Matthew Arnold: Victorian Critic, Literature, and Society
Matthew Arnold: The Critic’s Critic
Matthew Arnold (1822-1888), the Victorian poet and critic, was ‘the first modern critic’ and could be called ‘the critic’s critic’, being a champion not only of great poetry, but of literary criticism itself. The purpose of literary criticism, in his view, was ‘to know the best that is known and thought in the world, and by in its turn making this known, to create a current of true and fresh ideas’. He influenced a whole school of critics including new critics such as T. S. Eliot, Leavis, and Allen Tate. He was the founder of the sociological school of criticism, and through his touchstone method introduced scientific objectivity to critical evaluation by providing comparison and analysis as the two primary tools of criticism.
Victorianism (1840-1880): A Period of Transition
Victorianism 1840-1880 was a period of doubts, great changes, and hesitation. It was a period of great movement, connecting the old world with the new, the ancient regime with modernity. It marked a transition to the modernity of the 20th century.
Growth of Literacy
Large numbers of the population became literate in English. In 1807, a bill providing universal education was defeated by the British parliament because the Napoleonic Wars introduced revolutionary ideas, and the British parliament did not want English people to read these ideas. In 1877, the bill was passed.
Weakening of Religious Dogma
The religious dogma was weakened by the advance of science. Darwin proposed the evolutionary theory, suggesting that humans evolved from primates and not a direct creation of God.
Decline of Classical Education
Interest in learning Greek and Latin waned. Matthew Arnold used the increase in the knowledge of English, which increased the sense of belonging in English society, to create an intellectual class not based on classical literature, but on English literature. Poetry was called upon to replace these weakening subjects to reinforce the sense of English unity.
Matthew Arnold’s Observations on Education
Matthew Arnold had first-hand experience with the problems of public education. He went through different schools, studying and observing the current education. He noticed two key issues:
- The religious dogma was disappearing.
- Classical education was diminishing.
As a result of this research, he concluded that the glue/basis of society (religion/classical education) was disappearing. He proposed in his writings to found British society on a different basis: English literature. Since people were learning to read and write quickly, he wanted to provide them with modern English literature (because classical literature was in Latin and Greek), especially poetry.
Poor Men’s Classics
Working-class men learned about literature in Sunday school. Since they worked long hours during the week, they were unlikely to learn about Plato or Sophocles. Instead, they were taught modern English literature.