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Culture and Anarchy


Culture and Anarchy: An Essay in Political and Social Criticism is a collection of essays by the English poet, essayist, and cultural critic Matthew Arnold, originally serialized in the Cornhill Magazine in 1868 and published in book form in 1869. Written in the aftermath of the Second Reform Act of 1867, which expanded suffrage amid social unrest, the work responds to Arnold's observations of working-class agitation and broader Victorian anxieties over individualism and industrial progress. Arnold defines culture as "the study of perfection," embodying the pursuit of "" through engagement with the best ideas and knowledge, positioning it as a stabilizing force against —the chaos born of unchecked personal and the "doing as one likes" prevalent in liberal thought. He divides British society into three classes: the Barbarians (, bound by but rigid), the Philistines (, materialistic and nonconformist in religion), and the Populace (, prone to raw energy without direction), arguing that none fully embodies cultural ideals and that state-guided is needed to cultivate reason and balance (moral strictness) with (intellectual spontaneity). The essays the machinery of political reforms and religious , advocating culture's transformative in fostering social harmony over machinery or doctrinal rigidity, influencing subsequent debates on cultural and the of the state in .

Publication and Composition

Original Essays in Periodicals

The essays that formed the basis of Culture and Anarchy originated as periodical contributions in the Cornhill Magazine, a prominent Victorian literary publication edited by William Makepeace Thackeray's successors and known for featuring works by leading intellectuals. The inaugural essay, later revised as Chapter I ("Sweetness and Light") in the book, appeared in July 1867 and introduced Arnold's core concept of culture as a pursuit of "the best that has been thought and said in the world," drawing from Jonathan Swift's phrase to advocate for intellectual and moral refinement amid social discord. This piece critiqued contemporary British society's emphasis on machinery and industrial progress over humanistic ideals, provoking responses from figures like Frederic Harrison, a positivist critic who defended middle-class activism. In response to ensuing debates, particularly around the 1867 Reform Act and public unrest, composed a series of five essays collectively titled "Anarchy and Authority," serialized in across 1868. These installments—published in , , June, July, and August—elaborated on themes of social classes (Barbarians, , Populace), the dangers of unchecked ("doing as one likes"), and the need for state intervention to foster cultural equilibrium, directly addressing critics who accused of . The 1868 essay, for instance, expanded on authority's role in curbing , while the piece intensified the with Harrison by questioning positivism's adequacy for societal harmony. These periodical pieces totaled approximately 50 pages across issues, reflecting 's iterative engagement with before compilation. The Cornhill Magazine context was pivotal, as its middle-class readership aligned with Arnold's target audience of "," allowing him to test ideas on those he sought to influence toward greater cultural awareness. No other periodicals hosted these specific essays, though Arnold's related criticisms appeared elsewhere, such as in Macmillan's Magazine. The format enabled real-time revisions based on reader feedback, enhancing the work's polemical edge, but also exposed it to fragmented reception before the unified form provided a more cohesive argument.

Compilation into Book Form

The essays originally serialized in between 1867 and 1868 were collected and issued as a single volume titled Culture and Anarchy: An Essay in Political and in 1869 by the London publisher Smith, Elder and Co. at 15 Waterloo Place. This first edition comprised preliminary leaves, a of iv–lx pages, and 272 pages of main text, marking the transition from fragmented periodical appearances to a unified printed work. The compilation consolidated the series—initially presented under subtitles addressing cultural and social themes—into a continuous discourse, facilitating Arnold's systematic critique of Victorian society's tendencies toward disorder. Published amid ongoing debates on and class tensions, the book edition reached a wider audience than the magazine installments, with Smith, Elder and Co. handling production and distribution as Arnold's established firm for prior works like Essays in Criticism. No major structural alterations to the sequence occurred during compilation, preserving the original flow while enabling the addition of framing to contextualize the whole. The 1869 volume's format, including its size and binding, aligned with standard Victorian literary publishing practices for essay collections, ensuring accessibility to educated readers.

Preface and Revisions

The preface to Culture and Anarchy was composed by Matthew Arnold exclusively for the 1869 book edition published by Smith, Elder & Co., compiling essays originally serialized in Cornhill Magazine from January to August 1868 under titles such as "Sweetness and Light" and "Doing as One Likes." Unlike the periodical versions, the preface serves to frame the collection's overarching thesis, emphasizing culture's role in mitigating social discord by fostering a harmonious pursuit of human perfection through acquaintance with "the best that has been thought and said in the world." Arnold opens by exhorting the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge to prioritize this broad cultural ideal over sectarian dogma, arguing that true religion aligns with culture's disinterested pursuit of totality rather than partial or mechanical interpretations of doctrine. He anticipates criticisms of the work's apparent lack of practicality, defending its speculative tone as essential for transcending the era's partisan feuds between liberals, conservatives, and radicals. Subsequent editions of Culture and Anarchy incorporated revisions by , reflecting his responses to public reception and evolving context. The second edition, published in 1875, featured careful emendations, including the excision of passages Arnold viewed as excessively polemical or tied to transient events, such as specific allusions to the 1867 Reform Act's aftermath. For example, a critiquing contemporary political was shortened to avoid alienating readers amid shifting alliances post-1870s reforms like open competition. These changes aimed to sharpen the text's universal applicability, though they occasionally softened Arnold's original barbed commentary on Victorian society's "anarchy." Later printings, up to the early , retained this revised base with minor orthographic and stylistic adjustments, but scholarly editions like the 1993 reprint restore the unaltered 1869 version to preserve Arnold's initial intent amid post-publication controversies. The Texts edition further documents these variants, establishing a that highlights how revisions tempered but did not fundamentally alter the core advocacy for culture as a stabilizing force against and machinery.

