Formalistic Approach:

In Dover Beach, Matthew Arnold predicts the state of the world should organized religion be lost from the world. Arnold mirrors the lawlessness of the world by the lack of meter or constant rhyme scheme in the poem. The interspersing of caesura, ends-top, and enjambment also heighten the disorder of the poem and emphasize the increase in disorder in the world without religion. Appealing to pathos through gloomy diction, Arnold creates a melancholic tone by describing the sad sea, acting as an extended metaphor of humanity throughout the poem, paralleling the sadness of human kind with the loss of religion. The repetition of 'nor' in lines 33-34 emphasizes the desolation that would accompany the loss of religion from the world. Before the loss of religion, the sea was the “ Sea of Faith,” before the new science and technology discoveries threatened the old religious ideas; however, after the loss of religion, the sea becomes black; this color symbolism corresponds with the dark tone of the poem. Arnold’s mythological allusion to the Aegean Sea heightens the pathos as it alludes to the sadness of a father, King Aegeas, needlessly dying because of the presumed death of his son, Theseus. This myth corresponds to the needless loss of religion, represented by Aegeas, from the world, represented by Theseus, leading to unnecessary sadness for mankind. Arnold also alludes to a passage from Thukydides, the battle of Epipolae, where the two armies could not distinguish friend from foe, as in lines 44-45, where Arnold describes humanity as “ignorant armies [which] clash by night.” Thus, Arnold depicts the eventual downfall and internal division of humanity once the light of religion is extinguished throughout the world.

Historical Biographical Approach:

Because of the developments of the Victorian Era, the changes gave way for criticism from authors such as Matthew Arnold. During this time period, England experienced upheaval in nearly every sphere of society, including technological, medical, and scientific advances as well as an increased emphasis on religious observation. In keeping with the mood of the time, Matthew Arnold’s Dover Beach is a religiously mindful and critical poem. In this poem, Arnold theorizes about the downfall of man should organized religion be lost from the world. His criticism countered the immerging wave of Darwinian thought that argued for the reduced role and the diminished necessity of religion in society. Also, this time period witnessed a renewed emphasis on the patriarchal society and large families, which were also characteristics present in Arnold’s life. Though a return to the patriarchal society and a renewed emphasis on religion characterized part of the Victorian Era, change immerged in many more facets of society than just religion and family structure. In some cases, women took on a more active role in society, going against the patriarchal society. However, because Arnold adhered to the aspects of the Victorian Era which emphasized religion and the patriarchal society, he criticized the opposing movements in Dover Beach, which implies that the new immerging ideas of the time would lead to the end of religion in the world. Arnold warns those adherents of opposing movements of the dangers of losing religion in the world, and the dangers of undergoing rapid societal change by predicitng the bleak state of the world without religion.