Matthew Arnold, the Development of a Social Critic

Since time began, mankind has learned to cope with change as a consistent element of life. History is partly a record of man\u27s response to changes in people, in physical circumstances, in social conditions, in moral attitudes. Change, therefore has always been an integral part of living, but in Victorian England, the changes taking place were so tremendous, so numerous and so widespread in their effect as to have a dominating influence on the work of certain authors or the period. The Victorian period, during the decades 1850 – 1870, rife with change and turbulence, saw the rise of Matthew Arnold, a social critic. The son of Dr. Thomas Arnold, the famous educator and Rugby headmaster, Matthew Arnold was already widely recognized as a major poet and scholar