Question

What are the qualifications of critic according to Matthew Arnold?​ Describe.

Answer 1

Answer:

When Arnold says that poetry is “a criticism of life” he means that it is the “noble and profound application of ideas to life”. It is therefore a very serious endeavor designed to get at the truth, not to provide entertainment or ornament.

Explanation:

The idea that poetry, as a "criticism of life," could provide moral guidance that would make a "race" better was still influential in the twentieth century but also severely tested by the fact having the best of literature did not seem to make a culture behave more morally, as it did not save countries like Britain and Germany from barbarous wars or the Germans from genocide.