William Archer (critic)

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William Archer (September 23, 1856 - December 27, 1924), Scottish critic, was born in Perth, and was educated at the University of Edinburgh, where he received the degree of M.A. in 1876.

He became a leader-writer on the Edinburgh Evening News in 1875, and after a year in Australia returned to Edinburgh. In 1879 he became dramatic critic of the London Figaro, and in 1884 of the World, where he remained till 1905. In London he soon took a prominent literary place.

Mr Archer had much to do with introducing Ibsen to the English public by his translation The Pillars of Society, produced at the Gaiety Theatre, London, 1880. He also translated, alone or in collaboration, other productions of the Scandinavian stage: Ibsen's A Doll's House (1889), The Master Builder (1893); Edvard Brandes's A Visit (1892); Ibsen's Peer Gynt (1892); Little Eyolf (1895); and John Gabriel Borkman (1897); and he edited Henrik Ibsen's Prose Dramas vols., 1890-1891).

During World War I, Archer wrote a series of open letters arguing Germany'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, was produced by Winthrop Ames at the Booth Theatre in New York. It was a melodrama, and a popular success, although relatively of much less importance to the art of the drama than his critical work. [1]

Among his critical works are: