Matthew Arnold in 50 Bullet Points | Exam-Oriented Notes for PGT English

 

1. Matthew Arnold was a major Victorian poet and critic.

2. He was born on 24 December 1822 in Laleham.
3. He was the son of Thomas Arnold.
4. Arnold studied at Rugby School.
5. He later studied at Balliol College, Oxford.
6. Arnold worked as a School Inspector for many years.
7. He is famous both as a poet and a literary critic.
8. Arnold is a representative Victorian thinker.
9. His poetry reflects sadness and spiritual crisis.
10. He expressed the Victorian “loss of faith.”
11. His famous poem is Dover Beach.
12. “Dover Beach” shows the retreat of religious faith.
13. Arnold wrote the poem The Scholar-Gipsy.
14. It presents the theme of escape from modern life.

15. Thyrsis is an elegy on Arthur Clough.

16. Arnold admired classical Greek literature.
17. He believed in “classic calm” and balance.
18. Arnold’s poetry is meditative and reflective.
19. He avoided excessive emotion in poetry.
20. Arnold emphasized moral seriousness in literature.
21. His critical work Essays in Criticism is important.
22. In it, he defined criticism as a disinterested endeavor.
23. Arnold proposed the idea of “Touchstone Method.”
24. The Touchstone Method compares passages with great works.
25. His famous essay The Study of Poetry explains this method.
26. Arnold believed poetry should replace religion.
27. He stressed “high seriousness” as a quality of poetry.
28. His prose work Culture and Anarchy is significant.
29. In it, he defines culture as pursuit of perfection.
30. He divided society into Barbarians, Philistines, and Populace.
31. Arnold advocated sweet reasonableness.
32. He criticized materialism of Victorian society.
33. Arnold valued discipline and order.
34. He supported educational reforms.
35. Arnold’s style is clear and dignified.
36. He influenced modern literary criticism.
37. Arnold was Professor of Poetry at Oxford.
38. He believed literature should teach and delight.
39. His poetry often deals with loneliness.
40. Nature appears as a soothing element in his poems.
41. Arnold’s works show conflict between science and religion.
42. He admired William Wordsworth.
43. Arnold preferred classical restraint over Romantic passion.
44. He died on 15 April 1888.
45. Arnold is buried in Laleham.
46. He is regarded as the father of modern English criticism.
47. His ideas are important for understanding Victorian literature.
48. Arnold visited Switzerland in 1848 and fell in love with a French girl Marguerite.
49. In June 1851 he married France Lucy Wightman.
50. In 1847, he became Private Secretary to Lord Lonsdale.