A Critical Study of Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach" Josephine Zote 12th Grade

Famous poet and literary critic, Matthew Arnold was born on 24th December 1822 as the second child of Mary Arnold and Thomas Arnold. He began his career as a poet, getting recognition since his youth as a student at the Rugby School, where his father was a headmaster who was well known for his administration of the school. Arnold completed his undergraduate degree at Oxford in 1844 and returned to Rugby School as a teacher. In June 1851, he married Frances Lucy, daughter of Sir William Wightman, after finally being appointed as one of Her Majesty’s Inspector of Schools, thus solving his problem of financial instability that had long restrained him from getting married. He is considered by some as the third great Victorian poet, along with Alfred Lord Tennyson and Robert Browning. He gained significance in English Literature not only as a poet but also as a great critic, whose criticism focuses on various branches of learning: literature, journalism, and social science, as well as religion. Even after his sudden and untimely death due to heart failure in 1888, Arnold’s position in English literature as a remarkable Victorian writer, poet, and critic remains unchanged.

"Dover Beach," though originally published in 1867, is...