Historical and Intellectual Context

Victorian Social Upheavals

The , spanning 1837 to 1901, witnessed profound social disruptions driven by the accelerating , which transformed from a predominantly agrarian society into the world's leading industrial power. surged as rural workers migrated to factories in cities like and ; by the 1850s, industrial centers had populations exceeding 300,000, with overcrowded slums fostering disease outbreaks, such as the 1848-1849 epidemic that killed over 50,000 across due to contaminated water and poor sanitation. Factory conditions exacerbated hardships, with textile workers enduring 14-16 hour shifts in mechanized mills, child labor common until limited reforms like the 1833 Factory Act restricted children under 9, though enforcement remained lax. Class antagonisms intensified amid these changes, as the emergent —comprising professionals and manufacturers earning £100-£1,000 annually—expanded, while the , often below subsistence wages, faced chronic and ; reports from the indicated average urban laborers earned 15-20 shillings weekly, insufficient for families amid rising food costs post-Corn Laws in 1846. The 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, establishing workhouses, deepened resentment by treating poverty as moral failing, prompting widespread protests and reinforcing perceptions of elite detachment from laborers' plight. Political agitation peaked with the (1838-1857), the first nationwide working-class campaign for democratic reforms including universal male suffrage, secret ballots, and payment for MPs; its 1842 petition garnered 3.3 million signatures, reflecting mass disenfranchisement after the 1832 Reform Act's limited expansion of voting to middle-class males. Though Chartism waned after failed 1848 uprisings amid economic recovery, its legacy fueled ongoing demands, evident in the 1860s Reform League's mobilization of over 200,000 demonstrators in on July 23, 1866, where crowds breached railings in clashes with police, heightening fears of mob rule. This unrest precipitated the 1867 Reform Act, enfranchising approximately 938,000 additional urban householders and doubling the electorate to 2.5 million, yet it amplified anxieties over uneducated masses wielding political power without corresponding social stability. Trade union growth and strikes further underscored fractures, with organizations like the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (1851) coordinating actions against wage cuts, while events like the 1866 Sheffield Outrages—alleged union violence including explosions and assaults—intensified middle-class suspicions of working-class militancy. These upheavals, rooted in economic dislocation and demands for inclusion, challenged traditional hierarchies, prompting debates on , morality, and governance amid Britain's imperial expansion.

Arnold's Personal Influences

Matthew Arnold was born on December 24, 1822, as the eldest son of (1795–1842), a clergyman and influential educator who became headmaster of in 1828. Thomas Arnold advocated an education that fostered moral rigor, religious devotion, and social utility, prioritizing character formation and broad knowledge—including classics, history, and modern languages—over narrow vocational training or selfish ; this paternal emphasis on education as a tool for societal improvement directly informed Matthew Arnold's conception of culture in Culture and Anarchy as a pursuit of collective perfection and harmony. Arnold's early schooling reflected his father's methods, beginning with private tutoring at Laleham—his father's preparatory establishment—and progressing to in 1837, followed by a disciplinary year at , where he won prizes for Latin verse. He initially resisted Thomas Arnold's austere influence, favoring dandyism and intellectual detachment during his youth, but his father's sudden death from heart complications on June 12, 1842, prompted a shift toward greater academic seriousness and engagement with public duties. At , starting in 1841 with a , Arnold pursued intensively, attaining a second-class honors degree in in 1844 and later a fellowship at Oriel College; this immersion in Greek and Roman thought cultivated his lifelong affinity for as a counterbalance to rigid , a tension central to Culture and Anarchy's of versus Hebraic strictness. His appointment as schools inspector in exposed him to the limitations of utilitarian among working-class children, reinforcing his critique of machinery-driven progress and advocacy for cultural elevation; sustained correspondence with close friend (1819–1861), a fellow poet and doubter of orthodox faith, further honed Arnold's reconciliation of aesthetic with communal .

Philosophical Predecessors

Arnold's conception of culture in Culture and Anarchy (1869) drew substantially from Platonic philosophy, which emphasized the pursuit of intellectual truth and moral perfection as antidotes to societal discord. Plato's ideal of virtue grounded in philosophical insight, rather than mere self-discipline or convention, underpinned Arnold's advocacy for culture as a harmonizing force against anarchy; Arnold cited Plato's view that practical virtue alone lacks the elevation provided by "perfect intellectual vision." This Platonic framework informed Arnold's "best self," a collective ideal transcending class interests through rational discernment of the good. Socrates, as a foundational figure in thought, similarly influenced 's stress on self-examination and ethical inquiry as pathways to societal stability. invoked Socratic ideals to argue that culture resolves moral dilemmas by fostering critical reason over unreflective action, echoing Socrates' method of questioning assumptions to uncover underlying truths. The -Hebraic dichotomy central to the work traced its philosophical roots to antiquity's contrasting impulses: emphasis on speculative knowledge and balance versus the Judaic focus on moral conduct and obedience. , for , embodied the Greek philosophers' quest for clarity and proportion, as in Aristotle's , which prefigured his own call for cultural equilibrium amid Victorian excesses. , conversely, reflected prophetic ethics prioritizing righteousness, yet critiqued its dominance in life for stifling flexibility without leavening. In the modern era, served as a key predecessor, embodying the synthesis sought between these traditions. Goethe's (1749–1832) expansive worldview and advocacy for — toward wholeness—shaped 's definition of culture as "the pursuit of our total perfection," with Goethe hailed as modern Europe's clearest thinker for bridging and ethical rigor. linked Goethe's influence explicitly to countering democratic anarchy through cultivated reason.

Structure and Summary of the Work

Overall Organization

Culture and Anarchy is structured as a preface followed by five chapters, reflecting its origins as a compilation of essays originally published serially. The preface, which occupies pages iii to lx in the first edition, provides an extended defense of the work's thesis and responds to contemporary criticisms of Arnold's views on culture and reform. The subsequent chapters are numbered Roman I through V without titles in the 1869 edition, allowing for a thematic rather than strictly narrative progression that builds from foundational concepts to societal critique and proposed remedies. In later editions, such as the third edition of 1882, descriptive titles were added to the chapters for clarity: Chapter I as "," Chapter II as "Doing as One Likes," Chapter III as "Barbarians, , Populace," Chapter IV as " and ," and Chapter V as "Porro Unum est Necessarium." This organization facilitates Arnold's dialectical approach, wherein each chapter expands on prior arguments, contrasting cultural ideals with prevailing social tendencies while avoiding rigid linear argumentation typical of treatises. The absence of subtitles in the original underscores the essayistic fluidity, enabling interconnections across sections without formal divisions. The work concludes without a separate , as Chapter synthesizes the preceding analysis into a call for state-enabled cultural expansion to mitigate . This compact , totaling around 200 pages in early printings, prioritizes rhetorical persuasion over exhaustive systematization, aligning with Arnold's emphasis on culture's holistic influence rather than piecemeal .

