Warren Taylor

From Philosopedia

Taylor, Warren (1903–1991)

A graduate of Vanderbilt University in 1924, Taylor was a student of John Crowe Ransom and Walter Clyde Curry.

In the 1950s when he was on the staff at Antioch College, Taylor was an associate editor of The Humanist. He wrote Poetry in English (1970). Also, he taught at Oberlin College.

Michael Dirda, of Oberlin's 1970 class, remembered Taylor as follows:

• In "Shakespeare" students gradually went through the complete works in a year. Tests were rigorous: Warren Taylor, who taught the later plays, would ask exam questions such as: "What happens when Hamlet visits his mother in her bedroom? Quote as much of the dialogue as you can in your answers." The fiery, Lear-like Taylor, who was then a year from retirement, maintained that interpretations of Shakespeare changed like fashions, but there was no substitute for simply knowing the plays inside out. (As indeed there isn't.)

Taylor's correspondence with the book review editor of The Humanist":