Matthew Arnold

Study question Matthew Arnold

Dover Beach

Facts about Matthew Arnold

➾ He died suddenly of heart failure in 1888 while rushing to catch a tram.

➾ While studying at Winchester College, he once remarked that the schoolwork was easy, and in response, other students threw potato peelings at him

➾ His father, Dr. Thomas Arnold, was sometimes disappointed by Matthew’s less amenable behavior.

➾ At Oxford, he acted like a full-fledged dandy and wore his hair long and untouched by an English barber.

➾ He earned only a second-class honours degree due to his “careless attitude” toward his formally required studies at Oxford.

➾ He was compelled to become an Inspector of Schools to earn enough income to marry Frances Lucy Wightman in 1851.

➾ He pursued the actress Rachel to Paris, watching every performance for six weeks.

➾ His extensive duties as a School Inspector meant he traveled across more of England than most other metropolitan authors.

➾ He was the first Oxford Professor of Poetry to deliver his lectures in English rather than Latin.

➾ William Wordsworth was a close neighbour and friend to the Arnold family at their vacation home, Fox How.

➾ His published Note-Books (1952) contained quotations copied over 36 years in six different languages.

Matthew Arnold MCQs

1. What is the birth date of Matthew Arnold?

A. 15 April 1888
B. 24 December 1822
C. 5 June 1869
D. 24 December 1828

B. 24 December 1822
Matthew Arnold was born on this date.

2. Where was Matthew Arnold born?

A. Rugby, England
B. Fox How, England
C. Laleham, England
D. Oxford, England

C. Laleham, England
He was born in Laleham, Middlesex, where his father was a schoolmaster.

3. What was Matthew Arnold’s father’s name and profession?

A. Lord Lansdowne, politician
B. Thomas Arnold, headmaster of Rugby School
C. William Wordsworth, poet
D. Arthur Hugh Clough, fellow writer

B. Thomas Arnold, headmaster of Rugby School
His father, Thomas Arnold, was the famous headmaster of Rugby School, a key figure in Victorian education.

4. In 1841, Arnold began studying at Oxford on an open scholarship at which college?

A. Oriel College
B. Winchester College
C. Balliol College
D. Rugby College

C. Balliol College
He attended Balliol College, Oxford, and was awarded an open scholarship.
5. What field of study, known as Classics today, earned Arnold a 2nd class honors degree from Oxford?

A. Modern History
B. Literae Humaniores
C. English Poetry
D. Theology

B. Literae Humaniores
The study of Literae Humaniores (Greats) encompasses Classics, philosophy, and history.

6. Arnold served as Private Secretary to which statesman starting in 1847?

A. Lord Lansdowne
B. Lord Byron
C. John Henry Newman
D. William Wightman

A. Lord Lansdowne
He served as private secretary to Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, the 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne, until 1851.

7. In what year did Matthew Arnold publish his first volume comprised entirely of poetry?

A. 1852
B. 1849
C. 1869
D. 1857

B. 1849
His debut volume was published in 1849.

8. What was the title of Arnold’s first published book of poetry?

A. Empedocles on Etna
B. The Scholar-Gípsy
C. The Strayed Reveller
D. New Poems

C. The Strayed Reveller
The Strayed Reveller and Other Poems was his first collection (1849).

9. What professional role did Matthew Arnold take in April 1851 to gain an income sufficient for marriage?

A. Lecturer on the US circuit
B. Professor of Poetry
C. Inspector of Schools
D. Editor of Fraser’s Magazine

C. Inspector of Schools
He accepted the position of Inspector of Schools, a role that provided a steady income but severely limited his time for poetry.
10. Who was Matthew Arnold’s wife, whom he married in June 1851?

A. Marguerite
B. Mary Pensworth
C. Frances Lucy Wightman
D. Eleanor Mary Caroline

C. Frances Lucy Wightman
He married Frances Lucy Wightman in June 1851.

11. In 1857, Arnold was elected to what prestigious academic post at Oxford?

A. Headmaster of Rugby
B. Professor of Poetry
C. Professor of Modern History
D. Fellow of Oriel College

B. Professor of Poetry
He held the Oxford Chair of Poetry from 1857 to 1867, delivering important critical lectures.

12. What genre of writer, besides poet, is Matthew Arnold best known for?

A. Novelist
B. Historian
C. Cultural critic
D. Playwright

C. Cultural critic
After 1865, his reputation rested largely on his influential prose as a cultural and social critic.

13. Arnold is often called the third great poet of which era?

A. Romantic
B. Modernist
C. Victorian
D. Georgian

C. Victorian
He is traditionally grouped with Tennyson and Browning as the three great poets of the Victorian Age.

14. What major work of social criticism did Arnold publish in 1869?

A. Literature and Dogma
B. Essays in Criticism
C. Culture and Anarchy
D. On Translating Homer

C. Culture and Anarchy
This is his most famous work of social criticism, advocating for Culture (the best that has been thought and said) over modern Anarchy.
15. What are two major themes frequently found in Arnold’s poetry?

