at Stowe School from 1941 to 1946 and then was Reader in English Literature at Leeds University, where he became a professor in 1956.
The classical scholar William Francis Jackson Knight (1895-1964), of whom he wrote a biography, was his brother.
Works
- Myth and Miracle (1929)
- Wheel of Fire (1930)
- The Imperial Theme (1931)
- The Crown of Life (1946)
- Visions and Vices: Essays on John Cowper Powys
- The Golden Labyrinth (1962)
- Neglected Powers: Essays on 19th and 20th Century Literature (1971)
- Jackson Knight (1975)
