matthew arnold culture and anarchy summary

A critic needs to be free from two prejudices: historical and personal. He defines criticism as “A disinterested endeavor to learn and propagate the best that is known and thought of in the world, and thus to establish a current of fresh and true ideas.” The term ‘disinterest’ in the view of Arnold refers to being an impartial and just reader. “The Function of Criticism in the Present Time is largely made of ideas that Arnold discusses in his Study of Poetry. Arnold believes that criticism is a way to understand life and the world, and can be linked to the satisfaction derived from creative writing. He also states that criticism paves the way for creativity. It is a form of exercising free creativity. He argues that unlike Wordsworth’s opinion on criticism, it must be considered as a form of art for its vital contributions the literary world and society in general. Arnold also likens criticism to creativity, citing how the writing of criticism gives rise to creative joy that comes from original writing. He states that the role of criticism is to make itself inherently valuable, and to rouse men from complacency to a state of achieving perfection.

Arnold defines the role of a critic as the one to view an object for what it really is, to bring best ideas to the masses, and to create an atmosphere that fuels the literary genius of the future. In his essay, Arnold states that criticism should be a ‘dissemination of ideas, an unprejudiced and impartial effort to study and spread the best that is known and thought of in the world’. His essay “The Function of Criticism at the Present Time” was published in his first collection of critical writings, “Essays in Criticism” in 1865. He occupies a prominent place in the history of Literary Criticism. Matthew Arnold (1882 – 1888) was a poet-critic and one of the most significant writers of the late Victorian period in England.

Matthew arnold culture and anarchy summary