Arthur Sutherland Piggott Woodhouse

Woodhouse, Arthur Sutherland Piggott

Arthur Sutherland Piggott Woodhouse, teacher, scholar, humanist (b at Port Hope, Ont 27 Sept 1895; d at Toronto 31 Oct 1964). He was educated at U of T and Harvard, taught for 5 years at U of Man and joined the Faculty of English at U of T in 1928. He subsequently became head of the department at University College (1944-64) and head of the graduate department of English. An advocate of "historical criticism," he demonstrated his scholarship in a long series of essays on the work of John Milton, which led to The Heavenly Muse (1972). His contribution to the history of ideas includes studies in the Puritan revolution (Puritanism and Liberty, 1938), studies of nature and grace as intellectual framework in Renaissance literature, and studies of the evolution of the Romantic doctrine of the imagination. He fostered the growth of the humanities in Canada by writing in their defence, by editing the University of Toronto Quarterly, and by administrative action. Three times president of the Humanities Research Council of Canada, he worked effectively for the support of pure research. The clarity, strength and zest of his scholarship were evident in his teaching.