Abstract In this article, the writer analyses themes, symbols and images in Matthew Arnold's most famous poem, "Dover Beach." The writer discusses Arnold's sense of isolation, sadness and loneliness. The writer also looks at Arnold's pessimism and his belief that a loss of faith caused the hopelessness of his time.
From the Paper "In 'Dover Beach' Matthew Arnold introduces the dominant image in the first line of the poem 'the sea is calm tonight'. The sea is both a symbol and a metaphor referencing the eternal note of sadness as well as the Sea of Faith. The poem in essence reflects the religious philosophy and the loneliness and isolation that Arnold is said by critics including John S. Reist, to have experienced Arnold's belief that the human condition in his own era ... "
Abstract This paper explains that, on the surface, the subject matter and rhyme scheme of the poem "The Forsaken Merman" by Matthew Arnold appears very similar to Pre-Raphaelite poets of the past decade, but Arnold's poem illustrates contemporary concerns about shifting moral norms. The author points out that Arnold inverts the conventional, moral storytelling function of many nursery-rhyme poems designed for children into a story about a pagan hero, who is cruelly rebuffed by a mortal Christian woman for a religion, which ultimately affords her an unfulfilling and death-driven way of existence. The paper relates that Arnold emphasizes the superstitious component of religion in the poem's reference to religion in terms of bells and books rather than of Christ and eternal life, which might be considered the higher aspects of religion.
From the Paper "This cruelty of the Christian woman, who spurns the truest lover of the poem, should come as little surprise to persons familiar with the poet Matthew Arnold's own system of beliefs. Matthew Arnold was a professed agnostic. But according to the Victorian scholar David DeLaura, Arnold's attitude towards religion was more complex than this word might suggest. It was not simply that Arnold did not believe, in fact he did think there was a strong value to be found in religion and supported many of his religious friends, like John Henry Newman, an Anglican covert to Catholicism."
Abstract An analysis of Matthew Arnold's poem " Dover Beach". The author discusses the writer's use of symbolism and the effectiveness of the writer's style of alluding to other works.
From the paper:
"Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach" (Arnold 397) is a thirty-seven line, five-stanza poem first published in 1867. In "Dover Beach" the speaker looks out over the cliffs of Dover and laments about the sadness of humanity and humanity's loss of faith. I believe "Dover Beach" is a poem that uses allusion extensively and heavily draws on other works to fully explain the loss of faith that the speaker sees in the world."
Abstract Arnold, a young firebrand, clashed with the stolid, traditional Gates, even though the men were friends. Arnold's "rash, thoughtless" actions may have won the battle whose victory is often attributed wholly to Gates' maneuvers. The contrast between the two tactical styles points up a transition in American military culture from old European formalism to new guerrilla-style tactics, a result of both the character of America's forces, and the generals like Benedict Arnold who commanded them.
Abstract This paper discusses the ideas and works of poets, Augustus Toplay and Matthew Arnold. The paper contends that Toplay, like Arnold, believed that human life was empty and lonely without the presence of the divine and the striving of humanity to understand God and to integrate God into the daily life of humans. The paper examines Toplay's belief that judgment absent of pure democratic will must reign, but unlike Arnold, he was concerned that such a moral regime would be coherent theologically with what Toplay considered true, that is, traditional.
From the Paper "In Matthew Arnold's prose and poetry, such as his essay "Hebraism and Hellenism," and his patriotic poetic panegyric "Dover Beach," the Victorian intellectual literary critic Arnold stood as an apostle of Englishness, and all that was good about conservative, British values and the British value structure versus mob rule. However, despite this posturing, Arnold was also a devout exponent of the lack of value of the British Empire as an institution and exporter of Englishness. Arnold instead believed that British culture, rather than the British Empire, should be the dominant way that England communicated its schema of values to the world. "Dover Beach" is a melancholy meditation on the long "withdrawing roar" of the "Sea of Faith," in other words, that God has abandoned humanity, because humanity has abandoned God in its line of thought, and human life is empty without God and a seeking-after God as opposed to world riches, as is common when government obeys the populist will and whim towards empire building."
This paper focuses on the life of Benedict Arnold, a great revolutionary war general, who began as a hero, but ended up a traitor, and how the colonial loyalists came to view this man.
Abstract The author gives a detailed account on the life of Benedict Arnold, from the beginning of his career in 1775 to his sad and lonely death in 1801. The paper also explains how Arnold became one of America's most famous traitors and one of Britain's greatest heroes, while also examining how the colonial loyalists, also known as the Tories, and the British loyalists, felt about Arnold before and after his switch. The paper also hones in on those involved in aiding him in selling out his country, including John Andre and Beverly Robinson.