Key Chapters and Essays

Chapter I: Sweetness and Light
In the opening chapter, originally published as the essay "Culture and Its Enemies" in Cornhill Magazine on July 1, 1867, Arnold defines culture as "the pursuit of our total perfection by means of getting to know, on all the matters which most concern us, the best which has been thought and said in the world." He contrasts this ideal with the "disparagers of culture," who view it merely as idle curiosity, exclusiveness, or vanity, and argues that true culture promotes "sweetness and light"—qualities derived from Hellenic spontaneity and humanistic broadening of the mind—rather than narrow utilitarianism or machinery of daily life. Arnold critiques the raw energy of modern England, warning that without culture's harmonizing influence, it risks descending into anarchy, exemplified by events like the Hyde Park disturbances of 1866. Chapter II: Doing as One Likes
This chapter, drawn from essays in Cornhill Magazine (November 1867) and Pall Mall Gazette, challenges the prevailing liberal doctrine that individual liberty, or "doing as one likes," suffices for social progress. Arnold contends this principle, rooted in Benthamite individualism, fosters disorder by prioritizing personal whims over collective reason, particularly among Nonconformists who emphasize machinery and doing over knowing. He illustrates with references to contemporary debates on church disestablishment and reform, asserting that unchecked liberty leads to the "anarchy" of clashing interests rather than true freedom, which requires submission to a higher, cultivated standard. Chapter III: Barbarians, Philistines, Populace
Here, delineates British society into three classes: the Barbarians (, with their feudal codes and instinctive honor but detachment from industrial realities), the (, dominated by business, Nonconformity, and Biblical yet blind to cultural deficits), and the Populace (, raw and uneducated, prone to raw power without direction). Published amid post-Reform Act tensions in 1868, the chapter analyzes how each class's strengths devolve into weaknesses without 's leavening—Barbarians into aloofness, into materialistic smugness, and Populace into potential violence—as seen in references to Chartist movements and agitations. He posits that , indifferent to class, offers a unifying force beyond partisan machinery. Chapter IV: Hebraism and Hellenism
Arnold explores the tension between —emphasizing moral strictness, conduct, and the "narrow" path of , as in Puritan traditions—and , which prioritizes intellectual flexibility, beauty, and the "expansive" pursuit of , exemplified by thought. Drawing on Biblical and classical sources, he argues that modern over-relies on Hebraic rigor at the expense of spontaneity, leading to a society energetic in action but deficient in balanced judgment. , he maintains, seeks equilibrium, transforming these forces into instruments for human perfection rather than divisive absolutes, with examples from religious and . Chapter V: Our Liberal Practitioners
The concluding chapter critiques liberal reformers—whom terms "Benthamites" and "practical men"—for their faith in machinery, extensions of , and market-driven solutions without addressing cultural voids. Originally essays from early 1868, it advocates to foster and , countering the "doing as one likes" with "doing as one ought," and warns against alien influences like Fenianism exacerbating . calls for central authority to promote the best self, echoing his view that true arises from fragmented , not external threats.

Central Argument Outline


Matthew Arnold's central argument in Culture and Anarchy (1869) asserts that culture, defined as the pursuit of total human perfection by engaging with the finest thoughts and expressions humanity has produced, serves as the essential counterforce to the anarchy engendered by unchecked individualism and societal fragmentation in mid-Victorian Britain. Arnold contends that without this cultural orientation, society devolves into disorder, as evidenced by the social unrest following the Reform Act of 1867, which expanded suffrage but amplified class antagonisms and demands for unfettered personal liberty. Culture, in his view, is not mere refinement or possession of knowledge but an ongoing process of growth and becoming, fostering "sweetness and light"—qualities of beauty, intelligence, and disinterested pursuit of excellence that transcend narrow self-interest. Central to Arnold's thesis is a of the dominant of "doing as one likes," which he argues promotes by elevating caprice over reason and , leading to , mechanical habits, and a "natural taste for the " across classes. He delineates society into three classes—the Barbarians (, bound by but rigid), the (, obsessed with industrial "machinery" and business), and the Populace (, prone to raw energy without direction)—each exhibiting defects that exacerbate division when guided solely by personal freedom rather than cultural ideals. This fragmentation, Arnold warns, manifests in phenomena like political agitation, sectarian dissidence, and a fixation on material progress, all undermining national cohesion. Arnold proposes that the state must embody the nation's "best self" or "right reason," acting as a unifying to establish and advance cultural , rather than merely safeguarding individual rights or facilitating economic machinery. By wielding "stringent powers" judiciously, the state can curb anarchic excesses, such as mob violence or class favoritism, and promote institutions that integrate citizens into a shared pursuit of totality, including reformed religious establishments to mitigate provincialism. True , he insists, resides not in of action but in service to this higher cultural standard, enabling harmonious development. Underpinning this framework is the balance between —emphasizing moral strictness, earnestness, and conduct—and —prioritizing spontaneity, flexibility, and intelligible law—wherein harmonizes these impulses to achieve comprehensive perfection, avoiding the one-sidedness of either. positions as the "sovereign" educator and "true nurse" of perfection, urging its dissemination to counteract the era's mechanical routines and stock notions, ultimately guiding society toward stability and elevation.

Core Concepts and Definitions

Culture as the Pursuit of Perfection

In the preface to Culture and Anarchy, published in 1869, Matthew Arnold articulates culture as "the pursuit of our total perfection by means of getting to know, on all the matters which most concern us, the best which has been thought and said in the world." This definition positions culture not as mere acquaintance with literature or arts, but as a deliberate endeavor toward comprehensive human improvement, encompassing intellectual, moral, and social dimensions. Arnold emphasizes that such perfection requires engaging with enduring insights from philosophy, poetry, and history, rather than ephemeral trends or utilitarian pursuits. Arnold's conception of perfection derives from a holistic view of , where the "total" aspect implies balanced development of the individual within , avoiding the fragmentation caused by excessive specialization or . He argues that fosters this by cultivating discernment and reason, enabling individuals to transcend narrow and contribute to collective harmony. Unlike doctrines focused solely on conduct or doing, prioritizes knowing as the foundation for right action, critiquing Victorian 's overreliance on industrial "machinery" that neglects inner growth. This pursuit manifests in the integration of "," where sweetness represents beauty and flexibility of mind drawn from influences, and light signifies truth and moral rigor from Hebraic traditions. posits that true unites these, making reason and divine will prevail over . For , culture's role is remedial, countering the dissatisfactions of by promoting a disinterested pursuit of excellence, applicable to personal and public life alike.

