Matthew Arnold is truly a great fighter for the royal culture that is prevalent in London society. Find the realm of materialism that tries to strangle real culture. So, in this chapter, Arnold divides the society of England into three classes: the aristocratic class, the middle class, and the working class. He finds the anarchy very common in these classes and analyzes them with their strengths and weaknesses. He designates the aristocratic class of his time as the Barbains, the middle class as the Philistines, and the working class as the mob.
His scrutiny of three kinds of his time shows him a good seasoned critic. For the aristocratic class, he sees that this class lacks the courage to resist. He calls this class the barbarians because they believe in their personal individualism, in their freedom and in doing what one likes; they had a great passion for field sports. His manly exercise, strength, and good looks are definitely in the aristocratic class of his time. Their courtesy resembles that of chivalrous barbarians, and their outward styles in manners, achievements, and powers are inherited from barbarians.
The other class is the middle class or the Philistines, known for their worldly wisdom, skilled in industry, and busy in industrialization and commerce. His eternal inclination is the progress and prosperity of the country by building cities, railroads, and running the great wheels of industry. They have produced the largest merchant marine. So, they are the Empire builders. In this material progress, the working class is with them. All the keys to progress are in your hands.
The other class is the working class or the population. This class is known rough and half developed due to poverty and other related diseases. This class is mainly exploited by the barbarians and the Philistines. The author finds the democratic awakening in this class because they are gaining political consciousness and coming out of hiding to affirm the heavenly privilege of an Englishman to do what they want, meet where they want, shout what they like, and break what they want. Likes.
Despite such a class system, Arnold finds a common ground of human nature in everyone. Then the spirit of sweetness and light can be founded. Even Arnold calls himself a Philistine and rises above his birth level and social status in his quest for perfection, sweetness, light, and culture. In addition, he says that all three classes find happiness in what they like. For example, barbarians like honor and consideration, field sports and pleasure. The Philistines like bigotry, business and making money and comfort and tea parties, but the Populace class, hated by both classes, likes to scream, rush and smash and beer. Everyone maintains different activities due to their social status. However, there are some souls in these classes who wait for the culture with the desire to know their best or to see things as they are. They have the desire to pursue reason and make God’s will prevail.
For the pursuit of perfection, it does not depend only on genius or talented people, but also on all classes. Actually, love or the pursuit of perfection is within the focus of ordinary people. He calls the man of culture as the true nurse of the search for love, sweetness and light. He finds such people in the three classes who have a general human spirit for the pursuit of perfection. It says that the correct source of authority is the best self or the correct reason for the culture to attain.
The best me or the right reason and the ordinary me:
Here he discusses the best self or right reason and the ordinary self that can be felt alone in the pursuit of perfection. In this sense, he speaks of the baths, surrounded by nature itself in the soul of man, which is presented in the literary judgment of some critics of literature and in some religious organizations in America. In addition, he says that the idea of the best self is very difficult for the search for perfection in literature, religion and even in politics. The political system, prevalent in his time, was that of the barbarians. The leaders and statesmen sang the praises of the barbarians for winning the favor of the aristocrats. Tennyson celebrates in his poems the glory of great broad-shouldered Englishmen with his sense of duty and reverence for the law. Arnold claims that Tennyson is singing praises to the Philistines because this middle class is the backbone of the developing country. Politicians sing the praises of the people for taking their favors. In fact, they play on their feelings, having displayed the brightest powers of sympathy and the fastest power of action. All of these accolades are mere traps and tricks to win applause. It is the taste of the baths surrounded by nature itself in the soul of man and enters the ordinary self. The ordinary self forces readers to mislead the nation. It is more admirable, but its benefits are enjoyed by the representatives and rulers.
Arnold leans for the right reason as a supreme authority appealing to the best self. All classes must follow him, otherwise anarchy will prevail and they will do what they like. In education, I want to prevail better because I was in danger. He thinks that when one man’s particular taste for toilets tyrannizes over the other, the right reason or the best self should cease to rule in education. He insists on the just reason which is the authority on education. The state of affairs in education arises from the lack of intellectual flexibility in educators who are neglecting the best self or the right reason and are trying to appeal to the genius taste for bathrooms; and ripping it to its natural functioning and its infinite variety of experiments.
Arnold wants to achieve reform in education by changing the administration of public schools from his old board of trustees to the state. Like politics, in education the danger lies in unbridled and unguided individual action. All actions must be verified by the true reason or the best self of the individual. Some people are of the opinion that the state cannot interfere in educational affairs. The men of the liberal party believe in liberty, the individual freedom to do what one likes, and claim that state interference in education is a violation of personal freedom. Arnold says that ideal personal freedom still has an indefinite distance.
The mission of the Arnold culture is that each individual must act for himself and must be perfect himself. The people or the chosen classes must dedicate themselves to the search for perfection, and he seems to agree with Humboldth, the German philosopher, in the case of the search for perfection. Culture will make you perfect on its own basis. Therefore, it is essential that man try to seek human perfection by instituting his best self or real reason; culture, in the end, would find its public reason.