A warm welcome to all!
Introduction:"Mathew Arnold" is one of the pioneers and beginners of the 20th century, dates from 1822-1888.He contributed his half part of career 'to poetry' and the rest of his career 'to prose/critical writing',so he is considered as one of the "Neo-Kantis", concerning prose writing. It isn't like he hasn't experienced various movements of his preceding ages in his writing but somewhere as referring to T.S. Eliot, he lacks "Historical sense" which according to T.S. Eliot 'a writer must have, then only he/she can create a great work, otherwise one cannot. New things can be solely used to add a little bit to the 'organised/existing/ordered form of old one'. Though he said that 'a critic should keep himself aloof from historic and personal fallacies, but he himself is unable to, as he has expressively criticized "Shelley(as overtly using moral values) though he himself favours philosophical depth in poetry, which would be able to supplant religion and science.
A warm welcome to all!
Introduction:"Mathew Arnold" is one of the pioneers and beginners of the 20th century, dates from 1822-1888.He contributed his half part of career 'to poetry' and the rest of his career 'to prose/critical writing',so he is considered as one of the "Neo-Kantis", concerning prose writing. It isn't like he hasn't experienced various movements of his preceding ages in his writing but somewhere as referring to T.S. Eliot, he lacks "Historical sense" which according to T.S. Eliot 'a writer must have, then only he/she can create a great work, otherwise one cannot. New things can be solely used to add a little bit to the 'organised/existing/ordered form of old one'. Though he said that 'a critic should keep himself aloof from historic and personal fallacies, but he himself is unable to, as he has expressively criticized "Shelley(as overtly using moral values) though he himself favours philosophical depth in poetry, which would be able to supplant religion and science.
views on poetry and criticism:
simplifying this idea, perhaps the common people, illiterate/aloof people from literature/ would be thinking of 'good poetry', which has music, funny language, rhyming on each end, in between, whether it conveys any meaning or not that doesn't matter, but at least it should yield happiness to its spectators. which can be said a form of pre-matured poems but not poetry.
Mathew Arnold's views on good poetry:
He says: "Poetry is 'a criticism of life'". Governed by Philip Sidney and Mathew Arnold insist on the instructive and moral purposes of the poetry. While "criticism of life" idea for poetry is often marred due to his naive moralizing(which we are going to discuss in detail under Arnold's views on criticism).
Sidney regards poetry "as the highest form of teaching owing to its power to move"!
According to "Arnold": Poetry is one of the most adequate ways of governing our thoughts and actions, but he also sees poetry instinct with the deeper meaning of life(that is philosophy)
Meena Kandasamy:
"."The pot sees just another noisy child
the glass sees an eager and clumsy hand
the water sees a parched throat slaking thirst
but the teacher sees a girl breaking the rule
the doctors sees a medical emergency
the school sees a potential embarrassment
the press sees a headline and a photofeature
dhanam sees a world torn in half.
her left eye, lid open but light slapped away,
the price for a taste of that touchable water".
(click on the link to refer to this poem)
In above mentioned poem we see all aspects of 'criticism of life'. where a girl(a school girl) is thirsty, wants to drink the water. Here teacher is described as rigid follower of discipline, where he finds a girl breaking rules, so perhaps he/she has slapped her on face as a result she was shifted to hospital, where she was treated as per her injuries and so the whole incident is featured in the newspaper to make public appraise of prevailing incidents, happening around.
once upon a time such happenings were happening in societies/cities/states/countries but now it has little bit lower down. It seems to be still going on, but sometimes it is suppressed or sometimes with the boon of technology, it is wide-spreaded to make public aware of it.
Here we also see the poetic beauty&truth, "as how poet solely starting with the pot, relating it to all associative essentials, developing the incident of the girl very rightly that it instantly from the last line "the price for a taste of that touchable water " reveals an idea that this poem must be on "touchability concept" as it emphasize on "touchable water" phrase. As it is for a dalit girl, who must have known as 'dhanam'. As per the language rules a name's first letter should be written in capital form, but here it isn't the case. Perhaps as "dalits" at that time weren't given recognition so the name is written in 'inferior manner'. We also see here how the truth and seriousness of matters, felicity and perfection of diction and manner, regarding 'criticism of life' are being produced.
Hence we can see here how the three consecutive views of "Arnold" is justified in this poem.
- Coming to the poetry's interpretation: According to "Arnold" poetry interprets life in two ways:
- Having natural interpretation magic in it and moral profundity.
- Achievement of this aim: He should cultivate excellent seriousness in all he writes
- Has two essential qualities:
- The poet should choose those selective actions, which he sees subsist permanently in the race and most powerfully appeal to the great primary human feelings.
- The grand style: the form, choice of words, drawing its force directly from the matter which it conveys(e.g: above mentioned poem).
If both the things(qualities&both the ways of interpretation) have been merged rightly in the poem, then only it would be made inseparable from superiority of diction and movement marking its style and manner. One will only be superseded, if he/she is truly watchful of two kinds of estimate called "historic" and "personal", both of which are fallacious, while he likes the real estimate for judging poetry and he says: historical and personal mars the aforementioned estimation.