A. Political conflict and heroism
B. Industry and progress
C. Nature and dwindling faith
D. Satire and intellectual delivery

C. Nature and dwindling faith
His poems juxtapose the spiritual comfort of Nature with the spiritual crisis and loss of religious faith in the Victorian age.

16. Arnold is seen as a bridge between Romanticism and Modernism due to his use of symbolic landscapes combined with what characteristic?

A. Deeply emotional tone
B. Skepticism and pessimism
C. Strict classical form
D. Focus on Homeric epic

B. Skepticism and pessimism
His poetry retains Romantic elements (nature, feeling) but introduces a Modern tone of skepticism and alienation.

17. Arnold considered poetry to be a “criticism of life” rich in what?

A. Humour
B. Philosophy
C. Sentiment
D. Historical fact

B. Philosophy
He argued that poetry should be a “criticism of life… governed by the laws of poetic truth and poetic beauty” and enriched by philosophical thought.

18. Arnold believed that true happiness for a person must come from what source?

A. External factors and societal success
B. Within, through self-goodness
C. Inheriting eternal bliss
D. Political commitment

B. Within, through self-goodness.
His philosophical readings led him to advocate for an inner life of virtue and self-development.

19. Arnold valued natural scenery highly because of its perceived constancy when compared to what other factor?

A. The urban environment
B. Humankind
C. The divine spirit
D. Scientific progress

B. Humankind
He contrasted the eternal, “calm” constancy of nature with the feverish, chaotic, and transient nature of humanity.
20. What was the title of the elegy Arnold wrote in 1866 for his deceased friend Arthur Hugh Clough?

A. Dover Beach
B. The Strayed Reveller
C. Thyrsis
D. Balder Dead

C. Thyrsis
Thyrsis (1866) is a pastoral elegy that mourns the death of his close friend, Clough.

21. Which of Arnold’s poems, contained in the 1867 anthology New Poems, is considered his most famous?

A. The Strayed Reveller
B. Sohrab and Rustum
C. Dover Beach
D. The Strayed Reveller

C. Dover Beach
“Dover Beach” is arguably his most widely read and anthologized poem.

22. The poem Dover Beach primarily criticized the dwindling faith in the face of what?

A. Political corruption
B. Advancing scientists
C. Industrial growth
D. Social anarchy

B. Advancing scientists
The poem laments the withdrawal of the “Sea of Faith” under the pressures of science and skepticism (advancing science and modern thought).

23. Arnold felt strongly about anti-modernism, condemning this change as what to society?

A. Necessary
B. Detrimental
C. Philosophical
D. Poetic

B. Detrimental
He viewed the spiritual crisis, social chaos, and philistinism of the age as detrimental to human flourishing.

24. G.K. Chesterton referred to Arnold as perhaps the “most serious man alive,” even when compared to whom?

A. Tennyson and Browning
B. Keats and Shelley
C. Carlyle and Ruskin
D. Homer and Sophocles

C. Carlyle and Ruskin
He was compared to these two foremost Victorian prose sages (who were both also known for their extreme seriousness).
25. In his self-assessment, Arnold noted that he had a “fusion” of what two qualities, differentiating him from Tennyson and Browning?

A. Melancholy and satire
B. Sentiment and intellectual vigour
C. Form and aesthetics
D. Criticism and drama

B. Sentiment and intellectual vigour
He saw himself as possessing the intellectual rigour often lacking in contemporary poets and the sentiment often lacking in contemporary critics.

26. Arnold argued that the great need of a modern age is an “intellectual deliverance” defined by the growth of what kind of spirit?

A. Aggressive
B. Tolerant
C. Religious
D. Nationalistic

B. Tolerant
Intellectual deliverance, for Arnold, meant the growth of a tolerant, critical spirit that can judge knowledge objectively.

27. Arnold believed that human progress consists of an increase in those who cease to live by the animal life alone and participate in what kind of life?

