Matthew Arnold

George William Erskine RussellProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 356K words
Chapters: 36

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Matthew Arnold by George William Erskine RussellAuthor: Russell, George William Erskine, 1853-1919,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Sep 25, 2005

Editor's review

This is a biographical work on the Victorian English poet and critic Matthew Arnold, in which the author George W. E. Russell traces his life and literary activities from the perspective of a contemporary. The book presents not only Arnold's multiple roles as poet and critic but also reflects the atmosphere of nineteenth-century English cultural criticism. For readers who wish to understand Arnold the man and his writings and are not satisfied with encyclopedia-style entries, this biography offers a relatively coherent narrative thread. Reading it alongside Arnold's poems or critical essays such as Culture and Anarchy will make the correspondence between the biographical material and the works more apparent. The book is in English, and its prose bears the marks of its era; it is suited to slow reading and note-taking. Its overall value lies in its presentation of a life and its historical background rather than in systematic scholarly argument, and it is best used as an introductory biography and background reading.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students of English literature and readers studying Victorian literature
Literature enthusiasts who want to learn about Matthew Arnold's life and historical context
Readers who need biographical material to aid their understanding of Arnold's poetry and criticism
Readers with English reading ability who prefer biographies

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking systematic literary-theoretical analysis or academic textual research
Beginners who find English reading difficult and need a Chinese translation
Readers expecting a contemporary reassessment of Arnold

Reading tips

Read a few of Arnold's representative poems first, then the biography; the personal thread will be clearer
Take brief chronological notes by chapter to sort out the relationship between his life and the publication of his works
When a passage's historical background is unclear, consult materials on Victorian English history
Read the biographical narrative against Arnold's own criticism and note the author's stance

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Do I need to know about Matthew Arnold before reading this biography?

Prior systematic knowledge is not necessary, but having read a few of Arnold's poems or essays will make the works and events discussed in the biography easier to understand. Complete newcomers can also start with the life narrative.

Is this book an academic monograph or a popular biography?

From the materials, it is a biographical work written from a contemporary's perspective, with a strong narrative character rather than a theory-driven academic monograph. It is suitable as background reading.

How difficult is the original English?

The text is late nineteenth- to early twentieth-century English, with sentence structures and vocabulary characteristic of the period. It is generally readable but requires a certain vocabulary. A reading tool with a dictionary and reading slowly in sections are recommended.

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About the author

George William Erskine Russell Author · British · 1853–1919

George William Erskine Russell (1853–1919) was a British biographer, memoirist and Liberal politician. Born in London and educated at University College, Oxford, he sat in the House of Commons for Aylesbury and Biggleswade, served as Under-Secretary at the India Office and the Home Office under Gladstone and Rosebery, and was made a Privy Counsellor in 1907. His writings combine political observation with character portraiture. He is the author of a life of Gladstone, Matthew Arnold and Sydney Smith, as well as several volumes of reminiscence, including Collections and Recollections, Fifteen Chapters of Autobiography, Seeing and Hearing and Prime Ministers and Some Others. His graceful style and first-hand knowledge vividly evoke Victorian public life.