Sweetness and Light

In Culture and Anarchy (1869), Matthew Arnold introduces "sweetness and light" as the essential qualities that culture imparts to society, with "sweetness" denoting beauty, grace, and the aesthetic dimension, and "light" signifying intelligence, truth, and intellectual clarity. This phrase, borrowed from Jonathan Swift's The Battle of the Books (1704), where Swift attributes to ancient critics the provision of "honeyed words" yielding sweetness and light, is repurposed by Arnold to characterize culture's civilizing influence. Arnold posits that culture originates in the "love of perfection," pursuing an inward condition of the mind and spirit that manifests externally through these harmonious attributes, countering the discord of modern industrial "machinery" and narrow partisanship. Arnold defines culture not as mere curiosity or exclusiveness, but as a comprehensive effort to "know the best that has been said and thought in the world," thereby fostering as pathways to human perfection akin to poetry's unifying law. He asserts that culture's singular passion is for these qualities, abhorring hatred and provincialism, and seeking to align human endeavor with reason and the divine will. In the first chapter, titled "," illustrates this through the Greek ideal of euphuesis—a balanced, cultivated —contrasting it with the one-sidedness of contemporary English life, where prioritize practicality over holistic development. This concept underscores culture's role in mitigating by promoting flexibility and totality, rather than rigid doctrines or mechanical progress. Arnold warns that without , society risks vulgarity and fragmentation, as evidenced by the era's reformist zeal post-Second Reform Act of 1867, which he saw as exacerbating division without elevating the populace's inner life. Thus, represent not ornamental luxuries but vital antidotes to the "doing as one likes" ethos threatening social cohesion.

Hebraism Versus Hellenism

In Culture and Anarchy, Matthew Arnold contrasts Hebraism and Hellenism as the two primary influences on human nature and cultural development, each addressing fundamental human needs but requiring balance for optimal progress. Hebraism, drawn from the Hebrew Bible and reinforced through Christianity, centers on strictness of conscience, prioritizing moral conduct, self-conquest, obedience to law, and righteous action as paths to salvation and order. This force emphasizes "doing"—the practical application of ethical imperatives—manifesting in historical movements like Puritanism, where rigorous self-denial and adherence to divine commands shaped societal discipline. Hellenism, inspired by and arts, embodies spontaneity of consciousness, fostering flexibility, , and the direct apprehension of through reason and . describes its governing impulse as "seeing things as they are," promoting the pursuit of knowledge, charm, and proportion over rigid dogma, as exemplified in figures like , who sought truth through dialectical inquiry rather than prescriptive morality. Unlike Hebraism's focus on inward moral struggle, encourages outward expansion of the mind, yielding "" through aesthetic and rational harmony. Arnold argues that neither force constitutes the complete "law of human development," but each contributes essential elements; Hebraism provides moral fiber against anarchy, while Hellenism counters Hebraic excess with intellectual freedom, preventing cultural stagnation. In mid-19th-century , he observes an overreliance on Hebraism among the middle classes and Nonconformists, whose emphasis on personal and fostered narrow practicality and "machinery" of , sidelining broader cultural refinement. True , for , mediates this tension by integrating flexibility to temper Hebraic rigor, enabling to achieve wholeness rather than fragmented zeal. This reflects Arnold's broader of Victorian imbalances: Hebraism's dominance, while stabilizing against , risks and , as seen in the era's evangelical fervor and laissez-faire economics, which prioritized conduct over contemplation. , though underrepresented, offers corrective spontaneity, akin to the revival of classical learning that admired for its civilizing influence. By advocating synthesis, positions culture as the arbiter, warning that unchecked Hebraism leads to the "intemperate zeal" he associates with religious dissidents, while pure invites dilettantism without moral anchor.

Analysis of British Society

The Three Social Classes

In Culture and Anarchy (1869), delineates English society into three broad classes—Barbarians, Philistines, and Populace—as a framework for diagnosing cultural deficiencies and the resultant risk of social disorder. This tripartite division, introduced in Chapter III, serves not as a rigid but as a to illustrate how class-specific instincts hinder the pursuit of holistic , with each group embodying partial virtues yet succumbing to self-interested "doing as one likes." contends that true culture transcends these boundaries by harmonizing the "best self" across society, countering the anarchy bred by unchecked individualism. The Barbarians represent the , whose derives from feudal traditions emphasizing personal , honor, and physical prowess. likens them to historical invaders who imposed a marked by , good breeding, field sports, and an ease of demeanor, fostering strengths such as vigor, politeness, and self-confidence. Yet, their culture remains superficially external—prioritizing worldly splendor, security, and pleasure over intellectual depth—rendering them largely inaccessible to new ideas or the "" of reason, thus limiting their capacity for inward and aesthetic refinement. The denote the , characterized by industriousness, , and a devotion to practical machinery of and nonconformist . praises their earnestness and ability to achieve tangible feats, such as economic expansion, but critiques their narrow focus on material success, comfort (exemplified by tea meetings and chapels), and resistance to broader cultural ideals, leading to a "dismal and illiberal" existence devoid of . This class's graver self pursues money-making, while its relaxed side seeks respectability, yet both evade the essential for perfection, perpetuating through unreflective class instincts. The Populace comprises the working class and urban poor, whom Arnold describes as the raw, half-formed residuum outside established influences, prone to assertive outbursts like public marches or vandalism in pursuit of immediate self-interest. While acknowledging latent strengths—such as sympathetic instincts and readiness for action in crises—they are marred by defects including envy, brutality, and a failure to temper impulses with sympathy or foresight, often aligning temporarily with Philistine agitation or descending into chaos. Arnold views them as least integrated into cultural discourse, yet posits their potential redemption through exposure to the best self, warning that neglect fosters the raw material for societal upheaval.