A. Intellectual life
B. Romantic life
C. Political life
D. Domestic life

A. Intellectual life
He saw the development of the mind and the intellectual life as the key to human evolution and betterment.

28. What term is applied to the feeling of disunity within oneself or estrangement from society seen in many of Arnold’s poems?

A. Stoicism
B. Detachment
C. Alienation
D. Deliverance

C. Alienation
His poetry often captures the alienation and isolation of the modern intellectual separated from traditional faith and community.

29. Which famous lines from The Scholar-Gípsy criticize modern existence?

A. The unplumbed, salt, estranging sea
B. Sick hurry, its divided aims
C. God knows it, I am with you
D. In action’s dizzying eddy whirled

B. Sick hurry, its divided aims.
These lines describe the chaotic, fragmented, and morally uncertain character of modern life that the gípsy escapes.
30. In Stanzas from the Grande Chartreuse, Arnold describes himself as “Wandering between two worlds, one dead,/The other powerless to be born,” reflecting what sentiment?

A. Philosophical acceptance
B. Romantic nostalgia
C. Religious certainty
D. Political engagement

B. Romantic nostalgia
This quote perfectly summarizes the Victorian dilemma: the loss of the old faith (the world dead) and the inability of science/reason to replace it (the world powerless to be born).

31. The collected Note-Books of Arnold, published in 1952, have been described as the “breviary of a what”?

A. Critic
B. Humanist
C. Modernist
D. Christian

B. Humanist
The notebooks reveal Arnold’s sustained, lifelong commitment to humanist ideals of self-cultivation and moral improvement.

32. Arnold wrote that reading “a good book” offers a discipline that cannot be gained from reading what?

A. Poetry
B. Sermons
C. The Bible
D. Newspapers

D. Newspapers
He was highly critical of the sensationalism and short-sightedness of the Victorian press (newspapers).

33. Arnold’s father, Thomas Arnold, aimed to place moral and religious edification above what in education?

A. Intellectual attainment
B. Physical exercise
C. Historical study
D. Classical languages

A. Intellectual attainment
Thomas Arnold emphasized the moral development of his students over pure academic learning.

34. What was Arnold’s prize poem that was printed at Rugby in 1840?

A. Cromwell
B. Alaric at Rome
C. Merope
D. The Scholar-Gípsy

B. Alaric at Rome
This poem won the Newdigate Prize for poetry in 1840.
35. Clough described Arnold’s dandyism and independence during his Oxford years as “full of ……”?

A. Modernism
B. Byronism
C. Parisianism
D. Tractarianism

B. Byronism
His witty, elegant, and often cynical mannerisms were considered reflections of the attitude popularized by Lord Byron.

36. Arnold’s early attraction to French culture included reading the novels of which writer?

A. Charles Dickens
B. George Sand
C. Jane Austen
D. Rachel

B. George Sand
He was deeply influenced by the French writer George Sand (Amantine Lucile Dupin).

37. Arnold’s philosophical orientation, which favored Locke and Spinoza, led him to rely on what concept?

A. Respect for the senses
B. Respect for the reason
C. Commitment to faith
D. Commitment to action

B. Respect for the reason
His intellectualism was heavily based on the faculty of Reason.

38. The Swiss lyrics in Arnold’s poetry are noted for settling the long dispute over the reality of which figure?

A. Frances Lucy
B. Olivia
C. Marguerite
D. Penelope

C. Marguerite
The identity of Marguerite, the enigmatic and detached woman in poems such as “Isolation,” was a subject of much biographical debate.

39. In the poem “Self-Dependence,” Arnold addresses the stars, asking them to “Calm me, ah, compose me to the end!” after what emotional turmoil?

A. Political defeat
B. Storms of passion
C. Religious doubt
D. Career failure

B. Storms of passion
The speaker seeks relief from inner turmoil and the storms of passion by observing the stars’ stoic, quiet nature.
40. Arnold’s reputation was established with the publication of which third volume in 1853?

A. The Strayed Reveller
B. Empedocles on Etna
C. Poems: A New Edition
D. Poems: Second Series

C. Poems: A New Edition
This 1853 collection was the first published under his name and contained many of his finest poems.

41. Which long narrative poem included in the 1853 collection helped establish Arnold’s reputation?

A. Dover Beach
B. Sohrab and Rustum
C. The Forsaken Merman
D. Merope

B. Sohrab and Rustum
This narrative poem, based on a Persian epic, was highly regarded and included in the Poems: A New Edition.

42. In his letters, Arnold noted a shift in his poetics from a predominantly aesthetic emphasis to a predominantly what emphasis?

