Reflections of the Victorian's crisis of faith in Mathew Arnold's "Dover Beach"

“Dover Beach” uses sensory descriptions of the ocean and pathetic fallacy to allude to the Victorian’s recession of religious faith. The opening of the poem describes a calm sea and full tide, serving to re-create the sense of anticipation and anxiety which was felt by the Victorians. Their age was one of insecurity and immense change, and many foresaw that expanding scientific exploration would lead to an immense crisis of faith. The calm sea that rapidly becomes a series of grating waves alludes to this crisis and echoes a sense of confusion. Geological and cosmic discoveries raised doubts concerning the literal and factual accuracy of the Bible. For many Victorians the progress of science sounded an “eternal note of sadness” (“Dover Beach” 14), as it caused a loss of faith in an eternal God. Dover Beach echoes this sense of anxiety and hopelessness, using vivid descriptions to evoke the readers’ senses.

Dover beach may be divided into three parts, each of which focuses on the senses of sound and sight (Fain 41). Sight represents the illusion, the “sea of faith” (Arnold Line 21) or the “land of dreams” (line 31), whereas sound symbolizes reality (Fain 41). The tension created between these opposing senses and representations serves to re-create the tension present during the Victorian's crisis of faith. However, scholars have argued that the entire tone of the poem is not overwhelmed by this sense of crisis, but rather that the poem seems emanate a feeling of serenity (Fain 41). Indeed, the recurrence of the ocean tides and the flickering light of the lighthouse seem to emphasize the inevitable progression of life—as if this is something that may be counted on (Fain 41). However, I argue that this image of a light in the darkness, a religious one that is often associated with the hope and security provided by faith, is not constant in the poem. This light seems to waver as the poem progresses and eventually “gleams and is gone” (Arnold Line 722), leaving only the “glimmering and vast” cliffs of England that are illuminated by their own natural truth. Moreover, one may observe that it is when this light is gone that the author chooses to focus on the sense of sound, wholly creating a sense of blindness. This transition builds on the idea that the sense of “sound is more real than sight” ( Fain 41).The poem begins to shift away from descriptions of the natural scenery and move towards more “fabricated” images. Arnold suggests that sight is a sense that is easily corrupted by human desires, we imagine the world as we would wish it, and that we often ignore the “melancholy, long, withdrawing roar” of truth. Arnold emphasizes that not only is sound more “real” than sight, but that it also has a more lingering effect. Whereas sight is reliant on space and light, sound is reliant on time (Fain 41). Sound is eternal and unaffected: it was hear by Sophocles as it is heard by us. In choosing to associate their loss of faith with this “eternal note” (Arnold Line 14), Arnold emphasizes that it is real and everlasting.

Arnold imitates the despair felt by the Victorians using harsh imagery: a retreating sea of faith, which leaves exposed and “naked [the] shingles of the world” (Arnold Line 28). Descriptions of darkness and the ebb and flow of the ocean tides create a sense of turbulence and confusion. These bleak images and turbulent sounds frame the harsh reality that was dawning on the Victorians and the misery that this reality was revealing. Without an all knowing God neither science nor religion could hope for the illumination of truth; thus, both armies must grope for answers amidst the confusion of darkness.


John Tyree Fain "Arnold's DOVER BEACH" (40--42). 2002 EBSCO