Critiques of Philistia and Machinery

In Culture and Anarchy, designates the as the of Victorian , encompassing commercial and industrial figures such as manufacturers, merchants, and dissenting religious nonconformists, whom he portrays as energetic yet culturally narrow, prioritizing practical pursuits over or aesthetic refinement. He critiques their dominance in "," a metaphorical realm where material success and eclipse the pursuit of flexibility, beauty, and totality, resulting in a society marked by rigid Hebraic moralism without balancing . argues that the ' resistance to cultural elevation perpetuates social stagnation, as their "wise" captains of view nonconformity in religion or as virtuous but fail to apply the same scrutiny to their mechanical habits of , fostering a false sense of progress. Central to Arnold's indictment of the Philistines is their "faith in machinery," a term he employs to denote an overreliance on external systems, institutional reforms, and practical mechanisms—such as parliamentary extensions of or free-trade policies—pursued as ends in themselves without guidance from disinterested reason or cultural standards. This , which Arnold identifies as the "besetting danger" of the English character particularly among , manifests in uncritical endorsement of ("doing as one likes") and state apparatuses that prioritize immediate utility over holistic perfection, leading to fragmented efforts like the 1866 disturbances where crowd clashed with . He contends that such machinery, exemplified by the middle class's idolization of industrial efficiency despite evident urban poverty in London's East End, generates by substituting mechanical action for the unity provides, as wealth and reforms become "machinery" divorced from spiritual ends. Arnold's critique extends to the Philistines' conflation of machinery with moral virtue, where their Dissenting traditions emphasize personal doing over collective harmony, exacerbating class divisions and rendering society vulnerable to raw impulses without the restraining "best self." He warns that this approach, unchecked by culture's "free play of the mind," reduces human endeavors to soulless routine, as seen in the middle class's defense of nonconformist liberties that prioritize private judgment over public good, ultimately undermining the flexibility needed for national coherence. Rather than abolishing machinery outright, Arnold advocates subordinating it to cultural ideals, urging Philistines—who hold sway as the most powerful class—to recognize its limits and integrate Hellenism to avert the chaos of unguided practicality.

The Role of the Populace and Barbarians

In Culture and Anarchy, Matthew Arnold delineates the Barbarians as the aristocratic and upper classes, who embody a feudal legacy of "energy, high spirit, and good looks" but exhibit a characteristic "inaccessibility to ideas" that limits their adaptability to the complexities of modern . This class, rooted in traditions of honor, liberality, and personal daring, maintains through inherited privileges and a code that prioritizes action over reflective thought, rendering them ill-equipped to foster the intellectual harmony Arnold deems essential for national progress. Their role, in Arnold's view, perpetuates anachronistic divisions by clinging to outdated hierarchies, which, while providing in pre-industrial eras, now hinder the of diverse societal under a unifying cultural ideal. The Populace, comprising the working classes, occupies the opposite extreme as the "raw and half-developed" masses, largely estranged from the refining influences of education and tradition, and thus susceptible to impulsive, destructive tendencies. Arnold observes their potential for vitality and numerical strength but warns of their proneness to anarchy, exemplified by events such as the 1866 Hyde Park demonstrations against voting reforms, where unrestrained demands for "doing as one likes" threatened public order without the counterbalance of disciplined reason. Unlike the self-regulating Philistines, the Populace lacks internal checks, making them vulnerable to radical agitation and capable of overwhelming societal structures if not elevated by state-sponsored culture. Collectively, assigns to the Barbarians and Populace a peripheral yet destabilizing role in Britain's social fabric: the former as relics of a bygone order that resist , and the latter as an untamed force that amplifies chaos in an era of expanding and materialism. He contends that neither class possesses the "best self"—the disinterested pursuit of —to mediate between and , necessitating external intervention through a cultured to avert fragmentation. This underscores Arnold's broader thesis that true social cohesion demands transcending class-bound limitations via Hellenic sweetness and light, rather than relying on the partial virtues or vices of these groups.

Critiques of Institutions and Reforms

Education and State Intervention

In Culture and Anarchy (1869), contended that the absence of a comprehensive national system in exacerbated social fragmentation and the risk of , necessitating active state intervention to disseminate culture as a unifying force. He criticized the existing patchwork of voluntary schools, predominantly controlled by religious denominations, for failing to transcend sectarian divisions and provide equitable access to intellectual development for all classes. , drawing from his experience as Her Majesty's Inspector of Schools since , argued that such decentralized efforts perpetuated a "natural taste for the " among the populace, leaving them susceptible to raw rather than the disciplined pursuit of . Arnold advocated modeling England's approach on the Prussian , where the directly patronized and oversaw to instill "right reason" and order, thereby cultivating the "best self" over the impulsive "ordinary self." He emphasized that state-directed education could counteract the middle-class emphasis on "doing as one likes," which he viewed as a libertarian excess fostering machinery-like and , as evidenced in disturbances like the 1866 riots. By restructuring curricula to prioritize the study of "the best which has been thought and said," the would elevate citizens beyond parochial interests, increasing the proportion of societal "aliens"—individuals aligned with rather than machinery—and promoting cohesion without descending into . This vision aligned with Arnold's broader framework of as an antidote to , where state authority, exercised judiciously, ensures that serves collective human development rather than mere economic utility or doctrinal indoctrination. He warned that without such intervention, England's liberal non-interference doctrine would entrench , rendering the populace unfit for expanded political rights under reforms like the Second Reform Act of 1867. Arnold's proposals anticipated elements of the , which introduced local school boards for compulsory elementary provision, though he favored stronger central oversight to embed Hellenic flexibility alongside Hebraic discipline.

