Dover Beach

By Matthew Arnold

Dover Beach

This is a dramatic monologue poem that speaker is talking to someone at a time of leisure. As a class we came to the conclusion that the speaker was searching for the meaning of life. Just like everyone else in the world Arnold wants to know that there is more life than just surviving. He feels like something is missing and wants to find that something. We also said that modernism and how Arnold believes in this kind of belief that Christianity was dead but religion is the biggest aspect in the world. We also discussed that nothing in the world is matter except for what you can hold on to right now. Some students stated that Arnold is pessimistic. I definitely think so.