Editing Northrop Frye (section)

==Biography==

===Early life and education===
Born in [[Sherbrooke]], [[Quebec]], but raised in [[Moncton]], [[New Brunswick]], Frye was the third child of Herman Edward Frye and of Catherine Maud Howard.<ref name = Guide>University of Toronto. [http://library.vicu.utoronto.ca/special/F11fryefonds.htm Guide to the Northrop Frye papers]. Victoria University Library Special Collections (F 11) Northrop Frye fonds. Retrieved on: November 30, 2008.</ref> His much older brother, Howard, died in World War I; he also had a sister, Vera.<ref>[http://w3.stu.ca/stu/sites/nble/f/frye_herman_northrop.html Herman Northrop Frye] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170723040742/http://w3.stu.ca/stu/sites/nble/f/frye_herman_northrop.html |date=2017-07-23 }}. New Brunswick literary Encyclopedia.</ref>  His first cousin was the scientist [[Alma Howard]]. Frye went to Toronto to compete in a national typing contest in 1929.<ref name = CE>Ayre, J. [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/northrop-frye/ "Frye, Herman Northrop"]. ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. Historica Foundation.</ref>  He studied for his undergraduate degree in philosophy at [[Victoria University in the University of Toronto|Victoria College in the University of Toronto]], where he edited the college literary journal, ''[[Acta Victoriana]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://actavictoriana.ca/ |title= Acta victoriana}}</ref>  He then studied theology at [[Emmanuel College, Toronto|Emmanuel College]] (like Victoria College, a constituent part of the University of Toronto). After a brief stint as a student minister in [[Saskatchewan]], he was ordained to the ministry of the [[United Church of Canada]]. He then studied at [[Merton College, Oxford]],<ref name="MCreg">{{cite book|editor1-last=Levens|editor1-first=R.G.C.|title=Merton College Register 1900–1964|date=1964|publisher=Basil Blackwell|location=Oxford|page=274}}</ref> where he was a member and Secretary of the [[Bodley Club]]<ref>{{cite book |title = Diaries |first = Northrop |last = Frye |editor-first = Robert D. |editor-last = Denham |year = 2001 |publisher = University of Toronto Press |isbn = 0-8020-3538-8 |url-access = registration |url = https://archive.org/details/diariesofnorthro0000frye }}</ref> before returning to Victoria College, where he spent the remainder of his professional career.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}

===Academic and writing career===
Frye rose to international prominence as a result of his first book, ''[[Fearful Symmetry (Frye)|Fearful Symmetry]]'', published in 1947. Until then, the prophetic poetry of [[William Blake]] had long been poorly understood, and considered by some to be delusional ramblings. Frye found in it a system of metaphor derived from ''[[Paradise Lost]]'' and the [[Bible]]. His study of Blake's poetry was a major contribution to the subject. Moreover, Frye outlined an innovative manner of studying literature that was to deeply influence the study of literature in general. He was a major influence on [[Harold Bloom]], [[Margaret Atwood]], and others.{{citation needed|date=January 2017}}

In 1974–1975 Frye was the Norton professor at [[Harvard University]]. But his primary position was as a professor at the University of Toronto, and then chancellor of Victoria College in the University of Toronto.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://library.vicu.utoronto.ca/collections/special_collections/f11_northrop_frye|title=Northrop Frye Fonds 11 |website=E.J. Pratt Library |access-date=29 October 2019}}</ref>

Northrop Frye did not have a PhD.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://figureground.ca/interviews/b-w-powe/ |title=B. W. Powe &#124; Figure/Ground Communication |access-date=2012-07-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120701091351/http://figureground.ca/interviews/b-w-powe/ |archive-date=2012-07-01 }}</ref>

The intelligence service of the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] spied on Frye, watching his participation in the anti–Vietnam War movement, an academic forum about China, and activism to end South African apartheid.<ref name=RCMP>{{cite news|title=RCMP spied on Northrop Frye|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/rcmp-spied-on-northrop-frye-1.1105512|access-date=26 September 2014|agency=CBC News|date=24 July 2011}}</ref>

===Family life===
Frye married Helen Kemp, an educator, editor and artist, in 1937. She died in Australia while accompanying Frye on a lecture tour.<ref>University of Toronto. [http://library.vicu.utoronto.ca/special/F12hfryefonds.htm Helen Kemp Frye (1910-1986)]. Victoria University Library Special Collections (F12) Helen Kemp Frye fonds. Retrieved on: November 30, 2008.</ref> Two years after her death in 1986, he remarried to Elizabeth Eedy Brown, the widow of politician [[James Elisha Brown]] and the sister of writer [[Alice Boissonneau]].<ref name = Guide/> He died in 1991 and was interred in [[Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto|Mount Pleasant Cemetery]] in [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]].