During the Victorian Era, many poets and writers published poems that were used to
convey social or political ideas. Matthew Arnold was one of these writers, and he published his Dover
Beach poem in 1867 to reflect on the political and social climate of the era. Read
this summary of Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold to find out what his poem conveys
about Victorian society at the time it was written, as well as how it relates
to other works of poetry published around that time.
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Dover Beach summary [Matthew Arnold]
“Dover Beach” is a poem about a sea and a beach seemingly. The poem is truly beautiful and holds a much deeper meaning. Dover Beach has been written in free verse. In the poem, there is no particular meter or rhyme scheme, though some of the words do rhyme. This poem shows the loss of faith when the world transforms to industrialization and advancement in science and technology.
In the poem “Dover Beach”, the speaker sits with a
woman (probably his wife) inside a house/hotel. From the house they are
looking out over the English Channel near the town of Dover. On the coast
(side) of France, they can see the lights just about twenty miles away. The
ocean is calm, tranquil and peaceful. When the light over in France suddenly vanishes,
the speaker focuses on the English side which remains tranquil.
He trades visual Imagery for aural imagery. The speaker
describes the "grating roar" of the pebbles being pulled out
by the waves. He ends the first stanza by calling the music of the world an
"eternal note of sadness”. The second stanza flashes back to
ancient Greece, where Sophocles heard this same sound on the Aegean Sea. According
to the speaker, Sophocles was inspired by it to write his plays about human
misery.
The third stanza presents the primary metaphor of the poem
with "The Sea of Faith Was once too, at the full, and round earth's
shore”. This phrase shows that faith is not in society just as the tide is
from the shore. Through melancholy diction, the speaker laments this fading
belief.
In the final stanza, the speaker directly addresses his
beloved who is sitting next to him. He asks his beloved that they should always
be true to one another and to the world that is laid out before them. He warns,
however, that the world's beauty is just an illusion, since it is, in fact, a battlefield
full of people fighting in absolute darkness.
Dover Beach [question answer]
What is the conflict in Dover Beach?
Ans: The conflict in Dover Beach signifies the conflict going on in the
speaker's mind, between the outwardly beautiful scene and the symbolically
troubling world.
In Dover Beach, what is Matthew Arnold's concern?
Ans: Matthew Arnold's concern in this poem is to show the loss of faith,
religion, and the meaning of life resulting from industrialization and
advancement in science and technology.
How does the poet represent the loss of faith in the modern changing times?
Ans: As the speaker sees his contemporary society, it is moving from faith to
a science-based understanding of the world. The intellectual and spiritual life
of the world is in transition. The transitional nature of the beach, therefore,
makes the speaker think more deeply about faith, change, loss, and love.
What does the world look like? What is it in reality?
Ans: The world looks smart and beautiful but in reality, it is corrupted and
spiritually hollow.
What does "Dover Beach," say about love?
Ans: The loss of religion causes a crisis of spiritual faith. The speaker
turns to love as an answer for the loss of God. Perhaps, the poem suggests love
between people can compensate for the loss of the connection between God and
mankind. The speaker argues that love has the possibility of creating the
certainty that religion once did.
What is the
importance of being true to each other in a faithless world?
Ans: The speaker believes that love might provide a solution to the problem of
the loss of faith, but that only authentic love can hope to fill the gap
created by a loss of faith.
What is the meaning of the last three lines in Dover Beach?
Ans: In the last three lines, the speaker compares the group's
collective situation to standing on a flat and dark piece of land, which is
caught up in the chaos of fighting. Battles are being made among unknowing
groups under the cover of darkness.
How does Matthew Arnold show the conflict between religion and science in
Dover Beach?
Ans: Matthew Arnold is aware of the philosophical changes rising in western
society. He has experienced the crumbling of old establishments where people
were losing their faith in God with the development of science and technology.
Arnold has made a great effort to carve out the complete picture of the world's
goodness and evil.
The first stanza begins with a frank portrayal of the sea and with the
effects of light on it. Though there is momentary excitement, it concludes that
the moonstruck sea induces sadness. A perfect ray of melancholy flows into the
second stanza too. In the third stanza, the idea of religion is introduced. The
reader now enjoys the contrast between the low tide of faith and the high tide
of the evolution of science and technology.
In a vacuum, the speaker suggests that only well-woven love between
individuals can withstand the negative forces in the world in the fourth
stanza. This kind of love can bring meaning to an otherwise confused and
confusing world. In the end, it can be summed up that "Dover Beach"
is a perfect picture of Victorian Society, its cause, sufferings, and its
achievements. Arnold's work portrays all shades of human character in a poem
with the help of his changing moods and tone, stanza-wise.
How does the
poem "Dover Beach" imply that in the contemporary spiritual
wasteland, love is the only consolation?
Ans: “Dover Beach” is a poem with a complete portrayal of society. Through
this poem, Arnold thought that poetry may replace the importance of religion
and rise as a new spiritual source in the exhausting society. The melancholy
tone of this poem is a wonderful treat by Mathew Arnold. In this poem, Mathew
Arnold has tried to make a great representation of the Victorian Period (19th
century). It was a time when science and evolutionary theories were rising with
immense pressure on religion, as a threat to its existence.
Technology was taking away peace and faith out of life. This inspired a lot
of writers to take on a melancholy tone in their works. While reasoning
Arnold's somber tone, it looks like he is coming to terms with the way the
world works, feeling depressed and sad.
The poem, "Dover Beach" is such a perfect portrait of the
Victorian era but the poet seems lost and lonely in his situation, unable to
converse with the human being next to him. The poem starts with a hopeful tone
but by the end of the poem, in its last stanza, it unveils the harshness of the
world.
"Dover Beach" is a lament for humanity in the face of modernity and progress. Discuss.
Ans: In the poem, the poet brings the narrative to a point where the reader is
stuck between the celebration of beauty and lament for humanity. The time and
background of the poet need to be considered to understand this. Ironically, on
the ocean, the tumult of nature is nothing compared to the tumult of this new
way of life. It is this latter tumult that terrifies the speaker and makes him
beg his lover to stay true to him. He fears that the chaos of the modern world
will be too. The poem indicates a certain type of poetic experience, in which
the poet focuses on a single moment to discover profound depths. Here, the moment
is the speaker’s serenity in studying the landscape. To achieve that end, the
poem uses a lot of imagery and sensory information.