Matthew Arnold
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Matthew Arnolds melancholy in life, religion, and love
In "Dover Beach," Matthew Arnold discusses his religious views, the melancholy in his life, and a
new love, which he experiences by an isolated individual as he confronts the turbulent historical
forces and the loss of religious faith in the modern world. Matthew Arnold's faith in his religion is
lost, and he is awaiting his lost love. He is melancholy.
The main theme in Matthew Arnold's, "Dover Beach," is when an isolated individual experiences
anxiety as one is confronted by the turbulent historical forces and the loss of the religious faith in
the modern world. Matthew Arnold is an author who strongly voices his opinion on topics on
such topics as religion, life, love, and the sadness that goes along with what is gone or lost. For
example, Matthew Arnold states,
"Ah, love, let us be true
To one another! For the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
Stockburger 2
So various, so beautiful, so new
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night"
(Arnold, 830-831).
Matthew Arnold gives his views on life, love and the world. He explains that the world is similar
to a land of dreams, and that it is something beautiful and peaceful, but in actuality, Arnold says
that it is not. Arnold states that we are like the waves that crash and hit the shore, struggling and
fighting for our place on this earth...