1、Matthew Arnold,“wandering between two worlds, one dead, the other powerless to be born.” 徘徊在两个世界之间,一个已经死去,另一个还无力诞生。,Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 15 April 1888) was a British poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. Matthew Arnold has been characterized as a sage writer(圣人作
2、家), a type of writer who chastises（谴责） and instructs the reader on contemporary social issues. Arnold is sometimes called the third great Victorian poet, along with Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Robert Browning.,Family members,Father: Thomas Arnold, the famed headmaster of Rugby School(拉各比公学), and he wa
3、s a famous educationalist of the Victorian Age.Brother: Tom Arnold, literary professorWilliam Delafield Arnold, novelist and colonial administrator.,Life,Home : Fox How, in the Lake District. William Wordsworth was a neighbor and close friend. In 1836, Arnold was sent to Winchester College, but in 1
4、837 he returned to Rugby School where he was enrolled in the fifth form. He moved to the sixth form in 1838 and thus came under the direct tutelage of his father. Achievements in Rugby: he won school prizes for English essay writing, and Latin and English poetry. His prize poem, “Alaric at Rome,“ wa
5、s printed at Rugby.,In 1841, he won an open scholarship(公开奖学金) to Balliol College（贝利奥尔学院）, Oxford. In 1843, Arnolds poem “Cromwell“ won the Newdigate prize纽迪吉特奖(牛津大学设立的诗歌奖). In 1844, he graduated with a 2nd Class Honours degree in “Greats.”(大师) In 1849, he published his first book of poetry, The Str
6、ayed Reveller.(迷途浪子) In 1850 Wordsworth died; Arnold published his “Memorial Verses” on the older poet.,Literary career,In 1852, Empedocles on Etna, and Other Poems In 1853, A New Edition, a selection from the twoearlier volumes famously excluding Empedocles on Etna, but adding new poems, Sohrab and
7、 Rustum and The Scholar Gipsy. In 1854, Poems: Second Series, it included the new poem, Balder Dead.,From 1857 to 1867, he held the Professorship of Poetry at Oxford -The first to deliver lectures in English rather than Latin In 1861, his lectures were published in book form, On Translating Homer. I
8、n 1865, Arnold published Essays in Criticism: First Series. In 1867, poem “Dover Beach” depicted a nightmarish (恶梦似的)world from which the old religious verities（真理） have receded.,In 1869, Culture and Anarchy(文化和无政府), Arnolds major work in social criticism In 1873,Literature and Dogma（文化与教条）, Arnolds
9、 major work in religious criticism appeared In 1888,Essays in Criticism: Second Series shortly after his untimely death,Poetry,As a poet, Arnold provides an example of “a sick individual in a sick society. ” Many of his poetic works express a tone of regret, disillusion and melancholy. Dissatisfied
10、with the reflective poetry he was writing, he turned to literary and social criticism.,George Watson divided Arnolds career as a prose writer into three phases:1) early literary criticism that begins with his preface to the 1853 edition of his poems and ends with the first series of Essays in Critic
11、ism (1865); 2) a prolonged middle period (overlapping the first and third phases) characterized by social, political and religious writing (roughly 1860-1875); 3) a return to literary criticism with the selecting and editing of collections of Wordsworths and Byrons poetry and the second series of Es
12、says in Criticism,Three phases of prose writing,Articles of literary criticism,Essays in Criticism(1865) Essays in Criticism, Second Series(1888) Culture and Anarchy(1869)- his representative work in social criticism Literature and Dogma(1873) and other books on religious subjects,Literary criticism
13、,Main principles:1) “disinterestedness”（超然无执） 2) The function of literary criticism is to find and propagate （传播）“the best which has been thought and said in the world ” 3) The principal virtue of a poet: the quality of “high seriousness”,4) “the eternal objects of poetry are actions, human actions,
14、 possessing an inherent interest in themselves”“to delight himself with the contemplation （沉思）of some noble action of a heroic time, and to enable others, through his representation of it, to delight in it also.”,Social criticism,Represented by Culture and Anarchy, deals with the whole structure of
15、English civilization and culture. Purpose: cure the great vise(罪恶) of our intellect manifesting itself in our incredible vagaries(变幻莫测) in literature, in art, in morals. According to him, English society of his time was composed of “Barbarians(aristocrat classes), Philistines(middle-class merchants
16、and manufactures), Populace(平民)。”,Features,Some consider Arnold to be the bridge between Romanticism and Modernism. His use of symbolic landscapes was typical of the Romantic era, while his skeptical and pessimistic perspective was typical of the Modern era.,His writings are characterized by the fin
17、est culture, high purpose, sincerity, and a style of great distinction, and much of his poetry has an exquisite(细致的) and subtle beauty.,His descriptions are often picturesque, and marked by striking similes. However, at the same time he liked subdued colors（柔和的色彩）, mist and moonlight.,The mood of Ar
18、nolds poetry tends to be of plaintive (悲痛的)reflection, and he is restrained in expressing emotion.,Thoughts,poetry should be the criticism of life and express a philosophy. Arnold valued natural scenery for its peace and permanence in contrast with the ceaseless change of human things. Arnolds philo
19、sophy is that true happiness comes from within, and that people should seek within themselves for good.,However, he argues that we should not live in the belief that we shall one day inherit eternal bliss. If we are not happy on earth, we should moderate(节制) our desires rather than live in dreams of
20、 something that may never be attained. This philosophy is clearly expressed in such poems as “Dover Beach”.,Question time,Your understanding about Arnolds “wandering between two worlds, one dead, the other powerless to be born.”Since you have read the green book, know something about Arnold. Please
21、explain his idea of social criticism.,Thank you ,Rugby School,Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire wriki, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools(私立学校) in Britain. The influence of Rugby and its pupils and masters in the nineteenth century was enormous and in many ways the stereotype（老套） of the English public school is a reworking of Thomas Arnolds Rugby. It is one of the best known schools in the country and seen as an innovator （改革者）in education.,
