15 ) what are the short comings of Matthew Arnold as presentative of Victorian criticism ?
There is no denying the fact that as a critic of literature ,Arnold has well-marked limitations and short-comings, which maybe listed as follows :
1. He in capable of connected reasoning at any length and often contradicts himself .
2. There is a certain want of logic and method in Arnold's criticism . He is not a scientific critic. Often he is vague and fails to define or state clearly his views. His criticism is often gappy ; before he has fully established apoint , he would hastily hurry on to another .
3. He frowns upon mere literary criticism . He mixes literary criticism with socio-ethical considerations and regards it as an instrument of culture . Purely literary criticism with him has no meaning and significance.
4. There is some truth in the criticism that he was a propagandist and as ales man. Arnold spent his career in hammering the thesis that poetry is a "criticism of life" .All his practical criticism is but an illustration of this view .
5. His criticism is lacking in originality. Practically , all of his critical concepts are borrowed .
6. His biographical data are often inaccurate .
7. He is against the historical method of criticism .
8. He speaks of the moral effects of poetry of its 'high seriousness' but never of its pleasure the 'aesthetic pleasure' which a poem must impart and which is the true test of excellence .