Religion, Dissent, and Liberalism

In Culture and Anarchy, critiques religious , particularly among Nonconformists, as an excessive manifestation of —the strict, conduct-oriented ethos derived from biblical and Puritanism—that prioritizes moral rigor over intellectual flexibility and cultural synthesis. , for , emphasizes "doing right" through obedience to , but when unbalanced by Hellenism's pursuit of knowledge and beauty, it fosters narrowness and sectarianism, as seen in dissenting groups' rejection of the established . mocks the Puritan legacy in as embodying "the Dissidence of and the Protestantism of the Protestant religion," a phrase highlighting its hyper-individualistic and judgmental character, which he argues divides society rather than unifying it under a common cultural ideal. This dissenting spirit, Arnold contends, aligns closely with mid-19th-century British liberalism, which champions personal liberty and "doing as one likes" without sufficient regard for social cohesion or state-guided perfection. In the 1860s context of expanding suffrage and reform agitation following the Second Reform Act of 1867, liberals and Nonconformists pushed for disestablishment of the Anglican Church and reduced state interference, measures Arnold viewed as eroding the "best self" in favor of atomized freedoms that invite anarchy. He attributes to dissenters a disproportionate influence in the Liberal Party, where religious nonconformity translates into political demands for voluntarism over centralized authority, exemplified by campaigns against church rates and for secular education, which he saw as undermining the cultural ballast needed to temper democratic excesses. Arnold's prescription counters this by advocating a broadened, state-supported infused with cultural elements, subordinating sectarian to a national framework that harmonizes Hebraic morality with reason. While acknowledging 's historical role in advancing Protestant sincerity—such as through the 1689 Toleration Act—he warns that its unchecked proliferation in Victorian England, amid 2.5 million Nonconformist adherents by 1851, exacerbates class antagonisms and resists the "disinterested" pursuit of perfection central to culture. This critique reflects Arnold's empirical observation of social unrest, including riots of 1866, where dissenting clashed with orderly governance, rather than uncritical endorsement of views.

Dangers of Anarchy in Democracy

In Culture and Anarchy, identifies as the primary peril of unchecked , defining it as a societal state where individuals insist on "doing as one likes" under the banner of personal freedom, disregarding collective order and rational restraint. This , he contends, arises from an overemphasis on without corresponding duties, particularly in expanding electorates where the uneducated masses gain political sway. observes that such manifests not as deliberate but as fragmented , eroding the foundations of civilized by prioritizing immediate gratification over long-term harmony. A concrete illustration Arnold provides is the Hyde Park disturbances of July 22, 1866, during Reform League protests for electoral expansion, where an estimated 200,000 demonstrators broke through park railings and clashed with authorities, symbolizing the populace's to impose will without cultural mediation. He argues this event exemplified how democratic fervor, fueled by liberal agitation, transforms legitimate grievance into disorder, as the crowd's actions bypassed deliberation for impulsive assertion. Without cultural "" to temper these tendencies, Arnold warns, democracy devolves into a contest of brute forces among classes—Barbarians, , and especially the Populace—where the latter's numerical dominance enables the greatest "mischief" through unguided . Arnold further critiques the ideological underpinnings, attributing anarchy's rise to Nonconformist and Benthamite , which exalt individual liberty and machinery (industrial and parliamentary progress) while neglecting the state's role in fostering intellectual and moral unity. In a extending the franchise—as Britain's Second Reform Act of 1867 did, doubling the electorate to about 2 million—he fears the influx of the "raw and uncultivated" masses will amplify factionalism, substituting transient political fixes for enduring social cohesion. This, he posits, risks , not through overt oppression but via cultural vacuity, where sways policy toward expediency rather than perfection, ultimately undermining true freedom defined as obedience to a rational "best self." To avert these dangers, advocates a strengthened central —not despotic, but educative—empowered to instill culture across classes, countering anarchy's centrifugal pull with the centripetal force of shared ideals. He draws on historical precedents, noting how ancient balanced with , yet warns modern , post-1832 Reform Act, veers toward excess by democratizing without concomitant elevation. Empirical evidence from contemporary unrest, including bombings in and ongoing Chartist echoes, underscores his causal view: absent cultural intervention, democratic begets in outcomes, as the least reflective voices dominate, perpetuating cycles of and .

Political and Cultural Implications

Advocacy for Centralized Authority

In Culture and Anarchy, published in 1869 amid the expansions of suffrage under the Reform Act of 1867, contended that a robust centralized state authority was essential to avert social disintegration from unchecked and democratic impulses. He warned that the prevailing English of "doing as one likes"—rooted in a fervent assertion of personal —lacked any transcendent standard of , fostering class rivalries and public disorders such as the riots of 1866. This doctrine, Arnold argued, elevated the "ordinary self" of narrow interests over the "best self" of disinterested humanity, risking by prioritizing immediate freedoms over long-term societal harmony. Arnold positioned the state as "the great central power," or what he termed in essence the embodiment of the nation's collective best self, empowered to exercise "stringent powers for the general advantage" and subordinate discordant individual wills to cultural ends. Unlike the , which resisted any state apparatus exceeding its own influence, or the middle-class wedded to Benthamite and machinery of , envisioned the central actively intervening to cultivate perfection through measures like expanded public and moral guidance. He critiqued the aversion to such , noting that no welcomes a "State-authority greater than itself, with a stringent administrative machinery," yet insisted this was indispensable to check the "doing-as-one-likes" principle that animated post- agitation. This advocacy stemmed from Arnold's diagnosis of British society's fragmented classes—Barbarians, Philistines, and Populace—each pursuing partial goods without a unifying force, leading to mutual antagonism rather than holistic progress. The state, informed by culture's "sweetness and light," would provide the disinterested oversight to integrate these elements, preventing the "alien" divergences from rational order that democracy amplified. Arnold did not propose absolutism but a balanced centralism where the government, as corporate representative of high reason, curbed excesses like nonconformist sectarianism or populist volatility, ensuring liberty served true freedom rather than license. His position reflected a causal view that absent such authority, empirical trends of urban unrest and doctrinal fragmentation—evident in the 1860s' political upheavals—would erode the foundations of civilized life.

Balance Between Individualism and Order

, in his 1869 work Culture and Anarchy, critiques the prevailing ethos of in Victorian , particularly the notion of "doing as one likes," which he sees as fostering self-interested actions that erode and invite . This principle, rooted in reforms and class-specific pursuits, prioritizes personal liberty over collective harmony, as evidenced by events like the 1866 disturbances where demands for individual rights clashed with established authority. Arnold attributes such tendencies to a lack of broader among the social classes—Barbarians, , and Populace—each advancing narrow interests without regard for the whole. To address this imbalance, Arnold invokes the historical antagonism between Hebraism and Hellenism as complementary yet rival impulses in human development. Hebraism, aligned with strictness of conscience and obedience to duty, upholds moral conduct and social discipline but risks rigidity when overemphasized, as in Puritan "machinery" of routine and dissent. Hellenism, conversely, embodies spontaneity of consciousness, intellectual flexibility, and the pursuit of beauty and truth, yet unchecked it devolves into capricious individualism devoid of restraint. Arnold quotes: "The uppermost idea with Hebraism is conduct and obedience," while "the governing idea of Hellenism is spontaneity of consciousness." Culture emerges as the essential mediator, defined not as mere aesthetic refinement but as the holistic endeavor to "know the best that is known and thought in the ," cultivating the "best " that transcends partial impulses. By harmonizing Hebraic earnestness with clarity, culture fosters wholeness—flexibility paired with firmness—enabling individuals to subordinate personal whims to societal perfection. warns that without this balance, excessive undermines order, while un-tempered Hebraism stifles growth; culture thus counters by promoting disinterested pursuit of excellence over sectarian or materialistic ends. Arnold advocates limited state intervention to disseminate through , curbing anarchic tendencies without resorting to , as the state should act as a disinterested organ for fulfilling . This approach tempers raw with disciplined insight, ensuring serves rather than , a prescription grounded in 's observation of Britain's mid-19th-century social fractures.

