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The Educated Imagination

by Northrop Frye

4.14 of 5 stars 4.14 · rating details · 405 ratings · 34 reviews

Addressed to educators and general readers--the "consumers of literature" from all walks of life--this important new book explores the value and uses of literature in our time. Dr. Frye offers, in addition, challenging and stimulating ideas for the teaching of literature at lower school levels, designed both to promote an early interest and to lead the student to the knowl...more

Paperback, 160 pages

Published January 22nd 1964 by Indiana University Press (first published 1963)

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Feb 23, 2011 Amber Tucker rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: All beginning English students. Anyone not confident in their ability to understand "Literature."

Recommended to Amber by: Luck

Shelves: degree-related, shelf-of-honour, to-come-back-to

I found you by chance, my darling, on one of those voracious raids I make on Chapters when lucky enough to get near a city with one. I was thinking nervously of starting university in a few months, altogether doubtful of my worthiness to pursue an English degree, and this caught my eye. I knew nothing, or at least believed I did – or was afraid to believe in my grasp of anything at all. I decided it was high time I Took an Interest In Literary Theory. (My, my, aren't we a gung-ho little English...more

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Dec 30, 2008 Shannon (Giraffe Days) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: essays, non-fiction, 2008, critical-theory

Northrop Frye is a famous Canadian English literature professor who wrote quite a few books on literary theory, among other achievements. Several buildings at the University of Toronto have been named after him, and he's still a voice to be reckoned with in the field, though he died in 1991. In 1962 he took part in the CBC Massey Lectures with six lectures on "The Educated Imagination". This book is his six lectures, and if you're hoping for a review as intelligent as this book is, you've come t...more Northrop Frye is a famous Canadian English literature professor who wrote quite a few books on literary theory, among other achievements. Several buildings at the University of Toronto have been named after him, and he's still a voice to be reckoned with in the field, though he died in 1991. In 1962 he took part in the CBC Massey Lectures with six lectures on "The Educated Imagination". This book is his six lectures, and if you're hoping for a review as intelligent as this book is, you've come to the wrong person.

Frye tackles many questions which revolve around the importance of studying literature and an analysis of literature, studying it, and having an imagination. He posits three kinds of language within a language - that of ordinary conversation and self-expression; of conveying information in a practical sense; and of the imagination, i.e. literature. That's overly simplified and there's no doubt a better way of summing it up, but that's what I've come up with. Naturally, arguments build one upon the other, and I would be setting myself a horrendous task to try to describe them in brief. It's just not possible, as the lectures cover a great deal. You'd be better to read the book itself.

Of all the lectures, I appreciated the last one the most, probably because it spoke to me the most. At one point he discusses freedom, and says "Nobody is capable of free speech unless he knows how to use language, and such knowledge is not a gift: it has to be learned and worked at." (p93) There can be no free speech in a mob, he says, only babble and grousing. What he doesn't say, but what he's saying, is that it's incredibly important for the lower classes to be well educated. With education comes not just the ability to express yourself articulately but to really see the world around you, and understand it. This is something that draws me to education, especially for the working class.

The other thing I loved about this lecture was how he validates having and using our imaginations, not relegating them to the realm of fantasy or child's play. He reveals how we use our imaginations constantly, how necessary the imagination is to everything, and how "literature speaks the language of the imagination, and the study of literature is supposed to train and improve the imagination." (p82) Which I absolutely agree with; the lectures give very good insight into how important the imagination - and an educated imagination - is to us.

At times his arguments read a little dated, but one in particular stands out, especially as it connects to the study of Dickens, which was what I was reading at the time, and helps me to understand why novels like A Week of This (Nathan Whitlock), which I read recently, don't have the same effect. "To bring anything really to life in literature," Frye says, "we can't be lifelike: we have to be literature-like." (p53) This is what he calls "writing badly", which Dickens does - it doesn't mean that he's a bad writer, but that he exaggerates and creates larger-than-life characters that feel more real than if they had been represented realistically. Reading Great Expectations you come across a great many of these characters, from Estella to Miss Havisham to the convict. Even Joe and Mrs Joe. They're almost like caricatures of themselves.

