Oxford University is the setting for numerous works of fiction. Quickly becoming part of the cultural imagination, Oxford was mentioned in fiction as early as 1400 when Chaucer in his Canterbury Tales referred to a "Clerk [student] of Oxenford": "For him was levere have at his beddes heed/ Twenty bookes, clad in blak or reed,/ of Aristotle and his philosophie/ Than robes riche, or fithele, or gay sautrie". As of 1989, more than 533 Oxford-based novels had been identified, and the number continues to rise.^{[citation needed]} Literary works include: Chaucer: Illustration from Cassells History of England, circa 1902 Chanticleer the rooster from an outdoor production of Chanticleer and the Fox at Ashby_de_la_Zouch castle Geoffrey Chaucer (ca. ... Canterbury Tales Woodcut 1484 The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century (two of them in prose, the rest in verse). ...

• Gaudy Night, a Lord Peter Wimsey mystery by Dorothy L. Sayers (who was herself a graduate of Somerville).
• Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh.
• A Staircase in Surrey, a quintet of novels by J. I. M. Stewart.
• A series of whodunnits by Veronica Stallwood, including Oxford Blue, Oxford Exit, etc.
• The His Dark Materials trilogy of Philip Pullman (alternative reality)
• The Inspector Morse series by Colin Dexter is set in Oxford and frequently refers to the University (although most of the college names are fictional).
• An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears
• Where the Rivers Meet, a trilogy of novels by John Wain
• Tom Brown at Oxford, by Thomas Hughes
• Zuleika Dobson, by Max Beerbohm
• Jill, by Philip Larkin
• Doomsday Book, To Say Nothing of the Dog, and the short story Firewatch, by Connie Willis
• Accident, by Nicholas Mosley; the novel served as the basis for the film of the same name, which is mentioned below

Fictional universities based on Oxford include Terry Pratchett's Unseen University and "Christminster" in Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure. Gaudy Night is a 1935 Lord Peter Wimsey detective story by Dorothy L. Sayers. ... Early paperback edition cover of Murder Must Advertise Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey is a fictional character in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers, in which he solves mysteries — usually murder mysteries. ... Dorothy Leigh Sayers (Oxford, 13 June 1893 – Witham, 17 December 1957) was a renowned British author, translator, student of classical and modern languages, and Christian humanist. ... Full name Somerville College Motto Donec rursus impleat orbem Named after Mary Somerville Previous Names Somerville Hall Established 1879 Sister College Girton College Principal Dame Fiona Caldicott JCR President Simon Bruegger MCR President Allen Middlebro Location Woodstock Road, Oxford Undergraduates 396 Graduates 88 Homepage Boat Club Somerville College is one... Brideshead Revisited, The Sacred & Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder is a novel by the English writer Evelyn Waugh, first published in 1945. ... Evelyn Waugh, as photographed in 1940 by Carl Van Vechten Arthur Evelyn St. ... A Staircase in Surrey is a sequence of five novels by Scottish novelist and academic J. I. M. Stewart (1906–1994), and published between 1974 and 1978. ... John Innes Mackintosh Stewart (September 30, 1906 Edinburgh–November 12, 1994 Coulsdon) was a Scottish novelist and academic. ... A whodunit or whodunnit (for Who done it? and sometimes referred to as a Golden Age Mystery novel) is a complex, plot-driven variety of the detective story in which the puzzle is paramount. ... Veronica Stallwood was born in London. ... The trilogy (U.K versions), in order of succession from left to right. ... Philip Pullman CBE (born October 19, 1946) is a British writer. ... Morse (left) as played by John Thaw in the television adaption (with Kevin Whately as Lewis (right)). Detective Chief Inspector Morse is a fictional character, who features in a series of thirteen detective novels by British author Colin Dexter, though he is better known for the 33 episode TV series... Norman Colin Dexter, OBE, (born 29 September 1930 in Stamford, Lincolnshire) is the English author of the Inspector Morse novels. ... An Instance of the Fingerport is a 1997 novel by Iain Pears. ... Iain Pears (born in 1955) is an English mystery writer. ... John Wain (born John Barrington Wain, March 14, 1925 - May 24, 1994) was an English poet, novelist, and critic, associated with the literary group The Movement. ... Tom Brown at Oxford is a novel by Thomas Hughes, first published in 1861. ... A statue of Thomas Hughes at Rugby School Thomas Hughes (October 20, 1822 – March 22, 1896) was an English lawyer and author. ... Zuleika Dobson is a 1911 novel by Max Beerbohm, a satire of undergraduate life at Oxford. ... Max Beerbohm by William Rothenstein, 1893 Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm (August 24, 1872 - May 20, 1956) was an English parodist and caricaturist. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... Philip Arthur Larkin, CH, CBE, FRSL, (9 August 1922 – 2 December 1985) was an English poet, novelist and jazz critic. ... Later edition paperback. ... To Say Nothing of the Dog is a 1997 comedic science fiction novel by Connie Willis. ... Connie Willis at Clarion West, 1998 Constance Elaine Trimmer Willis (born 31 December 1945) is an American science fiction writer. ... The Right Honourable Nicholas Mosley, 3rd Baron Ravensdale (born June 25, 1923) is a British novelist. ... Terence David John Pratchett, OBE (born 28 April 1948) is a British fantasy and science fiction author, best known for his Discworld series. ... Unseen University (UU) is a school of wizardry in the fictional Discworld city of Ankh-Morpork, staffed by a faculty composed of mostly indolent and inept old wizards. ... Thomas Hardy redirects here. ... Jude the Obscure is the last of Thomas Hardys novels, begun as a magazine serial and first published in book form in 1895. ...

