Overcoming Matthew Arnold

Résumé

Opening the way for a reexamination of Matthew Arnold's contributions to ethical criticism, James Walter Caufield emphasizes the central role of philosophical pessimism in Arnold's master tropes of 'culture' and 'conduct.' He argues that Arnoldian conduct is grounded in an ethic of 'renouncement' that wholly informs both his poetry and prose and has continuing relevance to much contemporary ethical criticism.