Culture as Antidote to Materialism

In Culture and Anarchy, identified the dominant of Victorian Britain—embodied in the industrial emphasis on commerce, machinery, and personal appliances—as a of narrowness and instability. This outlook, prevalent among the middle-class "," prioritized economic gain and mechanical efficiency over intellectual breadth, fostering a "doing-as-one-likes" that risked descending into without guiding principles. contended that such engendered spiritual vulgarity, as evidenced by the era's rapid and expansion, with Britain's surging from 50 million tons in 1850 to over 100 million by , symbolizing unchecked detached from human refinement. Arnold positioned culture as the essential corrective, defining it as "the pursuit of our total perfection by means of getting to know, on all the matters which most concern us, the best which has been thought and said in the world." Unlike material pursuits, which confine vision to immediate utilities, culture instills "," expanding sympathies and humanizing conduct through disinterested engagement with humane letters and . He explicitly contrasted this with the "faith in machinery," declaring it "our besetting danger," whereby societies invest disproportionately in external mechanisms—like parliamentary reforms or trade expansions—without inner transformation, leading to superficial solutions for deeper cultural deficits. By advocating culture's dissemination via state-supported education, Arnold envisioned it neutralizing materialism's corrosive effects, as seen in his praise for flexibility over rigid Hebraic moralism alone. This approach, he argued, would elevate the populace beyond raw appetites, preventing of commercialism, which he linked to events like the 1866 Hyde Park riots over demands rooted in economic grievances rather than enlightened deliberation. Culture thus serves not as but as a practical , harmonizing individual with collective order against bred by materialistic excess.

Reception and Legacy

Initial Contemporary Responses

Upon its publication in book form on April 16, 1869, Culture and Anarchy elicited a range of responses in British periodicals, reflecting both appreciation for its stylistic acuity and pointed objections from reformist and positivist quarters. commended Arnold's urbane analysis of social discord, portraying it as a more refined alternative to Thomas Carlyle's prophetic intensity, and highlighting its role in advocating amid mid-Victorian unrest. Similarly, the work's epigrammatic and dissection of dynamics—Barbarians, , and Populace—resonated with readers seeking intellectual clarity on the era's ferment, including post-Hyde Park riots agitation and Second Reform Act expansions. Critics aligned with , however, assailed Arnold's ideal of as an antidote to machinery-driven reforms. Frederic Harrison, a leading Comtist, dismissed the promotion of as mere "cant," deeming it a superficial marker of aesthetic refinement ill-suited to substantive political or social engineering, and better confined to than . The Saturday Review, known for its conservative yet acerbic tone, reviewed the volume on March 6, 1869, scrutinizing Arnold's appeals to and as insufficiently grounded in practical , though specifics of the centered on his perceived evasion of democratic imperatives. These responses underscored a broader tension: Arnold's diagnosis of anarchy's roots in unchecked garnered assent, yet his prescription for centralized cultural provoked charges of paternalistic detachment from empirical reform needs.

Influence on 20th-Century Thought

Matthew Arnold's Culture and Anarchy (1869) exerted a lasting influence on 20th-century cultural criticism by providing enduring categories—such as the tension between and , and the opposition of culture as "" to societal —for analyzing cultural decline and the erosion of rational standards in democratic societies. This framework informed diagnoses of modernity's threats, including the corrosive effects of unchecked and mass democracy on shared traditions, and was echoed in works by thinkers like in Literature and the American College (1908), who adapted Arnold's emphasis on disciplined to counter utilitarian education. T.S. Eliot, in Notes Towards the Definition of Culture (1948), directly engaged Arnold's ideas, critiquing the secular optimism of culture as a substitute for and redefining it as an organic product of a religious elite class, thereby extending Arnold's elitist guardianship of standards while subordinating culture to orthodox . Similarly, and the group perpetuated Arnold's advocacy for a minority of cultivated readers to uphold literary excellence against encroaching mass , viewing popular media as a symptom of anarchic fragmentation akin to Arnold's warnings about nonconformist and . The text also shaped institutional applications, notably John Reith's founding vision for the in 1922, which drew on Arnold's prescription to broadcast "the best that has been thought and said" as a to elevate and mitigate cultural amid industrialization and . On the left, Williams's (1958) mounted a historicist of Arnold's , rejecting the notion of culture as an elite bulwark against working-class disorder and instead promoting a democratic "whole way of life" that influenced cultural and studies, though this shift often diluted Arnold's emphasis on disinterested in favor of socioeconomic .

Modern Interpretations and Relevance

In the , Arnold's Culture and Anarchy has been interpreted as a prescient critique of and populist excesses, where the unchecked pursuit of individual preferences in democratic societies fosters fragmentation akin to the "doing as one likes" Arnold warned against in 1869. Scholars applying his framework to modern "culture wars" argue that societal divisions, intensified by identity-based ideologies and digital echo chambers, mirror the anarchy arising from narrow nonconformity, necessitating a return to disinterested pursuit of universal "" as a stabilizing force. This view posits not as subjective preference but as an objective standard derived from the best human thought, countering the prevalent in contemporary and . Conservative interpreters, such as M. E. Bradford in 1981, have extended Arnold's ideas to advocate limited state support for the to preserve elite cultural standards against democratic , emphasizing that neglecting risks eroding civil society's foundations amid utilitarian priorities like scientific funding since the . In this reading, Arnold's call for centralized to enforce "right reason" resonates with critiques of individualism's failure to curb ideological excesses, as seen in U.S. debates over endowments established in , where federal intervention is justified not for egalitarian redistribution but to uphold Western tradition over populist trends. Such applications highlight Arnold's influence on neoconservative thought, framing as a bulwark against the moral aesthetic deficits of unchecked . The text's relevance persists in analyses of digital-age , where networked amplifies Arnold's concerns about machinery overpowering human flexibility, urging renewed emphasis on to mitigate the chaos of fragmented public discourse. Despite left-leaning academic tendencies to downplay its anti-egalitarian undertones, empirical observations of rising —evidenced by events like the 2016 referendum and subsequent populist surges—validate Arnold's causal insight that without cultural discipline, devolves into rather than progress.

