T M 13 (382)

Rita Daniel

Arnold, Rossetti, and Hopkins: The Varying Views of Victorian Values in the Age of Doubt&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;

After settling into the bright, breezy room on this uncommonly warm March day, class commenced with Dr. Foss’s usual dragging of the large table to upstage center of the room. As the screeching desk called our attention, Dr. Foss made a sprightly hop onto the table and began by wishing us a welcome back from spring break. To the dismay of me and my fellow schoolmates, Dr. Foss stated with regret that there was to be no reward quiz. As everyone groaned in unison at this unfortunate event, class continued on with a few more announcements. Following these side notes, Dr. Foss started class discussion with Matthew Arnold, who, we were told, held unyielding pessimism regarding the age in general, and especially religion. Like Arnold, Christina Rossetti and Gerard Hopkins shared similar concerns in the period’s interest in doubt, although the two latter poets had seemingly less consistent skepticism in religion as Arnold. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;

Following some additional background knowledge on Arnold, Dr. Foss offered some sage guidance on “Lines Written in Kensington Garden.” He mentioned that a very important quality about this work is that it blends both Romantic pastoral landscapes with a Victorian sense of helpless pessimism. The Wordsworthian impact that took hold of Arnold is present especially throughout the beginning, with Arnold eventually switching his tone to one of somberness and uncertainty. Yet the last stanza returns again to the Romantic era with its rhetorical plea for the “…soul of all things” to allow the speaker to be able to live a life without doubting the world (line 37). The discussion of this first poem by Arnold subsequently led to our full class discussion of Arnold’s “The Buried Life.” Dr. Foss started off by posing the question of what “the buried life” entails, with several people responding that it represents people’s suppressed, true identities. We also discussed the fact that Arnold’s speaker is skeptical when it comes to liberating the inner self. We observed that the only way in which Arnold’s speaker believes this release can be attained “Is by the tones of a loved voice caressed--,” followed by “A bolt … shot back somewhere in our breast, /And a lost pulse of feeling stirs again” (lines 82-84). With this, we realized that although it is possible to have the inner self exposed through the power of love, Arnold’s speaker makes it known that it is highly unlikely for many people to ever have the pleasure of attaining a lover strong enough to unlock “the buried life” of the other’s soul. We mentioned in class that this doubt is perceptible in the last stanza of the poem in which the speaker uses the unsure phrase “he thinks he knows,” thus leading the reader to believe that love in general is never certain (line 96). &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;

Arnold’s uncertainty about life, love, and religion is clearly one of his most frequented topics, and the next poem we discussed was no different. As we began, Dr. Foss gave us some background information on “Stanzas from the Grande Chartreuse.” He told us that this poem was ironically inspired by Arnold’s honeymoon to the Grande Chartreuse, which is a monastery in the French Alps. Similar to Arnold’s own experience, this poem is about a speaker on his way to visit the monastery, where, as Dr. Foss added, “life is austere.” We noted that Arnold again uses a Wordswothian/Romantic style of writing in his particular attention to fine detail concerning nature. However, he brings in the Victorian Age of Doubt as his speaker makes a distinction between the concrete faith of the monks and his own faithlessness as he states, “For rigorous teachers seized my youth, / And purged its faith, and trimmed its fire…” (lines 67-68). This melancholic view of religion and society in general was probably one of Arnold’s greatest disappointments in life, thus inspiring him later in life to become a professional literature critic. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;

While Arnold was regularly unconvinced about religion as a whole, Christina Rossetti and Gerard Hopkins did not always use poetry to portray their disbelief in religion. Rossetti embraced it as a way of seeing the positivity of death and the afterlife, but still doubted love; while Hopkins generally depicted the greatness of God through nature. As the class discussion came to an end, we finally were treated with the chance to go outside and partake in small group discussions about the other two authors. We scouted for a place to sit and discuss Rossetti’s and Hopkins’ poetry. When we settled into a spot, we unanimously agreed that we enjoyed Rossetti’s “No, Thank You, John” and “Promises Like Pie-Crust” because we could envision the speakers’ situations occurring in modern times, making the poems very relatable. Although these poems reject love, we thought that Rossetti’s speakers had legitimate reasons to deny relationships where the bonds were not strong enough to remain faithful. It was also noted that if the speakers were to be married, they would lose all of their freedom due to the Victorian constraints on female gender roles. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;

The most important thing that we observed from Rossetti’s poems, other than the gender and relationship roles, was Rossetti’s stance on religion. Dr. Foss pointed out that Rossetti was extremely religious, and she took care of many family members as they were dying. This explains why death plays such an important role in her poetry, especially in “Up-Hill” and “A Pause.” We decided that “Up-Hill” is about a speaker who is dying and taking a figurative “Up-Hill” journey to heaven. She is wondering what it will be like when she arrives at the “inn,” which symbolizes heaven (line 8). Nia asked the group what we thought the last two lines meant, and Sarah gave an insightful interpretation of “…I felt my hair/ Put on a glory…,” namely, that when the speaker’s soul is finally released, she feels a halo placed over her head, which goes flawlessly with the religious theme (lines 13-14).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;

As we finally discussed Hopkins, we realized that he maintains a hint of Arnold’s harshness, but still, like Rossetti, he shows his dutiful religious faith through his poetry. Because Hopkins was a Jesuit priest, it is fitting that his poems revolve around the subject of religion. Rachel liked “The Windhover,” which is a poem depicting a speaker’s delight at the presence of God through a windhover, or falcon. We discussed the similar themes in “God’s Grandeur” and “Pied Beauty,” which are tender poems about the omnipresent greatness of God. The last two poems, “[Carrion Comfort]” and “Thou Art Indeed Just, Lord” demonstrate the difficulties and bitterness that Hopkins felt as a priest. Expected to remain celibate and without the capacity to have children, “Thou Art Indeed Just, Lord” can be seen as a sarcastic jab at the fact that Hopkins resented that if God loved him, why would he make him live a life of solitude? With this, we noted that although Hopkins was a “man of the cloth,” he still had the capacity to reason that not everything regarding religion is perfect.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;

Along the lines of imperfection, life during the Victorian era was tumultuous in that many people of the day were facing problems with faith in humanity, religion, and love. The three poets of the class period seamlessly combined the various skepticisms of the age. With poets who portray such different lifestyles, backgrounds, and morals, it is certain that the Age of Doubt was upon them, for they all had their issues with the instability of their time period, and they all expressed these feelings through their literature. This class period allowed us to gather that Arnold’s complete disregard for religion as an entity in general, Rossetti’s unconvinced view on the practicality of amorous relationships, and even Hopkins’ uncertainty about God’s righteousness wholly depict the Victorian era as an undeniably doubtful time in history.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;

Word Count: 1,308 &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;