Hugh MacLennan

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Hugh MacLennan, CQ, (March 20, 1907 – November 9, 1990) was a Can author and professor of English at McGill University.

He has been rewarded five Governor General's Awards and a Royal Bank Award.

Education

MacLennan and his sister were pushed very hard by their father to spend long hours learning the classics. Although this was difficult for Frances, who had no interest in Greek, Hugh continued to love this field of research. Hugh's father had a dream academic career, and then continued his studies in England; he loved the classical study at Dalhousie University, received a Rhodes Scholarship, and then continued his studies in England.

He discovered while visiting Dalhousie that his inner desire was to pursue an artistic career, as well as the influence of his creative mother. He had trouble balancing his obsession with Greek and Latin studies with his artistic instincts at Oxford. MacLennan spent a lot of time at his classics courses in his first year at the University's Oriel College, but was only able to achieve second-class distinctions. He had resigned himself to such achievements by his second year, and although still working hard, he did not want to overwork himself as before. In his fourth year, he was finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate on his studies, and he spent more time at tennis and writing poetry. There are hints in letters from his family back in the days that he aspired to be a good writer. MacLennan sent a sample of his poetry to three publishers, including John Lane and Elkin Mathews, but it was rejected in late 1931.

MacLennan's four years in Oxford afforded him the opportunity to travel throughout Europe, and he visited destinations such as Switzerland, France, Greece, and Italy. He spent some of his holidays in Germany with a family, which gave him a good deal of German. MacLennan's travels and exposure to a variety of political theories prompted him to question his father's puritanical, conservative views, which he had taken for granted until then.

MacLennan received a $400 scholarship to continue his studies at Princeton University, but despite his growing desire to study the classics, he decided to go there. Parts of appease his father, but there were also jobs available as a result of the Great Depression. When heading home from England in June 1932, he met American Dorothy Duncan, his future wife. He had to reconsider Princeton after falling in love with her. For one thing, his father insisted that he not get married before becoming financially secure, which would mean delaying marriage at least until his graduation. In addition, MacLennan was already worried about having to accept money from his father for a portion of his Princeton studies that would not be covered by his scholarship. However, his applications were turned down from both of the Canadian universities where he was applying to had classics department openings; thus, he grudgingly agreed to go to Princeton after all.

He had a rough three years at Princeton University. The style of classical research at Oxford was quite different from that used to studying classical texts and sources, with Princeton's scholarship "consist[ing] of remarkably detailed descriptions of classical texts and sources—thorough, but unoriginal." He began to rebel against his father's ideals by stopping going to church and putting more faith into his writing at the expense of his studies; moreover, despite the fact that her father did not approve of her American, Lowland Scottish, Christian Science, business-world background, he continued his friendship with Dorothy even though he knew his father would not accept her father's. MacLennan was also influenced by Marxism during this period.

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