A. Political
B. Moral
C. Scientific
D. Historical

B. Moral
He prioritized poetry’s moral and ethical value over its purely aesthetic qualities.

43. Arnold argued that modern poetry, to serve the age, can only subsist by its contents, becoming a complete what (Latin phrase)?

A. Carpe diem
B. Magister vitae
C. Literae Humaniores
D. Ars longa

B. Magister vitae
He asserted that poetry should become a master of life (Magister vitae), providing profound moral guidance.

44. Arnold famously proclaimed that “the strongest part of our religion today is its unconscious —–“?

A. Dogma
B. Philosophy
C. Poetry
D. Morality

C. Poetry
He argued that the imaginative and spiritual power formerly held by religion was now held by poetry.
45. Arnold defined religion in later formulations as “morality, touched with what”?

A. Reason
B. Doctrine
C. Emotion
D. Scepticism

C. Emotion
He reduced religion to an ethical system reinforced by feeling: “morality, touched with emotion.”

46. Arnold’s characteristic verse structures, such as varying stanza length, suggest he was a forerunner of what poetic practice?

A. Blank verse
B. Free verse
C. Heroic couplets
D. Traditional ballad form

B. Free verse
His flexible, sometimes broken rhythms, though not true free verse, anticipated the looser forms of Modernism.

47. Which two criteria did Arnold value most highly when judging the merit of poetry?

A. Clarity and brevity
B. Nobility and charm
C. High truth and high seriousness
D. Satire and wit

C. High truth and high seriousness
These are his two major, defining criteria for evaluating poetic excellence, often applied through his “touchstone method.”

48. Henry James commented that Arnold’s poetry would appeal to those who “like their pleasures what”?

A. Popular
B. Rare
C. Grand
D. Emotional

B. Rare
James felt Arnold’s intellectualism limited his appeal to a select, educated few.

49. Arnold is characterized as a “sage writer,” which means he typically did what in his writings?

A. Wrote epic poems and dramas
B. Focused on literary history
C. Chastised and instructed the reader on social issues
D. Provided purely objective criticism

C. Chastised and instructed the reader on social issues
A Victorian Sage (like Carlyle and Ruskin) acts as a moral authority, admonishing and directing the public.
50. What major work of literary criticism was published posthumously in November 1888? (Referring to the last major published critical collection)

A. On Translating Homer
B. Essays in Criticism: First Series
C. Essays in Criticism: Second Series
D. Literature and Dogma

C. Essays in Criticism: Second Series
This final collection of critical essays was published the year of his death.

Dover Beach MCQs

Dover Beach MCQs

Dover Beach MCQs

1. What is the initial state of the sea described in the opening line?

A. Rough and loud
B. Calm tonight
C. Full of light
D. Retreating rapidly

B. Calm tonight
The opening lines establish a seemingly tranquil setting: “The sea is calm tonight.”

2. What is visible on the French coast in the first stanza?

A. The naked shingles
B. A bright girdle
C. The light that Gleams and is gone
D. The cliffs of England

C. The light that Gleams and is gone
The line “Only the light … gleams and is gone” describes the lights on the French coast that disappear.

3. Where do the cliffs of England stand, according to the first stanza?

A. Upon the Ægean
B. On the darkling plain
C. Out in the tranquil bay
D. Near the vast edges drear

C. Out in the tranquil bay
The poem states: “The cliffs of England stand, / Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.”

4. What is the quality of the air that the speaker describes when inviting the listener to the window?

A. Confused
B. Sweet
C. Turbid
D. Drear

B. Sweet
The speaker asks the listener to inhale the “sweet” night-air.
5. What is the sound that the speaker asks the listener to hear, starting in the first stanza?

A. The breath of the night-wind
B. The confused alarms
C. The grating roar of pebbles
D. The note of peace

C. The grating roar of pebbles
The primary sound is the harsh, unsettling “grating roar” made by the pebbles on the shore.

6. What happens to the pebbles that cause the roar?

A. They glow with light
B. They are pulled and flung by the waves
C. They stand glimmering and vast
D. They are used to build the strand

B. They are pulled and flung by the waves
The sound is caused by the waves alternately flinging the pebbles up the beach and pulling them back.

7. What is the cadence of the sound described in the second stanza?

A. Rushing cadence fast
B. Tremulous cadence slow
C. Full cadence fair
D. Grating cadence quick

B. Tremulous cadence slow
The sound is referred to as a “tremulous cadence slow,” reflecting the hesitant, mournful rhythm of the waves.