When you meet such a character as Micawber in Dickens, you don't feel that there must have been a man Dickens knew who was exactly like this: you feel that there's a bit of Micawber in almost everybody you know, including yourself. Our impressions of human life are picked up one by one, and remain for most of us loose and disorganized. But we constantly find things in literature that suddenly co-ordinate and bring into focus a great many such impressions, and this is part of what Aristotle means by the typical or universal human event. (p35)

Frye is a great proponent of classical literature and the necessity for studying the ancients, and then Shakespeare and Milton, and so on, as well as poetry. He has some good arguments that, re-worded, could work on the typical high school student. I'm not absolutely sure how much I agree, with his reasoning at least, but it's true that our culture and society is founded on such works and continues to influence them without our even realising or noticing - to be able to clearly see our world in such a way would take a lifetime of study. I don't think that the common way of throwing Macbeth in the faces of fifteen-year-olds works at all; in fact, it has a detrimental effect. The problem is that most English teachers don't get or like Shakespeare either - it's a cycle.

While Frye is a terrible name-dropper and obviously knows - knew - his shit, he sometimes reads like a stuffy academic who annoyingly links everything back to the Bible. That's not a bad thing, except it comes across as a bit narrow - you get caught up in his arguments, which are well-expressed in general, and suckered into his way of thinking. The margins are littered with my comments and thoughts and counter-questions - this is a book you need to read armed with a pencil. There are lots of great quotes, and it's very readable, even if you don't have a background in English Lit. I recommend it to teachers and readers and the general populace alike, because it is very interesting and presents a solid argument for the validity of studying English lit - and writing literature in the first place - which I wish our politicians would appreciate.(less)

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Sep 09, 2012 Lindsay Cross rated it 4 of 5 stars

The book was a quick read, and led me to be reminded of realizations I had previously, only in the absence of context. The idea that "...there is nothing new in literature that isn't the old reshaped" was an interesting one, as I've observed underlying similarities in readings, but without the knowledge or experience of having read the originating literature. It was therefore logical to read Frye's take that to maximize your understanding of these connections, the Bible (followed by Greek or Rom...more

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Jun 16, 2011 Ashley rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The CBC Massey Lecture series is a national treasure. I have never read or listened to one that wasn't enlightening. This book provided me with a new appreciation for the value of fiction. Although I am not a student of the natural sciences, I consider myself to be far more of a literal (read: not creative or metaphorical) kind of thinker. The rigorous, academic study of literature is slightly foreign to me. I love books, but I didn't always have much appreciation for English.

Frye explains how...more

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Sep 15, 2012 Jessica Bebenek rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: thesis, theory

I read this book for the first time in high school and I remember being wowed by it, even though I had some trouble completely grasping it. Frye tackles the questions of what the purpose of literature can be in our society, the levels on which language operates within our society, as well as his concept of the educated imagination, which I find fascinating.
I just finished reading it for the second time in my final year of university and it wowed me again, but in a completely different way. Thi...more

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Mar 09, 2012 Alexander Weber rated it 3 of 5 stars

It just didn't speak to me. I think I like what he was trying to say...but it wasn't clear to me. If it was clear, then it didn't seem too insightful. I would've liked to have seen some more talk about how literature can help us see other people's perspectives, help us understand others...give us empathy, and thus help in ethics and politics and so on.
That and I would've liked to have heard more about loving literature for literature's sake: simply because it's so enjoyable.
It was a gift from a...more

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Mar 03, 2012 Jenny added it · review of another edition

Shelves: education, imagination, literary-theory-crit

I was impelled to finally finish this book because of its relevance to ideas raised by David Hicks in Norms and Nobility. The Educated Imagination's beautiful twofold thesis is that: 1)it is vital for education to include thorough training of the imagination and 2)literature is the thing that trains the imagination. For a literary critic, Frye writes simply and poetically, and I was surprised by how quick and good to read and soul-filling this book is.

The first page asks the question which Frye...more I was impelled to finally finish this book because of its relevance to ideas raised by David Hicks in Norms and Nobility. The Educated Imagination's beautiful twofold thesis is that: 1)it is vital for education to include thorough training of the imagination and 2)literature is the thing that trains the imagination. For a literary critic, Frye writes simply and poetically, and I was surprised by how quick and good to read and soul-filling this book is.