For a list of fictional colleges of the University of Oxford, see List of fictional Oxford colleges. A list of some of the fictional colleges of the University of Oxford. ...

Many poets have also been inspired by the University:

• The Oxford Sausage was an anthology published in 1764 and edited by Thomas Warton. The Glamour of Oxford (1911) is a collection of verse and prose edited by William Angus Knight, and another anthology — Seccombe and Scott's In Praise of Oxford (1912) — spans two volumes. More recent compilations include Oxford and Oxfordshire in Verse (1983) and Oxford in Verse (1999) (see 'Further Reading').
• 'Duns Scotus' Oxford' is one of Gerard Manley Hopkins' better-known poems.

Films set in the University include: ANThology is the first major label album by Alien Ant Farm released on March 6, 2001 in the USA and March 19, 2001 in the UK. // Their first single, Smooth Criminal, was a cover of Michael Jacksons song Smooth Criminal, which started to bring popularity to the band. ... Thomas Warton, the Younger Thomas Warton (January 9, 1728 – May 21, 1790) was an English literary historian and critic, as well as a poet. ... William Angus Knight (1836-1916) was a British writer, born at Modrington, Scotland, and educated at the University of Edinburgh. ... The Best ideal is the true/ And other truth is none. ...

• A Yank at Oxford (1938), starring Robert Taylor and Vivien Leigh
• A Chump at Oxford (1940) starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
• Accident (movie) (1967), film about an Oxford don, co-written by Harold Pinter
• May Morning (1970), a critique of social mores in early 1970s Oxford
• Incense for the Damned (1972), starring Peter Cushing, Patrick Macnee and Edward Woodward (based on the novel Doctors Wear Scarlet by Simon Raven)
• Brideshead Revisited (1981), based on Waugh's novel; a mini-series enormously popular in Britain and America, the film has sometimes been seen as drawing unwanted attention to Oxford's stereotypical reputation as a playground of the upper classes. It stars Jeremy Irons, and most college shots are of Christ Church and Hertford.
• Oxford Blues (1984), starring Rob Lowe, Ally Sheedy and Amanda Pays
• American Friends (1991), starring Michael Palin
• Shadowlands (1993), starring Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger, about the life of C. S. Lewis
• The Madness of King George (1994), with Nigel Hawthorne
• Tom & Viv (1994), a film which explores the troubled relationship between T. S. Eliot (played by Willem Dafoe) and his mentally ill wife Vivienne Haigh-Wood (Miranda Richardson)
• True Blue (1996), about the mutiny at the time of the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race of 1987
• Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), a James Bond sequel starring Pierce Brosnan (Bond returns to Oxford to brush up on his Danish.)
• The Saint (1997), film starring Val Kilmer as the sleuth Simon Templar
• Wilde (1997), film about the outlandish playwright starring Stephen Fry, Jude Law and Vanessa Redgrave
• The Red Violin (1998), the violin arrives in Oxford after being given to an English lord
• Iris (2001), starring Judi Dench, Jim Broadbent and Kate Winslet, about the life of Iris Murdoch
• National Lampoon's Van Wilder 2: Rise of Taj (2006), under the name of "Camford"
• What A Girl Wants (2003), movie about a vivacious teenager called Daphne who goes to visit her father in London, only to learn he is a lord. In the end she attends The University of Oxford just like her father.
• The Oxford Murders (film) (2007) starring Elijah Wood and John Hurt.
• Blue Blood (film) (2007)
• Golden Compass (film) (2007)