From the Paper "So how did he end up or how was it found out that he was a traitor? Well, he changed sides mainly for financial reasons. He married a Peggy Shippen, who was in dept, and stayed in dept. He also didn't help matters any with the social parties he had. So he decided he would profit from the ruin of America. He contacted Sir Henry Clinton and promised to give him West Point and its defenders for 20,000 sterling, which is the same thing as $1 million today. However his British contact, Major John Andre, was captured, and with him there was incriminating documents in Arnold's handwriting, including routes of access to the fort.
After this incident he became a hero for the other side, fighting as hard as he did for America. Again he was awarded brigadier general. Again he led many victories, but this time it was for the British."
Abstract Poets' conceptions of their roles in society can be fairly consistent for long periods of time or may change rapidly in a decade or two. The difference between the idea of a poet's function as conceived by the Romantic era and the Victorian period provides an example of significant change. The paper shows that not all the supposed members of any school of poetry share every aspect of the predominant theory of poetry in their generation. It shows that neither John Keats (1795-1821) nor Matthew Arnold (1822-88) is entirely typical of his era. But, especially because Arnold reacted against Keats--among others--in specific, articulated ways, a comparison of their ideas of their role as poets in this paper demonstrates how such changes take place and the effect they have on the poetry that is written.
From the Paper "The expression of his experience in the poems relied, therefore, on the intelligent apprehension of the beautiful but necessarily avoided the interference occasioned by philosophical rigor or conventional belief systems. Rather than acting as a scientist who catalogues experience or an overt expressionist who presents her/his feelings in all their immediacy and as an end in themselves, Keats valued the ability to go as deeply as possible into feeling and then to communicate and transform the experience with words that, rather than refining and limiting the experience, conveyed an accurate sense of the ambiguity as well as the nature of the experience. He desired, in other words, a meaningful description of what was conventionally indescribable while avoiding a vocabulary or style that would constrain the sense of feeling he wished to express. It was, in short, a poetry of sensation. His most famous formulation of this aspect of his poetic practice came in a letter written to his friend Benjamin Bailey in 1817."
Abstract This essay provides an analysis of Matthew Arnold's haunting poem "Dover Beach." It examines the way in which the internal structure and rhythm of the poem, literary devices such as anaphora, alliteration, and assonance, and the symbolic images of the land and sea interrelate. The overall result is a profoundly melancholy tone that mirrors Arnold's theme that darker currents of despair flow beneath even the most placid of facades.
From the Paper "Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach" (1851) centers on the image of the moonlit waters of the English Channel, an image that transcends its immediate physical setting to reflect broader themes of human struggle and private grief. In the mind of the poem's speaker, the ebb and flow of the tides come to symbolize much more than simply the pull of Diana's orb on Neptune's waters. The rhythm of the tides reflects the oscillation of the speaker's emotions, which range from peace and tranquility to passion and joy and finally to the overarching sentiments of melancholy and despair. The structure of the poem itself mirrors this ebb and flow of emotional currents, and its symbolic imagery builds throughout to culminate in the theme that for the speaker, all things bright and beautiful in this world merely belie darker currents of destruction, violence, chaos, and sorrow."
Abstract This paper describes the dilemmas which faced the Viennese composer as a modern, assimilated Jew. It then examines the image of Moses that Arnold Schoenberg created in his works on that theme. Specifically, the paper discusses how Schoenberg's Moses differs from the traditional or historical one and what can we conclude about the composer's Jewish identity on the basis of this comparison. Further, the paper discusses how this was Schoenberg's response to the Viennese public's racism and rejection with which he was confronted.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Dilemmas Faced By Arnold Schoenberg
Religious Works
Conclusion
From the Paper "These are questions which remained unanswered and could not be resolved by Schoenberg. What he did accomplish in this major grand testament, was to use the Bible to speak relevant lessons to his generation. The conflicts of the Torah are internalized and spiritualized. The mob takes on the role which the naive masses of uncomprehending Jews played in his world in Vienna, especially those who believed their future in Vienna to be secure. The mob opted for the tangible, yet fleeting, pleasures of Aaron over the sublime, yet intangible, ones that God offered to them through Moses. Similarly, the Jews in Vienna chose to believe in the efficacy of assimilation and a self-abnegation until, in many cases, it was too late."
An analysis of how Arnold, in "Dover Beach," illustrates not only his loss of personal faith, but also offers a vicarious vision of spiritual helplessness with which a great number of people during the 1800's could identify.