The first page asks the question which Frye spends the rest of the book answering: "What good is the study of literature? Does it help us to think more clearly, or feel more sensitively, or live a better life than we could without it?" His answer, ultimately, is that literature is essential for all of these things--because imagination is essential for thinking clearly, feeling sensitively, and living the good life. And imagination, Frye insists, is trained primarily by literature (although he also says that studying the other arts and learning languages are the two essential ancillary pursuits).

Why exactly is imagination essential? Because, Frye says (echoing Chesterton and Lewis and so many others), only through exercising imagination can we get over ourselves, see through others' eyes, invent things, realize ideals, and truly be free. We have to exercise imagination in order to empathize with the people we are called to serve. Only through imagination can we really see another's perspective. Imagination leads scientists to their hypotheses as well as poets to their imagery. Imagination gives us the ability to aim for a political, social, or educational ideal that is not currently happening in front of our immediate senses. And imagination helps us take what is happening in front of us and apply it in other situations and areas of our lives. [Some of these examples are my own applications of Frye's observations.]

And how does literature train our imagination? By exercising it, teaching it categories with which to understand the world, and giving it vastly broader experiences than any person in real life can hope to attain. "No matter how much experience we may gather in life, we can never in life get the dimension of experience that the imagination gives to us. Only the arts and sciences can do that, and of these, only literature gives us the sweep and range of human imagination as it sees itself."

Frye ends by saying that "the art of listening to stories" is the most important element of educating the imagination. Teachers who wish to train their students' imaginations well (and, he adds, you will either be training them to have good imaginations or bad ones--there is no neutral ground) will firstly make sure that their students know the whole narrative of the Bible thoroughly. Secondly, students must learn Greek and Roman mythology.

Although Frye says much about how imagination is needed to love one's neighbor, he does not make the final connection to the imagination's relationship to loving God. My chief disappointment with this book is Frye's silence regarding imagination's vital position in faith. In my own life, imagination plays its most critical role as at least a part of "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen," and I closed the book wishing that Frye had applied his brilliant insights to this area of imagination as well.

(less)

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Apr 06, 2012 Beth Dillon rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book took me back to high school with it's discussions of literature, allusions, irony and rhetoric. It's been a long time so I liked revisiting that, but at the same time there was a lot of theory which took more effort to get through (not that it was bad - it's just been a while). Some interesting points about the role imagination has in our society (or the society of 1962 when the talks took place) and how literature exists within our world of human constructs. There were some great take...more

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Apr 14, 2010 Tee Jay rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, literary-theory, i-will-reread, favorites

I really enjoy Northrop Frye, and I really enjoyed this title. I find the whole notion of mythology and archetypes in literature (and life in general) utterly fascinating and he covers a whole spectrum of ideas in this short book. I really dig the notion that Western Culture is like a palimpsest, with incomplete & leftover messages hidden underneath the newest communication.
I will definitely be re-reading for a long time to come.

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Oct 16, 2012 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars

Ok i only didnt love it because it was a series of difficult to read essays. However Northrop Frye is an amazing thinker and his work in this book is useful in understanding what literature is.
In the essays Frye talks about language, literature, the language of literature and archetypes.

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Jun 03, 2013 Anita rated it 5 of 5 stars

If I had to recommend one book to anyone who wanted to understand more about the history, the significance, and the most important concepts of literature, especially English literature, then it definitely would be The Educated Imagination. It is a difficult read, however.

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Jan 30, 2013 LC Reale rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013-winter

I truly believe that anyone with the want to understand literature, especially academically, should read this book. Frankly, it should be the first thing you read in any first year literature class. This book is short, and a quick read, but the depths to which it takes you are incredible. For the hour it would take you to read, the lasting impression you take away from this book is something you will not regret. Also, if you ever need to answer the question "What is the point of studying literat...more

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Jan 04, 2012 Brenden Link rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: literary-criticism

This is a short book and therefore a good introduction to some of Frye's ideas. However, since it is largely a conversion of certain radio lectures, the book feels quite lacking in supporting explanation and elaboration. I would recommend one of his larger works.

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Aug 29, 2013 Yair Koas rated it 5 of 5 stars

An incredible book which offers lots of insight into the imagination, society, literature, and language. It is however a very difficult book to read and comprehend, and took me many days of rereading parts and highlighting for me to understand it.

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Aug 08, 2011 Lindsay added it · review of another edition

A fantastic and insightful work that should be read by anyone that reads or creates any form of art. Very simple to read, but what Frye has to say will open the imagination and force you to look at all entertainment in a new light.