This list does not include movies in which university buildings appeared as a backdrop but were not depicted as the University of Oxford, such as the Harry Potter movies and the earlier Young Sherlock Holmes. A Yank at Oxford is a 1938 film drama produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. ... Robert Taylor (August 5, 1911 – June 8, 1969), was an American actor. ... Vivien Leigh, Lady Olivier (November 5, 1913 – July 8, 1967) was a two-time Academy Award winning English actress. ... A Chump at Oxford, directed by Alfred Goulding and released in 1940 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, was the penultimate Laurel and Hardy film made at the Hal Roach studios. ... Stan Laurel (born Arthur Stanley Jefferson; 16 June 1890 – 23 February 1965) was an English comic actor, writer and director, famous as part of the comedy double act Laurel and Hardy, whose career stretched from the silent films of the early 20th Century until post-World War II. // Stan Laurel... Oliver Hardy (born Norvell Hardy; January 18, 1892 – August 7, 1957) was an American actor, most remembered for his role in one of the worlds most famous double acts, Laurel and Hardy, with his friend Stan Laurel. ... Accident is a 1967 drama film based on a novel by Nicholas Mosley and directed by Joseph Losey with a script by Harold Pinter. ... Harold Pinter, CH, CBE (born 10 October 1930) is an English playwright, screenwriter, poet, actor, director, author, and political activist. ... Mores are strongly held norms or customs. ... Peter Wilton Cushing, OBE, (26 May 1913-11 August 1994) was an English actor, known for his many appearances in Hammer Films, in which he played Baron Frankenstein and Dr. Van Helsing, amongst many other roles, often appearing opposite his close friend Christopher Lee. ... Patrick Macnee (born Daniel Patrick Macnee on February 6, 1922 in London) is an English born American actor. ... Edward Albert Arthur Woodward (born June 1, 1930 Croydon, Surrey) is an English stage, film and television actor and singer. ... Simon Arthur Noël Raven, (December 28, 1927 – May 12, 2001), was a novelist, journalist and dramatist. ... Brideshead Revisited, The Sacred & Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder is a novel by the English writer Evelyn Waugh, first published in 1945. ... Evelyn Waugh, as photographed in 1940 by Carl Van Vechten Arthur Evelyn St. ... A miniseries (sometimes mini-series), in a serial storytelling medium, is a production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. ... Social class refers to the hierarchical distinctions between individuals or groups in societies or cultures. ... Jeremy John Irons (born September 19, 1948) is an Academy Award, Tony Award, Screen Actors Guild, two-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award-winning English film, television and stage actor. ... Christ Church (in full: The Cathedral Church of Christ in Oxford of the Foundation of King Henry VIII) is one of the largest and wealthiest of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. ... Hertford College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. ... Oxford Blues is a 1984 film. ... For other persons named Robert Lowe, see Robert Lowe (disambiguation). ... Alexandra Elizabeth Sheedy (born June 13, 1962) is an American screen and stage actress, possibly best known for her roles in the Brat Pack films The Breakfast Club and St. ... Amanda Pays (born on 6 June 1959 in London, England) is an English actress. ... American Friends is a comic film, released in 1991, starring Michael Palin. ... Michael Edward Palin, CBE (born 5 May 1943) is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries. ... Shadowlands is a play, TV drama and film written by William Nicholson. ... For the composer, see Antony Hopkins. ... Debra Winger (born May 16, 1955) is an Academy Award- nominated American actress. ... Clive Staples Jack Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963), commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis, was an Irish author and scholar. ... The Madness of King George is a 1994 film which tells the story of King George III of the United Kingdoms deteriorating mental health, and the equally declining relationship between him and his son, the Prince of Wales. ... Sir Nigel Hawthorne, CBE (5 April 1929 – 26 December 