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Matthew Arnold. Matthew Arnold Facts. Poem: Dover Beach Achieved fame as both a poet and critic Quiet tones and carefully shaped figures reflected his vision of Victorian Society Oxford Professor of Poetry Government inspector for poor schools for 35 years Feared intellectual anarchy.
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Matthew Arnold Facts • Poem: Dover Beach • Achieved fame as both a poet and critic • Quiet tones and carefully shaped figures reflected his vision of Victorian Society • Oxford Professor of Poetry • Government inspector for poor schools for 35 years • Feared intellectual anarchy
Dover Beach Analysis • Dover beach was written the year that Arnold was married. • The poem is written as an observation to his wife (some argue it is written to women as an observation from men) • The poem challenges moral and religious precepts that have shaken faith (a common theme in the Victorian Period).
Metaphor • Arnold gives the sea the power to change the world: • The sea can “draw back and fling” the pebbles and reach into eternity with “eternal notes of sadness.”
Thomas Hardy Facts • Poem: Ah, Are You Digging On My Grave • One of the principal novelists of the late-Victorian Britian • His home town (Dorsetshire) was the setting for many of his works • Became an apprentice to an architect at age 16 • Writing and poetry expresses his belief in a world governed by chance and natural laws that are not hostile but indifferent to what humans want and deserve
Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave? • Theme: “Out of Sight, Out of Mind” • A woman has died and is quickly forgotten as life goes on for the living. • Forgotten for a wealthier woman • Loneliness in death…emptiness
Irony • The irony in the poem is that not only has the woman been forgotten by her husband, she has also been forgotten by the dog “man’s best friend.”
George Eliot • Writing: A Mill on the Floss • Real Name: Mary Ann Evans • Kept her name a secret so her writings could be viewed as serious literature and receive fair criticism • Eliot’s novels show that a clever little girl’s problems only increase when she grows into a clever young woman. • Created talented heroines limited by circumstance and social propriety.
Mill On the Floss • A spicy fictional autobiography (based on the real life of Mary Evans) about a young woman who has an affair with a married man
Charlotte and Emily • Theme: Love that transcends even death • Minister’s daughters that shocked Victorian audiences with gothic evil and violence • Lived in the same home while producing two of the best known literary works • Stories limit women through social station and sex
Jane EyreWuthering Heights “I would always rather be happy than dignified.” Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre “He's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights
A. E. Housman “If a line of poetry strays into my memory, my skin bristles so that the razor ceases to act.” • Name: Alfred Edward Housman • Mother died on his 12th Birthday • At 16 he got a scholarship to Oxford • Skipped classes and failed final exams • Published papers on Greek and Latin Literature • Became a professor of Latin at London University
When I Was One-and-Twenty • Theme: Love Hurts • A young man gets advice from an older man about love and is told not to bank too much on it. • The young man foolishly learns that he should have listened to the advice!