- Furthermore he says about "the future of poetry". Which according to him is an idea that is related to the poetry( with emotions )and idea is the fact, while the rest of the world is illusion, a divine illusion. It is solely the poetry that will go on to stay in surer way, from one after another race and also when the world is uninfluenced by religion and science.
Hence we learnt here how he has reinstated his views of judging "good poetry" and how one should refrain himself/herself from such estimations, which are considered to be the fallacies for judging any works, and also we saw an example of "Meena Kandasamy's poem(one eyed)" evaluated on given parameters of the critic. Lastly we gain an idea from this that as the time changes, ideas/parameters/methods of the particular era transits and as a result we are having new ideology and new things to follow, concerning its influence.
Mathew Arnold's views on criticism:
The first great principle enunciated by Arnold was: Disinterestedness or detachment: Disinterestedness on the part of the critic implies freedom from all prejudices,personal or historical. Regarding his "Touchstone method" he also says: historical and personal estimates are to mar the real estimate.
- Historical estimate: May affect our judgement, when we deal with ancient poets, concerning thier times literary works.
- For example: The position of Caedmon, an Anglo-Saxon poet/the French romance.
- For example: One can evaluate one's contemporaries of his age by depersonalization of that particular thing, artifact or poet/writer.
Inadequate idea of morality:
His "criticism of life" idea is often marred by his naive moralizing, his inadequate perception between 'Art &morality' and his uncritical appreciation for "ancient Greeks". While Arnold is unable to practice the principle idea for "criticism of life" called disinterestedness. This idea is also criticized by T.S. Eliot of "merely being a repetition of Aristotle's idea and also as he seems to be only the propagandist, he doesn't have his own idea".
His "criticism of life" idea is often marred by his naive moralizing, his inadequate perception between 'Art &morality' and his uncritical appreciation for "ancient Greeks". While Arnold is unable to practice the principle idea for "criticism of life" called disinterestedness. This idea is also criticized by T.S. Eliot of "merely being a repetition of Aristotle's idea and also as he seems to be only the propagandist, he doesn't have his own idea".
Follower of new critical approach yet becomes the victim of old criticism:
As unable to follow the ideology of his age, at times he becomes personal and criticizing "Shelley" and "Keats" for being too much follower of moral values, as "Shelley" for her works and "Keats" for writing letters to Fanny.
He doesn't like "the spasmodic expression of Romanticism". He advocated discipline in writing and recommended classical writers: On the latter ground he rejected Pope, Dryden, Wordsworth, Chaucer, Burns and considered "Gray" to be the 18th century's classicist but he was also accepted superficially as his production of works were scanty and frail. On equally grounds he favors Shakespeare(Rival of Burns), Virgil and Homer as they are belonging to "Classical era".
W.J. Long :
- He also says that "A critic is expected to know "the best which has been thought and said in the world" and by using this knowledge to create a current of fresh and free thought, but he/she should neither find faults nor display the critic's own learning and influence.
- Furthermore he says: We cannot speak with confidence of his rank in literature; but by his crystal-clear style, his scientific spirit of inquiry and comparison, illumined here and there by the play of humor and especially by his broad sympathy and intellectual culture, he seems destined to occupy a very high place among the masters of literary criticism".
Touchstone Method: "Which introduced scientific objectivity to critical evaluation by providing comparison and analysis as the two primary tools for judging individual poets".
Applicable Touchstone method theory: A critic should compare passages taken from works of great masters of poetry, and these passages should be applied as touchstones to other poetries.
For Example: A stanza from John Milton's "paradise lost":
that Sea-beast
Leviathan. which God of all his works
Created hugest that swim th’ Ocean stream:
Him haply slumbring on the Norway foam
The Pilot of some small night-founder’d Skiff,
Deeming some Island oft, as Sea-men tell,
With fixed Anchor in his skaly rind
Moors by his side under the Lee, while Night
Invests the Sea, and wished Morn delayes:
So stretcht out huge in length the Arch-fiend lay.
leviathan(click on the same word, metioned above to know the full applicable idea of the word)is a sea monster's name, that is referenced in "Hebrew bible" the book of job, psalms, the book of Isaiah and the book of Amos. The word later came to be used fro "the great whale" and also a monster in general.
We may have an idea from the very first phrase "sea-beast"/sea-monster. We also have here reference of the great whale(created hugest that swim th' ocean stream).
Hence we learnt here how "Arnold's critical values has its space" and how on some parameters it is failing to prove the real motto of the critic, how he himself and the other critics are criticizing him for inadequate like concept, what is the touchstone method and how it can be made possible to be applicable as shown above. Moreover we may say here that audience/readers and spectators(it can be also the writer/critic/poet of that or preceding age) seems to be the great critic than the critic of the particular age himself, because with what parameters/criteria the others can evaluate someone, he himself cannot. Thus we may assume here that the people and time are great than the writer/critic himself and perhaps in absence of both these aspects the critic is mere an unribbed puppet, who is supposed to be of no use.
-Task Assigned by Dilip Barad (sir)
Thankyou!
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