8. What ‘note’ does the sound of the waves bring in?

A. The note of joy
B. The eternal note of sadness
C. The note of struggle
D. The note of certitude

B. The eternal note of sadness
The noise of the withdrawing waves reminds the speaker of this enduring human theme.

9. Where did Sophocles hear this sound long ago?

A. On the straits
B. On the high strand
C. On the Ægean
D. On the French coast

C. On the Ægean
The speaker reflects that Sophocles heard the same sound on the Ægean Sea.
10. What did the sound bring into Sophocles’ mind?

A. The bright girdle furled
B. The confused alarms
C. The turbid ebb and flow of human misery
D. The naked shingles

C. The turbid ebb and flow of human misery
Sophocles was reminded of the way human suffering rises and recedes.

11. What metaphorical concept is introduced that was “once, too, at the full”?

A. The Sea of Dreams
B. The Sea of Faith
C. The Sea of Misery
D. The Sea of Light

B. The Sea of Faith
The metaphor of the Sea of Faith represents the era when religious belief was strong.

12. How did the “Sea of Faith” lie around the earth’s shore when it was full?

A. Like the turbid ebb
B. Like the vast edges drear
C. Like the folds of a bright girdle furled
D. Like ignorant armies clashing

C. Like the folds of a bright girdle furled
The full Sea of Faith is described as a garment (bright girdle) wrapping the earth.

13. How is the present roar of the Sea of Faith described?

A. Clear and ringing
B. Melancholy, long, withdrawing
C. Grating and quick
D. Calm and fair

B. Melancholy, long, withdrawing
Its current state is marked by sadness and receding presence.

14. To what natural element does the retreating roar of the Sea of Faith yield?

A. The moon’s pull
B. The sun’s setting
C. The breath of the night-wind
D. The thunder of the waves

C. The breath of the night-wind
The sound of the sea withdrawing is carried to the ear by the “breath of the night-wind.”
15. What are the “naked shingles” mentioned in the poem?

A. Pieces of clothing
B. Exposed pebbles
C. Distant stars
D. Foreign armies

B. Exposed pebbles
“Shingles” are the gravel or pebbles covering the beach, exposed as the sea retreats.

16. What is the central plea the speaker makes to their love in the final stanza?

A. Let us fight the armies
B. Let us leave the shore
C. Let us be true to one another
D. Let us find the light

C. Let us be true to one another
The plea to be true is the speaker’s only recourse against the disillusionment of the modern world.

17. The world seems to lie before the speakers like what?

A. A darkling plain
B. A land of dreams
C. A bright girdle
D. A vast edge drear

B. A land of dreams
The world appears initially beautiful and full of promise, “like a land of dreams.”

18. Which essential quality does the world not really possess, according to the final stanza?

A. Variousness
B. Certitude
C. Beauty
D. Newness

B. Certitude
The speaker states the world has “neither joy, nor love, nor light, / Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain.”

19. On what type of plain are the speakers said to be standing?

A. A vast plain
B. A darkling plain
C. A tranquil plain
D. A high plain

B. A darkling plain
The final simile places the speakers on a “darkling plain,” referring to a darkening, confusing, or ambiguous battlefield.
20. What action characterizes the “ignorant armies” in the poem’s final line?

A. Retreating to the breath
B. Clashing by night
C. Drawing back the pebbles
D. Lying like a girdle

B. Clashing by night
The final image is a chaotic, pointless battle: “Where ignorant armies clash by night.”

Brief Overview

Dover Beach is a well-known Victorian poem by Matthew Arnold. It begins with the speaker standing on the coast of Dover, looking out at the calm, moonlit sea. He invites his lover to join him at the window to witness the beautiful scene.

The initial mood of peace quickly shifts to sadness. The speaker focuses on the sound of the waves, which he describes as a “grating roar” that brings in an “eternal note of sadness.” This sound reminds him of human misery throughout history.

The speaker then focuses on the “Sea of Faith.” He recalls a time when religious belief was full and powerful, covering the world like the tide. But he sadly observes that he can now only hear its “melancholy, long, withdrawing roar.”

The speaker feels that the world has lost its faith and is now empty and cheerless. He turns to his lover, saying that since the world offers no certainty, joy, or help for pain, they must rely only on each other.

The poem ends with a famous, despairing image. He states that the world feels like a dark, confusing battlefield. He concludes that they are left alone to struggle in a place where people clash “by night,” ignorant of their true purpose.