Criticisms and Debates

Charges of Elitism and Paternalism

Critics of Culture and Anarchy (1869) have frequently charged with , arguing that his definition of culture as "the best which has been thought and said in the world" inherently privileges an intellectual minority capable of appreciating and ideas, while dismissing broader popular expressions as insufficient or . 's tripartite division of into Barbarians (), Philistines (), and the Populace () further underscores this , portraying the majority as prone to without guidance from a cultural who embody the "best self." This framework, scholars note, equates cultural value with mastery of canonical works, reinforcing class distinctions rather than democratizing access to perfection. The charge of arises from Arnold's endorsement of centralized authority to enforce cultural and prevent the "doing as one likes" that he believed fueled social disorder, such as during the 1866 Hyde Park riots. He advocated the as an "agent of the general perfection," directing individual s toward collective moral and intellectual improvement through measures like expanded , which critics interpret as top-down by a knowing few on the unrefined masses. , in his 1961 analysis, highlighted this as subordinating personal liberty to engineered order, quoting Arnold's metaphor of as "a very good horse to ride, but to ride somewhere" to illustrate the prescriptive control implied. Arnold countered such accusations by insisting culture was not mere connoisseurship for the privileged but a universal pursuit of "" to elevate all classes via disinterested reason, transcending narrow class interests through "aliens" unbound by . Nonetheless, detractors maintain that his reliance on and mechanisms for cultural dissemination betrays an undemocratic faith in hierarchical guidance, prioritizing over egalitarian . These critiques persist in modern scholarship, viewing Arnold's prescriptions as emblematic of Victorian anxieties about mass .

Conflicts with Egalitarian Ideals

Arnold's advocacy for culture as "the pursuit of perfection" in Culture and Anarchy () rests on the premise that human development requires submission to superior intellectual and moral ideals, rather than equal validation of all preferences or capacities. This framework posits that not all individuals possess equal aptitude for discerning "the best that has been thought and said," thereby clashing with egalitarian doctrines that assume inherent in judgment and to self-directed cultural expression. Central to this tension is Arnold's critique of democratic egalitarianism's tendency to devolve into "doing as one likes," a phrase he uses to describe the unchecked unleashed by expanded and middle-class nonconformity in mid-19th-century . He argues that such , without cultural restraint, breeds by prioritizing numerical majorities and material equality over hierarchical elevation toward —qualities accessible primarily through disciplined acquaintance with classical and humanistic traditions. For instance, Arnold observes that the Reform Act of 1867, extending voting rights to more working-class men, amplified Philistine practicality and populist volatility, risking societal disorder unless counterbalanced by state-sponsored cultural authority. Egalitarian ideals, by contrast, often demand the equalization of cultural influence, viewing Arnold's emphasis on an educated elite as paternalistic suppression of diverse voices. His societal taxonomy—dividing Britons into culturally deficient Barbarians (traditional aristocracy), Philistines (industrial bourgeoisie), and raw Populace (urban poor)—reinforces natural inequalities in refinement, rejecting the leveling impulse of radical reformers who sought to dismantle such distinctions via universal education or political enfranchisement. Arnold counters that true equality emerges not from flattening hierarchies but from all classes yielding to the "idea of perfection," a process he deems incompatible with democracy's mechanical pursuit of rights without corresponding intellectual rigor. Subsequent analyses highlight how Arnold's position anticipates conflicts between cultural and modern , where insistence on objective standards of excellence is often branded as exclusionary. Yet, empirical observations of Victorian unrest, such as the riots of that prompted the book's essays, substantiate his causal claim: egalitarian expansions without cultural moorings empirically correlated with heightened social friction, as evidenced by contemporaneous spikes in labor agitation and anti-establishment fervor.

Conservative Affirmations and Extensions

Conservatives have affirmed Matthew Arnold's diagnosis in Culture and Anarchy (1869) of modern society's vulnerability to arising from excessive , , and democratic , which erode traditional structures of and . Thinkers in this tradition endorse Arnold's call for a state-guided pursuit of "sweetness and light"— as a disciplining force—against the "doing as one likes" ethos of liberal nonconformity, viewing it as prescient of 20th-century cultural decay. This affirmation aligns with conservative skepticism toward unbridled popular will, as seen in Alexis de Tocqueville's contemporaneous warnings about fostering mediocrity, which Arnold echoed in advocating centralized to foster and standards. T.S. Eliot, a pivotal conservative , extended Arnold's framework by insisting that culture's preservative role demands a theological anchor absent in Arnold's . While praising Arnold's recognition of culture's civilizing potential amid post-religious disorder, Eliot critiqued Culture and Anarchy for evading the deeper of a soul unmoored from , arguing that Arnold's "pursuit of " merely masked intellectual confusion stemming from diluted . In Notes Towards the Definition of Culture (1948), Eliot affirmed the need for an elite custodian of but extended it to require orthodox religion—preferably a unified Christian creed—as the indispensable matrix for cultural continuity, rejecting Arnold's conflation of , , and vague as insufficient against . This religious emphasis positions culture not as an autonomous "study of " but as subordinate to order, preserving and against egalitarian dissolution. Later conservative extensions build on this by integrating Arnold's anti-anarchic with Burkean reverence for inherited wisdom and institutions. Figures like Eliot influenced mid-century traditionalists who viewed high culture's defense as a for civilizational continuity, extending Arnold's state interventionism to advocate organic, faith-sustained communities over top-down perfectionism. Such affirmations persist in critiques of contemporary , where Arnold's Philistine-barbarian dichotomy prefigures conservative laments over mass media's triumph over discriminating taste, though tempered by warnings against cultural programs detached from metaphysical roots.