Matthew Arnold, Study of Poetry: Summary and Analysis, Victorian Criticism

Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) was a Victorian poet, critic and essayist of English literature. Coruscating the genius of Arnold, Garrod rightly said:

“If he is not the greatest of critics, his make of being so is in itself

 a piece of greatness, and not to enjoy is a piece of stupidity.”

Matthew Arnold is the most imposing figure in English criticism. His critical views are more “compelling alive”, more thought provoking than that of any other critic. Arnold’s major contribution to English criticism is found in his following critical works:

1.      Essays in Criticism in (1865)

2.      Culture and Anarchy (1869)

ARNOLD AS A THEORETICAL & PRACTICAL CRITIC:

Among all Arnold’s critical essays, his ‘Study of Poetry’ attained a unique place. It is a nice mixture of theoretical and practical criticism. On the practical level, Arnold examines the poetry of Chaucer, Dryden, Pope, Gray and Robert Burns. On the theoretical level, he expounds his principles of literary criticism and his theory of poetry. ‘The Study of Poetry’ contains Arnold’s views on the future destiny of poetry, his definition of literature as “criticism of life”, his comments on the functions and qualifications of critic and his famous TOUCHSTONE THEORY.

HIGH DESTINY OF POETRY:

Arnold has a high conception regarding “immense future” of poetry. He writes:

“It is in poetry where it is worthy of its high destinies, our race, 

as time goes on, will find an ever surer and surer stay.”

According to him, poetry interprets life for us, consoles us and sustains us in good and bad times. He believes that with the passage of time, poetry will replace science and philosophy as they are dependent on reasoning, which are nothing but “false shows of knowledge” Poetry with such a high destiny must be of the highest standard. He again affirms:

“The spirit of our race will find … as time goes on and 

as other help fail, its consolation and stay.”

In this way, the above statement shows Arnold’s faith in the power of poetry and its high destiny.

POETRY AS CRITICISM OF LIFE:

Arnold says that true poetry is the criticism of life. He explains it as “the noble and profound application of ideas of life” and “laws of poetic truth and poetic beauty.” Arnold believes that poetry does not present life as it is, rather the poet adds something from his own noble nature and this ‘something’ contribution to his criticism of life. Poetry makes men moral, better and nobler, but it doesn’t do this through direct teaching. It makes men nobler by appealing the soul of men. The poet creates “a thing of beauty” and so “a joy forever”. However, it must also be remembered that Arnold is against direct moral teaching. He regards didactic poetry as the lowest kind of poetry.

SUBJECT MATTER& STYLE FOR POETRY:

Arnold seems to be a classicist when he says that the subject matter of poetry must come from the ancients. He advises the choice of ancient subjects which were taken up by the classical poets like Homer and other Greek masters. He believed that great actions and ideas must be expressed powerfully and delightfully to appeal the human soul. He writes:

“Poets should choose actions that please always and please 

all. … The subjects that appeal all elementary feelings 

which are independent of time are the fittest subjects for poetry.”

Great action and thoughts need grand style. Here too, Arnold goes back to the classical Greek masters. He advocates the use of grand style as employed by the great ancient poets.

ARNOLD’S VIEWS ON TRUE CRITICISM:

Poetry, according to Arnold, is criticism of life, contains noble ideas and appeals to the soul of man. But the question arises, “How does a critic recognize the features of high poetry?” For this, he says that the critic should read and appreciate poetry by real estimate. Arnold asks the critics to keep away from historical and personal estimates. He advises the critics to employ real estimates and find out the noble ideas and permanent beauty in poetry. A true critic looks for “a high quality of poetry.” It is in these ideas of criticism that we find Arnold as a link between the traditional and modern criticism.

Arnold advocates for objectivity and “disinterestedness” in criticism. It means freedom from the prejudices and maintains balance. Tolerance, dispassionateness and balance are the special attributes of an idea critic. Intellectual honesty and sincerity make takes criticism towards real estimate of poetry.

TOUCHSTONE THEORY:

To distinguish high poetry from the low poetry, Arnold prescribes his well-known ‘Touchstone Theory’. He writes:

“There can be no more useful help for discovering what 

poetry belongs to the class of the truly excellent; than to have

 always in one’s mind the lines and expressions of the great

 masters, and to apply them a touchstone to other poetry.”

Picking up random lines from Homer, Dante, Shakespeare and Milton, Arnold applies them as touchstones to judge the work of a poet. Indeed, his theory poetry can be understood as a counterblast to Romantic individualism and subjectivity. He seems to respect the classical poets and hence goes against the romantic criticism.

CONCLUSION:

In nutshell, we may say that Matthew Arnold was a true classicist in his emphasis on high serious thoughts and actions, in his re-affirmation of imitating the great Greek masters like Homer and others and in his insistence on the use of grand style. But at the same time, we must also say that Arnold was a modern critic in his emphasis on “real estimate” of poetry. He indeed heralds an era of new criticism when he asks the critics to keep away from historical and personal fallacies and asks them to focus entirely on the text.

Arnold’s criticism was of such value that he was venerated and respected like Aristotle in his times and also in the times that followed. After him, for years, the cry was, “Arnold has said so.”

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