About
Matthew Arnold, born on 24 December 1822 in Laleham and died on 15 April 1888 in Liverpool, was a major British poet and critic of the Victorian era. The eldest son of Thomas Arnold, the celebrated headmaster of Rugby School, he studied at Rugby and then at Balliol College, Oxford, where he won the Newdigate Prize in 1843. After a fellowship at Oriel College, he became a school inspector from 1851 to 1886, while publishing poems such as 'Dover Beach' (1867) and influential critical essays. His prose work, notably Culture and Anarchy (1869), analyzes English society and advocates culture as an ideal of perfection. He also served as Professor of Poetry at Oxford from 1857 to 1867, the first to deliver lectures in English.
* 1822-12-24 — † 1888-04-15
Major works
- The Strayed Reveller, and Other Poems (1849)poetry collection
- Empedocles on Etna (1852)dramatic poem
- The Scholar Gipsy (1853)poem
- Culture and Anarchy (1869)essay
- Dover Beach (1867)poem
Key milestones
- 1843Won the Newdigate Prize for his poem Cromwell.
- 1851Appointed school inspector, a post he held until 1886.
- 1857Elected Professor of Poetry at Oxford, the first to deliver lectures in English.
Themes
Decline of religious faithPsychological isolationSocial criticismPursuit of perfectionRole of poetry
Sources: britannica.com · poetryfoundation.org · english.ox.ac.uk