2001) was a renowned English actor. ... Tom & Viv is a 1994 film which tells the story of the true-life relationship between T. S. Eliot and Vivienne Haigh-Wood. ... For other persons named Thomas Eliot, see Thomas Eliot (disambiguation). ... William Dafoe, Jr. ... Miranda Jane Richardson (born 3 March 1958) is an Academy Award nominated English actress. ... True Blue (1996) is a film based on the book True Blue: Oxford Boat Race Mutiny. ... Boat Race Logo Exhausted crews at the finish of the 2002 Boat Race The Boat Race is a rowing race between the rowing clubs of the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. ... Tomorrow Never Dies, released in 1997, is the eighteenth spy film in the James Bond series, and the second to star Pierce Brosnan as MI6 agent James Bond. ... This article is about the spy series. ... Pierce Brendan Brosnan,The most gorgeous man on the planet OBE[1] (born May 16, 1953) is an Irish actor and producer best known for portraying James Bond in four films from 1995 to 2002: GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day. ... The Saint is a 1997 film based on the character of Simon Templar created by Leslie Charteris in 1928 for a series of books published as The Saint. Besides the book series which ran until 1983, the character was also featured in a series of Hollywood movies made between 1938... Val Edward Kilmer[1] (born December 31, 1959) is an American actor. ... Simon Templar is a fictional character known as The Saint in a long-running series of books by Leslie Charteris published between 1928 and 1963. ... Wilde is a 1997 movie about Oscar Wilde, starring Stephen Fry, Jude Law and Jennifer Ehle. ... Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English comedian, writer, actor, humourist, novelist, columnist, filmmaker and television personality. ... David Jude Law (born 29 December 1972) is an BAFTA Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated British actor. ... Vanessa Redgrave, CBE (born 30 January 1937) is an Academy Award winning English actress and member of the Redgrave family, one of the enduring theatrical dynasties. ... The Red Violin (French: Le Violon rouge, German: Die Rote Geige, Italian: Il Violino Rosso, Mandarin: 红提琴) is a Canadian film released on November 13, 1998 (in the USA on June 11, 1999). ... Iris is a 2001 film that tells the story of British novelist Iris Murdoch and her relationship with John Bayley. ... Dame Judith Olivia Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA, (born 9 December 1934), usually known as Dame Judi Dench, is an Academy Award, Golden Globe, Tony, three-time BAFTA, and six-time Laurence Olivier Award-winning English actress. ... James Broadbent (born May 24, 1949) is an Academy Award-winning English theatre, film and television actor. ... Kate Elizabeth Winslet (born October 5, 1975) is a five time Academy Award-nominated Emmy Award-nominated BAFTA, Grammy and Screen Actors Guild Award winning English actress. ... Dame Jean Iris Murdoch DBE (July 15, 1919 – February 8, 1999) was an Irish-born British writer and philosopher, best known for her novels, which combine rich characterization and compelling plotlines, usually involving ethical or sexual themes. ... For the novel, see The Oxford Murders. ... Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor. ... For the singer, see Mississippi John Hurt. ... Blue Blood is a documentary film to be released in the UK February 2007. ... The Harry Potter film series are the fantasy films based on the Harry Potter series of novels by British author J. K. Rowling. ... Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), directed by Barry Levinson and written by Chris Columbus, depicts a young Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson meeting and solving a mystery together at a boarding school. ...

Oxford University has also been in the media during animal rights protests held against the opening of a new research institute in the University's science area, and counter-protests in favour of animal testing.^[1][2]

See also

Literature in Oxford Title page from The Adventures of Mr Verdant Green by Cuthbert Bede. ...

References

1. ^ Laboratory protesters hold march. BBC Online (16 January 2006). Retrieved on 2007-11-04.
2. ^ Animal lab supporters go on march. BBC Online (25 February 2006). Retrieved on 2007-11-04.