921 words (approx. 3.7 pages), 0 sources, 2000, $ 32.95
From the Paper "When looking into the poem ?Dover Beach,? by Matthew Arnold, one can choose not to see the great, white cliffs standing eerily silent in the moonlight, the ancient, icy waves approaching and retreating on the pebbled shore, and even the two figures gazing out the window at the boundless beauty of the scene. However, it is difficult to ignore the human theme of being swept about in the undertow of social change."
Abstract This paper examines and analyzes the style, form, and thematic vision of Matthew Arnold's poem ?Dover Beach.? as it relates to the struggles between the old order and the modern spirit in nineteenth century life.
From the Paper "The themes of "Dover Beach" are several. Above all, the poem laments the collapse of spirituality, religion, and long-standing traditions in the face of an uncertain and threatening modernity. Change of an unstoppable and uncontrollable form is approaching, and Arnold is longingly looking back at the faith-based world that is disappearing. ?
Tags:arnold, beach, dover, matthew, poetry, Victorian, poem, modern
Abstract This paper focuses on the life and accomplishments of humanist Anna Arnold Hedgeman. Details about her achievements as a mentor and civil rights leader are provided. The main idea of the paper focuses on race relations among African-Americans and the civil rights movement.
From the Paper "Anna Arnold Hedgeman was born on July 5, 1899, in Marshalltown, Iowa. She was one of five children born, her father being a son of slaves. Hedgeman was well educated, for she attended high school in St. Paul, Minnesota, and later received a degree in English from the Methodist college of Hamline University. Growing up, Hedgeman became a very articulate, outspoken person. Throughout college, she grew very interested in the social injustices and racial inequality of African-Americans. In the ensuing decades of her life, Hedgeman devoted all of her time and energy to assisting many organizations and administrations that were intent on fighting for the rights of workers and for the better welfare of humanity. She acted as a teacher, consultant, and lecturer to these various groups, and eventually she owned her own consulting firm, Hedgeman Consulting Services. The focus of this paper will be to show how Anna Arnold Hedgeman's concern for national and global equality led to her eventual involvement in the Civil Rights Movement and the March on Washington."
Tags: african, amerian, blacks, whites, discrimination, equality, race, studies, law
Abstract This paper is an in-depth analysis of Arnold's Hellenism and Hebraism whereby the two philosophies are compared. The author concludes that it is equally important to strive to know beauty (Hellenism) as to endeavor to be virtuous and moral (Hebraism), as long as one can achieve a balance of the two.
From the Paper "Lifestyles in England during the reign of Queen Victoria exhibited conflicting philosophical viewpoints. The success of imperialism had contributed to the wealth, decadence, and frivolity of many upper class citizens. This lifestyle exhibited an excess of what Matthew Arnold, in his book Culture and Anarchy, terms Hellenism. Yet there were also those who condemned this existence based on sensuality and aesthetics, going so far as to say that any entertainment was sinful. These people proposed that the ultimate ideal is a life spent solely in pursuit of piety and righteousness. This belief, most apparent in the Puritan doctrine, is what Arnold calls Hebraism."
Abstract The author states the late Victorian period in England was a unique time in that country's literary history. Both literature and the political culture supported one another by different notions of England's future. Matthew Arnold addressed directly issues of the purpose of English culture and the English nation.
From the Paper "Matthew Arnold was a conservative writer in the sense that he was not egalitarian. He feared an intrusion of "vulgarity" into the culture and of ?Philistine populism.? (Wilson xvii; xvii) But his ideas were more complex than that. Arnold did believe that the essential thrust of English development should not be so much to expand its physical boundaries, but to create a culture of, as he termed it, ?Sweetness and Light.? "
"Matthew Arnold, in "Dover Beach" (1848?), and Gerard Manley Hopkins, in "God's Grandeur" (1877), are both concerned with the question of the presence of God or religious faith in the world.
2,250 words (approx. 9 pages), 4 sources, 1999, $ 79.95
Abstract "Matthew Arnold, in "Dover Beach" (1848?), and Gerard Manley Hopkins, in "God's Grandeur" (1877), are both concerned with the question of the presence of God or religious faith in the world.
From the Paper "Matthew Arnold, in "Dover Beach" (1848?), and Gerard Manley Hopkins, in "God's Grandeur" (1877), are both concerned with the question of the presence of God or religious faith in the world. Neither poet actually asks a question, however, as Arnold sees the "Sea of Faith" withdrawing from the world, while Hopkins enthusiastically perceives God's presence in everything around him. Both poets, however, see human failure to appreciate God as part of the problem of their own times. But where Arnold sees the only option as withdrawal from a world with neither "certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain", Hopkins regrets the blindness of human beings who have come to dissociate themselves from God, even though He is always there in the world. A comparison of the two poems demonstrates not only the difference in their views of religion but the manner in which these ..."