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Aug 29, 2013 Blair rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: essays-etc, non-fiction, philosophy

This book is much less outdated than you might expect. It deals with the intersection(s) of literature and other cultural phenomena, such as politics. It's a very instructive read from one of Canada's oft-overlooked writers.

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Oct 12, 2012 Tim Weakley rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 50-book-challenge-2012, e-books

An exercise in explaining not only what literature should do for you, but what you should look for as reader. I found these lectures to be a great exercise in thinking. The Canadian point of view added into the experience for me as well.

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Apr 21, 2011 Moktoklee rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Everyone who reads one piece of Fry's work seemed to only have looked at this. I don't blame them, it's a pistol alright. But I can't help but think that people only read it to make themselves feel like their opinions matter in anything and they usually don't. I'm not saying mine does, I'm just consciously aware of my own my own meaninglessness.
But yeah the book. I started reading it to get some quotes to get into a program focused around Northrop Frye's theories and I just had to come back to i...more

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Jun 09, 2009 Peter added it

This is a lucid argument for teaching literature. I like Frye. I always learn a lot reading him. But I don't quite fall into step with him. He believes in self more than selflessness.

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May 27, 2012 Shishir rated it 4 of 5 stars

Excellent explanation of creative thought process and power of imagination
Role of literature as an art form – ignites imagination.

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Mar 06, 2011 Jon Shaw rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An excellent Primer to Northrop Frye's ideas. But his mastery of Rhetoric makes me wonder at how smoothly he leads the reader into some fairly heretical ideas.

All in all I'm with him though, much more s than with Marshal McLuhan.

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Aug 05, 2010 Abbi Dion added it

i love books like this. condensed knowledge that elicits the sensation of real experience.

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Jun 27, 2010 Coral Rose rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"[Y:]ou learn to think better from linguistic conflict, from councing one language off another."

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Dec 10, 2010 g026r rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, non-fiction

Eloquent, witty, and worth reading, but at the same time woefully dated in some of his ideas and references. (How, these days, is going to get a Gherman Titov reference, for instance?)

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Nov 28, 2009 Adam Ross rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: literary-study

Frye is equal parts brilliance and silliness, and should be read with Christian discernment. Nevertheless, there is some great stuff in this book, for instance, his insistence that every schoolchild be educated in Scripture as the foundation for all literary understanding. Although his reasons are not particularly faithful (but rather literary), the Christian can applaud the sentiment regardless.

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Sep 03, 2012 Tom rated it 4 of 5 stars

Northrop Frye's Massey lectures of 1963.

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Feb 09, 2009 Mo added it

great book read it for english

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Jan 23, 2013 Lisa Grace rated it 4 of 5 stars

I feel like this book affirmed a lot of things people already practice with literary criticism, but also challenged some of my current beliefs about the subject. A very fast read with intriguing insights and metaphors.

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Nov 04, 2011 Jamie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: for-class

reading this for english class...

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Sep 07, 2008 Jean rated it 5 of 5 stars

The clearest, most engaging, most wonderful explanation of the value, joy, and power of literature I have ever read. I first read it in college and have come back to it so often since then that my copy is falling apart. If you love to read, if you hate to read, if you are a teacher or a parent or just a human being, read this book. An absolute gem.

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About Northrop Frye

Born in Quebec but raised in New Brunswick, Frye studied at the University of Toronto and Victoria University. He was ordained to the ministry of the United Church of Canada and studied at Oxford before returning to UofT.

His first book, Fearful Symmetry, was published in 1947 to international acclaim. Until then, the prophetic poetry of William Blake had long been poorly understood, considered by...more

More about Northrop Frye...

Books by Northrop Frye

Fearful Symmetry: A Study of William Blake

The Great Code: The Bible and Literature

The Secular Scripture: A Study of the Structure of Romance

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Quotes from The Educated Imagination

“Nobody is capable of of free speech unless he knows how to use language, and such knowledge is not a gift: it has to learned and worked at. [p.93]” — 16 people liked it

“Literature as a whole is not an aggregate of exhibits with red and blue ribbons attached to them, like a cat-show, but the range of articulate human imagination as it extends from the height of imaginative heaven to the depth of imaginative hell.” — 15 people liked it

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