Matthew
Arnold: Culture and Anarchy
Critical Analysis
Culture and Anarchy contains a multiplicity of
ideas which show Arnold as a thinker. It also contains many useful suggestions
which show Arnold as a reformer. The most important idea in the book is Arnold’s
concept of culture, and the most useful suggestion offered by Arnold for the
solution of the problems facing his country at that time is also culture or the
practical application and value of culture. Culture he defines as the pursuit
of perfection-general perfection, harmonious perfection, perfection which is
dynamic not static, and perfection which resides in an inward condition of mind
and not in an outward set of circumstances. Two of the most important features
of this perfection, at which culture aims, are sweetness and light.
In
Culture and Anarchy, Arnold appears as the censor of his age and as a prophet.
A prophet in this sense does not mean one who makes prophecies but one who
studies the problems of his times, analyzes the prevalent conditions of his
time, puts his fingers on the evils undermining society, and offers solutions
and cures. A prophet is thus a physician who diagnoses the maladies and the
diseases from which society suffers, and who tries to heal society. Arnold found
that the English people of his time were misguided and misled by wrong kinds of
leaders, and so, through his sharp criticism and mild rebukes, he drew the
attention of his readers to their errors and their short sightedness. He had no
axe to grind, no selfish motive, no ambition or desire for self-advancement.
Like Carlyle, he found himself in complete disagreement with the political and
religious leaders of the time but, whereas Carlyle spoke in thundering and denunciatory
tones, Arnold adopted an urbane manner in keeping with his own ideal of sweetness
and light.
As
Culture and Anarchy deals wholly, with the problems and evils of its own time,
it is necessary for the reader of today to get thoroughly acquainted with the
social, political, and religious history of the Victorian Age. Arnold touches
upon the problems of education in his time. As an Inspector of Schools. he had
ample opportunities for studying these problems in his own country and he was
also provided with opportunities to go abroad in order to study the educational
systems in various European countries. In the Preface to this book, Arnold
refers to the objections he had raised some of the practices prevailing at
Eton, and the reply made to his objections by a schoolmaster by the name of
Oscar Browning. Then in Chapter III, he refers to State-Control over education in
Prussia and in France, and advocates a similar control over education in his
own country. In the Chapter called “Doing As One Likes”, Arnold clearly brings
out the drawback of claim of the individual to do as he pleased. In this
connection Arnold says: “Every one of us has the idea of country as a
sentiment; hardly any one of us has the idea of the State as a working power”.
The State, says Arnold, represents the collective and corporate will and authority
of the nation; it represents the right reason of the nation; and right reason
is what culture also insists upon. In another respect Arnold shows himself to
be a pioneer, and that is in his comments on the increasing population of
England. While the general view at that time was that an increase in population
was something highly desirable and therefore to be encouraged, Arnold deplored this
approach to population. He points out that an increase in population in England
has led to an increase in the number of paupers also. In other words, Arnold
realized that too many people would aggravate the problem of poverty, and that
shows him to be ahead of his time.
One
remarkable feature of Culture and Anarchy is Arnold’s use of irony. Irony is
all pervasive in the book. Irony is the principal weapon of attack in Arnold’s
hands. Indeed, he shows himself to be a master of comic irony. The style in
which Arnold writes is one of the greatest merits of Culture and Anarchy. Lucidity
and elegance are the two most striking merits of this style. There are no
obscurities and ambiguities in what Arnold writes. He is clear in his mind
about what he has to say, and he says it in a manner which does not leave the
reader in any doubt about what he is saving. However, this does not mean that
it is too simple a style. Clarity it certainly possesses, but at the same time
it demands from the reader his fullest attention.
Style
Arnold’s
style is an admirable instrument for the presentation of thought. It is clear, simple,
and precise. It runs like a smooth river-with almost too tranquil a stream. If style
resembles the clothes of a well-dressed man, which attract no attention but
when examined are found seemly, then Arnold’s style is perfect. It is never
obtrusive, never distracts attention from the matter. The chief features of his
writings are grace and lucidity; at his best he produced nearly perfect prose.
He had a few obvious mannerisms, but at the same time his style is intensely individual,
an exact expression of a rare and original personality. Even in passages of
pure argument there is a kind of sober sheen about it. Sometimes, it can fall
into haunting rhythms and glow with the fresh colours of a spring morning.
Hebraism
and Hellenism
Arnold
divides the forces that move the world into two grand divisions – Hellenism and
Hebraism, the Greek idea and the Jewish idea, the power of intellect and the
power of conscience. The uppermost idea with Hellenism is to see things as they
really are; the uppermost idea with Hebraism is conduct and obedience. The
Greek quarrel, with the body and its desires, is that they hinder right
thinking; the Hebrew quarrel with them is that they hinder right acting. Arnold’s
conviction of the superiority of Hellenism as a remedy for modern ills is backed
up by the Hellenic type of mind, its calmness, its lucidity, its sense of form
and measure. Indeed, Arnold is probably the purest classic writer that English
literature has yet to show; classic not merely in the repose and purity of his style,
but in the unity and simplicity of his mind.
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