Victorian Era HistoryZach Munz

The 19th century was dominated by Queen Victoria's reign over Britain.

Lower and middle class demand reformsEconomic expansion, industrial consolidation, imperialism, colonial conflict, and war

Political History

Major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and transport

Machine-based manufacturingThe development of all-metal machinesMore production machines for manufacturing

in other industries

Industrial Revolution

Technology allowed people to communicate quicker and travel faster

Railways, canals, and steam shipThomas EdisonDevelopment of better anesthetics

Technology, Engineering, Medicine

The Great Exhibition of 1851, a World Fair in which some of the greatest innovations of the century were revealed.

The Crystal Palace, an engineering feat itself housed the event.

The Great Exhibition

PovertyChild Labor Increasing population OvercrowdingUnemploymentProstitution

Social History

Charles Darwin Evolution of the SpeciesReligion remained an inspiration for writers, architects, painters, and reformers

Religion vs. Science

The new shift towards modern times and industrialization can be seen in various literary works of the time period.

It is obvious that the Victorian Era and its rapid new development played a major role in inspiring writers, poets, artists, and musicians.

Unifying Principles

“Dover Beach” by Matthew ArnoldThe sea is calm to-night.The tide is full, the moon lies fairUpon the straits; on the French coast the lightGleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand;Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.Come to the window, sweet is the night-air!Only, from the long line of sprayWhere the sea meets the moon-blanched land,Listen! you hear the grating roarOf pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,At their return, up the high strand,Begin, and cease, and then again begin,With tremulous cadence slow, and bringThe eternal note of sadness in.

Sophocles long agoHeard it on the Aegaean, and it broughtInto his mind the turbid ebb and flowOf human misery; weFind also in the sound a thought,Hearing it by this distant northern sea.

The Sea of Faith

Was once, too, at the full, and round earth's shoreLay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.But now I only hearIts melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,Retreating, to the breathOf the night-wind, down the vast edges drearAnd naked shingles of the world.

Ah, love, let us be trueTo one another! for the world, which seemsTo lie before us like a land of dreams,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 plainSwept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,Where ignorant armies clash by night.

Title: “Dover Beach” refers to an actually physical place where the speaker is. Dover is an English ferry port that faces France. The reader knows this because of the title and the physical descriptions provided.

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Paraphrase:TPCASTT

The sea is flat.The tide is high.Looking from England’s shoreGleams of light from Frances coast can be seenThe light is bright and easy to see from the beachCome to the window and enjoy the beautiful night!The ocean splashes against the shore.Where the sea hits hard land,Listen! You can hear the roar Of pebbles which the waves bring back and forthCome and go and again come back,With resonating rhythm Representing an eternal sadness. From the Aegean islands Sophocles heard this roar long agoHe knew the flow of the ocean This can represent human misery; weKnow because of this sound a thought,Hearing it by this distant northern sea. 

Common faith, Used to crash against the earthBut now I only hearIts depressed long, withdrawing roar,Drowning faith, and returning to the oceanNow faith is absent Love and faith should be trueAlthough the world seems Like a land of dreams,With its beauty and newnessIt is a dark place with no love or joyThis can be seen as we stand here tonightOn beaches like this soldiers are confusedAnd ignorant armies clash by night.

Connotation:“Upon the straits; —on the French coast the light” looking across the channel to

see the French coastline“Only, from the long line of spray” mist for the waves that crash against the land“Sophocles long agoHeard it on the Aegean, and it brought” an allusion to a myth that involves

Sophocles on Aegean, an island off the coast. He heard the roar of these waves long ago.

"distant northern sea" is the English Channel which separates England from continental Europe and is the body of water that forms Dover beach.

“The Sea of Faith” refers to the undoubted religion that existed before times of scientific theory and discovery.

“Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, Where ignorant armies clash by night.” an allusion to an account of the

Peloponnesian War. The battle took place at night; the attacking army became disoriented while fighting.

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Attitude:The speaker represents a melancholy

attitude. This is obvious by the poet’s use of specific words to portray the speaker’s attitude. The speaker is disheartened that faith is no longer true.

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Shift:Between the second and the third stanza, the

poet shifts from a use of auditory images to describe the action of the tide itself. His metaphor allows the speaker to realize the loss of faith in the modern age.

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Title(revisited):Dover Beach is not only a place where a

speaker recognizes a naturalistic pattern, it can also be a metaphor for the loss of faith in the modern age.

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Theme:With the coming of the modern age, faith and

religion have been lost.

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