Matthew Arnold

Victorian poet and critic Matthew Arnold wrote the essays that constitute Culture and Anarchy between 1867 and 1869, a time of rapid social change and uncertainty. Defining culture as "the best that has been thought and said," Arnold offers concrete suggestions for its role as a corrective to the chaos of materialism, industrialism, and self-interest. Acclaimed by Commentary as "the classic defense of high culture against the depredations of modernity,"...

Assembled in the wake of the death of "Arminius von Thunder-ten-Tronckh"-struck by a stray bullet during the Franco-Prussian War-here is a collection of the fictional Prussian's letters, conversations, and opinions. A descendant of the von Thunder-ten-Tronckh family of Voltaire's Candide, Arminius proffers many views on social and pedagogic issues through these exchanges with his pen pal, Matthew Arnold, who writes back with equal vigor.

This 1882 collection contains "The Incompjatibles," about the Irish Land Bill, and "An Unregarded Irish Grievance," as well as the prefaces to a number of Arnold's poems. Also included are other essays on social and literary topics, such as "Copyright" and-The Future of Liberalism."

In this influential 1873 essay, Arnold professes his skepticism about Christianity as a revealed religion yet argues for the utility of its ethical precepts. Therefore he proposes a liberal reading of scripture and secular faith that incorporates the civilizing aspects of religion.

Each essay in this 1880 edition of Mixed Essays is on a different subject yet all exhibit "unity of tendency," in Arnold's words. It contains the works "Democracy," "Equality," "Irish Catholicism and British Liberalism," "'Porro unum est Necessarium,'" "A Guide to English Literature," "Falkland," "A French Critic on Milton," "A French Critic on Goethe," and "George Sand."

Published in 1869, two years after passage of the Reform Bill, this collection of essays is perhaps its author's most topical critical work. Arnold defines Culture as "the best which has been thought and said" and argues that, during a time of great social change and potential upheaval, the masses could be educated to become purposeful individuals and citizens through the use of a state-run school system. The ideas put forward in this book still incite...

Matthew Arnold was a British school inspector for over three decades, giving him the opportunity to travel around England and the Continent surveying schools. A French Eton is a study of the French educational system, including its highly democratic nature, and an argument that the English system needed to be reformed.

This 1867 collection of lectures influenced the Irish literary revival of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Arnold characterizes the Celtic genius as fanciful and poetic, and argues that its contributions to the English national character have been overlooked or underestimated.

Considered the bridge between romanticism and modernism, Matthew Arnold wrote verse that is simple, unadorned and straightforward. From the hypnotic and beautiful lines of Dover Beach, to the pastoral narrative of The Scholar Gipsy, Arnold cast a gaze at the main intellectual issues of the nineteenth century while giving a timeless insight into man and nature. This collection covers his major poetic works, including the narrative poems, sonnets and...