Matthew Arnold

Matthew Arnold FactsPoem: Dover BeachAchieved fame as both a poet

and criticQuiet tones and carefully shaped

figures reflected his vision of Victorian Society

Oxford Professor of PoetryGovernment inspector for poor

schools for 35 yearsFeared intellectual anarchy

Dover Beach AnalysisDover beach was written the

year that Arnold was married.The poem is written as an

observation to his wife (some argue it is written to women as an observation from men)

The poem challenges moral and religious precepts that have shaken faith (a common theme in the Victorian Period).

MetaphorArnold gives the sea the power to

change the world:

The sea can “draw back and fling” the pebbles and reach into eternity with “eternal notes of sadness.”

Thomas Hardy

Thomas Hardy FactsPoem: Ah, Are You Digging On My GraveOne of the principal novelists of the late-

Victorian BritianHis home town (Dorsetshire) was the

setting for many of his worksBecame an apprentice to an architect at

age 16Writing and poetry expresses his belief in

a world governed by chance and natural laws that are not hostile but indifferent to what humans want and deserve

Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave?Theme: “Out of Sight, Out of

Mind”A woman has died and is quickly

forgotten as life goes on for the living.

Forgotten for a wealthier womanLoneliness in death…emptiness

IronyThe irony in the poem is that not

only has the woman been forgotten by her husband, she has also been forgotten by the dog “man’s best friend.”

George Eliot

George EliotWriting: A Mill on the FlossReal Name: Mary Ann EvansKept her name a secret so her

writings could be viewed as serious literature and receive fair criticism

Eliot’s novels show that a clever little girl’s problems only increase when she grows into a clever young woman.

Created talented heroines limited by circumstance and social propriety.

Mill On the FlossA spicy fictional autobiography

(based on the real life of Mary Evans) about a young woman who has an affair with a married man

The Sisters Bronte

Charlotte and EmilyTheme: Love that transcends

even deathMinister’s daughters that

shocked Victorian audiences with gothic evil and violence

Lived in the same home while producing two of the best known literary works

Stories limit women through social station and sex

Jane EyreWuthering Heights

“I would always rather be happy than dignified.”

Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“He's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights

A.E. Housman

A. E. Housman“If a line of poetry strays into my memory, my skin bristles so that the razor ceases to act.” Name: Alfred Edward Housman Mother died on his 12th BirthdayAt 16 he got a scholarship to OxfordSkipped classes and failed final examsPublished papers on Greek and Latin

LiteratureBecame a professor of Latin at London

University

When I Was One-and-TwentyTheme: Love HurtsA young man gets advice from an

older man about love and is told not to bank too much on it.

The young man foolishly learns that he should have listened to the advice!