Charles Lyell’s Churches and the Erosion of Faith in Matthew Arnold’s “Dover Beach”
The author discusses how in the poem “Dover Beach” (1851-52) Matthew Arnold engages with literary texts of the past as well as with works of contemporary writers. Thus parallels in Arnold’s text with passages written by Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, Thucydides, Arthur Clough, William Shakespeare, a...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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LED - Edizioni Universitarie di Lettere Economia Diritto
2014-07-01
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| Series: | Linguae &: Rivista di Lingue e Culture Moderne |
| Online Access: | http://www.ledonline.it/index.php/linguae/article/view/733 |
| _version_ | 1797230488799150080 |
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| author | Ivo Klaver |
| author_facet | Ivo Klaver |
| author_sort | Ivo Klaver |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The author discusses how in the poem “Dover Beach” (1851-52) Matthew Arnold engages with literary texts of the past as well as with works of contemporary writers. Thus parallels in Arnold’s text with passages written by Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, Thucydides, Arthur Clough, William Shakespeare, and William Wordsworth are highlighted. Special attention is paid to Arnold’s metaphor of the retreating tide of the sea of faith by linking it to the processes of erosion described in great detail in the first volume of Charles Lyell’s influential Principles of Geology (1830), and it is argued that the numerous descriptions and woodcuts of collapsing churches along the British coast in this volume might have inspired Arnold to represent the loss of faith as a process of erosion. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T15:29:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-db697788195d482592c4658e57e36aef |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2281-8952 1724-8698 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T15:29:17Z |
| publishDate | 2014-07-01 |
| publisher | LED - Edizioni Universitarie di Lettere Economia Diritto |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Linguae &: Rivista di Lingue e Culture Moderne |
| spelling | doaj.art-db697788195d482592c4658e57e36aef2024-04-02T05:23:26ZengLED - Edizioni Universitarie di Lettere Economia DirittoLinguae &: Rivista di Lingue e Culture Moderne2281-89521724-86982014-07-01131213410.7358/ling-2014-001-klav603Charles Lyell’s Churches and the Erosion of Faith in Matthew Arnold’s “Dover Beach”Ivo Klaver0Università degli Studi di Urbino Carlo BoThe author discusses how in the poem “Dover Beach” (1851-52) Matthew Arnold engages with literary texts of the past as well as with works of contemporary writers. Thus parallels in Arnold’s text with passages written by Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, Thucydides, Arthur Clough, William Shakespeare, and William Wordsworth are highlighted. Special attention is paid to Arnold’s metaphor of the retreating tide of the sea of faith by linking it to the processes of erosion described in great detail in the first volume of Charles Lyell’s influential Principles of Geology (1830), and it is argued that the numerous descriptions and woodcuts of collapsing churches along the British coast in this volume might have inspired Arnold to represent the loss of faith as a process of erosion.http://www.ledonline.it/index.php/linguae/article/view/733 |
| spellingShingle | Ivo Klaver Charles Lyell’s Churches and the Erosion of Faith in Matthew Arnold’s “Dover Beach” Linguae &: Rivista di Lingue e Culture Moderne |
| title | Charles Lyell’s Churches and the Erosion of Faith in Matthew Arnold’s “Dover Beach” |
| title_full | Charles Lyell’s Churches and the Erosion of Faith in Matthew Arnold’s “Dover Beach” |
| title_fullStr | Charles Lyell’s Churches and the Erosion of Faith in Matthew Arnold’s “Dover Beach” |
| title_full_unstemmed | Charles Lyell’s Churches and the Erosion of Faith in Matthew Arnold’s “Dover Beach” |
| title_short | Charles Lyell’s Churches and the Erosion of Faith in Matthew Arnold’s “Dover Beach” |
| title_sort | charles lyell s churches and the erosion of faith in matthew arnold s dover beach |
| url | http://www.ledonline.it/index.php/linguae/article/view/733 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ivoklaver charleslyellschurchesandtheerosionoffaithinmatthewarnoldsdoverbeach |