Your question, “Justify Matthew Arnold as a Victorian poet,” requires a basic understanding of some of the general characteristics of the Victorian Age (1837–1900). This was a time of supreme ascendancy for the United Kingdom. The nation’s place as a world power is well expressed in a common saying of that time: “the sun never sets on the British Empire.” The British Empire extended to all corners of the earth, and British industry brought a great deal of wealth and success to the nation—but at a great social cost. This was also the age of Darwinism and new scientific discoveries that would contradict and shake traditional religious perspectives.

While some Victorian writers celebrated British supremacy and progress, others were critical of social injustices and the suffering of the working poor. In short, at two opposite ends were writers who upheld the image of grandiosity, and those who served as social critics and reformers. In addition to these two polar opposites were writers who specialized in absurd humor and others who were known for their “sage writing,” which is morally instructive in nature.

Victorian social attitudes have been described as smug, morally self-righteous, and restrained. The unrestrained emotion of the Romantic Era poetry was no longer fashionable, although artistic movements such as that of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood disregarded the norms and preferences typical of Victorian society.

Because of their diverse purposes and styles, the major writers of the Victorian Age cannot be examined as a single literary group. However, we are able to look at how the poetry of Matthew Arnold (1822–1888) reflects certain aspects of this era. The Victorian characteristics that may be seen in his poetry include emotional restraint and an uneasiness with the world’s departure from core values. The pessimistic tone and sense of alienation expressed are more typical of the yet-to-come Modern literary period.