NATURE, CRITICISM OF THE WORLD, AND LOVE IN “DOVER BEACH” AND “LOVE AMONG THE RUINS”

Year 2015, Volume: 4 Issue: 2, 22 - 28, 01.12.2015

Ayşe Güneş

Abstract

Matthew Arnold’s “Dover Beach” and Robert Browning’s “Love among the Ruins” have been analyzed comparatively with other poems. However, there has not been a comparative study of these two poems written by two Victorian poets, and such a study is valuable as these poems have common qualities. To cite a few, in both poems, nature is a prevalent theme portrayed through ambivalent images, and the world is criticized for different reasons. These reasons are loss of faith in “Dover Beach” and foul human nature in “Love among the Ruins,” and war in both of them. In relation to the theme of criticism against the world, change is a concept portrayed through contemplation of the past. In “Dover Beach,” this change is expressed through the depiction of loss of faith, and in “Love among the Ruins,” the change is physical within the context of a fallen empire. Love is appreciated in both poems for different reasons. In “Dover Beach,” it is the only saviour, and in “Love among the Ruins,” it is considered as a peaceful and eternal force. This paper attempts to make a further study to compare “Dover Beach” and “Love among the Ruins” which share remarkable thematic similarities as well as differences in terms of their imagery of nature, criticism against the world, and appreciation of love.

Keywords

Victorian poetry, Matthew Arnold, Robert Browning, Dover Beach, Love among the Ruins

NATURE, CRITICISM OF THE WORLD, AND LOVE IN “DOVER BEACH” AND “LOVE AMONG THE RUINS”

Abstract

Matthew Arnold’s “Dover
Beach” and Robert Browning’s “Love among the Ruins” have been analyzed
comparatively with other poems. However, there has not been a comparative study
of these two poems written by two Victorian poets, and such a study is valuable
as these poems have common qualities. To cite a few, in both poems, nature is a
prevalent theme portrayed through ambivalent images, and the world is
criticized for different reasons. These reasons are loss of faith in “Dover
Beach” and foul human nature in “Love among the Ruins,” and war in both of
them. In relation to the theme of criticism against the world, change is a
concept portrayed through contemplation of the past. In “Dover Beach,” this change is expressed
through the depiction of loss of faith, and in “Love among the Ruins,” the
change is physical within the context of a fallen empire. Love is appreciated
in both poems for different reasons. In “Dover Beach,” it is the only saviour,
and in “Love among the Ruins,” it is considered as a peaceful and eternal
force. This paper attempts to make a further study to compare “Dover Beach” and
“Love among the Ruins” which share remarkable thematic similarities as well as
differences in terms of their imagery of nature, criticism against the world,
and appreciation of love. 

Keywords

: Victorian poetry, Matthew Arnold, Robert Browning, Dover Beach, Love among the Ruins

References

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