Culture and anarchy is a notorious philosophical work written by the celebrated Victorian poet and critic Mathew Arnold. This essay was first published in ‘Cornhill Magazine’ during 1867-’68. Its full name is “Culture and Anarchy: An Essay in Political and Social Criticism”.

1. Culture & Anarchy
Matthew Arnold
INSTRUCTOR: ABDUL GHAFFAR

2. Matthew Arnold
 Matthew Arnold is a well- known figure of
Victorian Age.
 This era is very glorious in the history of England
because of It's an exemplary progress in all
branches of life.
 This age is very popular by its material prosperity,
political awakening, democratic reforms, industrial
and mechanical progress, scientific development,
social unrest etc.

3.  He remained pessimist in the age due to a conflict
between religion and science. He wrote a book 'Culture &
Anarchy' with a view to reviving the values which were
like honey in ancient Greek. He checks the values of his
own time by the light of that culture.
His work 'Culture & Anarchy' is a collection of a few
separate essays; they show his fighting and struggle
against material affluence.

4. Sweetness &Light
 Sweetness &Light'. In this treatise, his central focus and argument is on
curiosity.
 It is defined as a liberal and intelligent eagerness about the things of
mind or mental activities. According to him, the natal place of curiosity
is a desire. It is desires that make some body pursue.
 The work of desire is to see the things as they are.
 If it is pursued by an intelligent person with an impartial understanding
of mind, it becomes praise worthy. It bears a genuine scientific passion
that is the right kind of curiosity.
 Such curiosity leads us to real culture. So, beyond the man of culture is
curiosity.

5. Social Aspect of Culture
 It comes out from the love of neighbor.
In other words, it can be said that this aspect of culture gets
birth from the desire for removing human errors and
diminishing human misery
Such desire sees the things as they are, and the man of culture
works impartially with eagerness. So, it gives birth to sweetness
and light.

6.  He calls it a real culture that inspires a person to
lean the world better and happier than he found it.
Indeed, it occupies a genuine scientific passion and
a balance and instruction of mind to fight against
the diseased inclination of mind.

7. Love of Perfection
 In other words, it can be called that culture is a study of
perfection. In it two dominant desires work in harmony__the
scientific passion for pure knowledge and moral and social
passion for doing well.
 The man of culture should have the pursuit of pure knowledge
with impartial desire or passion and prevail it in society for
diminishing human miseries.

8.  Such miseries can be diminished by prevailing sweetness
and light that is the job of a man of culture or a man of
pursuing perfection. Such job is easy for a man of
culture.
 Culture is inclined to real reason and the will of God to
prevail
 It consists of the study and the pursuit of perfection. The
direct inspiration for man to desire for perfection comes
from religion. Arnold calls religion' the voice of the
deepest of human experience'.

9.  All the voices of human experience are available in art,
science, poetry, philosophy and history which a man of
true culture listens with a distinguished attention.
 All the above fields make man perfect internally, or its
aim is total human perfection
 The out ward expression of culture is shown in the
general sweet expansion of thoughts and feelings, rich in
dignity, wealth and happiness of human nature.

10.  The culture brings internal as well as external
perfection of human. It quits all partialities and errors
of man. Partialities and errors make anarchy in society.

Arnold finds sincere and genuine connection between
culture and the idea of sweetness and light.

11.  His ideal man of culture is a Greek man called Euphuasis.
Arnold borrowed the phrase 'sweetness and light' from
Swift.
The character of a man of culture is molded by religion
and poetry. The aim of religion is to make man perfect
ethically, where as the poetry possesses the idea of beauty
and of human nature perfect on all its sides.

12.  Culture has the power to prevail peace and satisfaction by
killing our bestiality and drawing nearer to the world of
spirituality with perfection. Indeed, religion fails to lead us to
such perfection. He describes about religious organizations of
his time in England that they seem to have failed morally.
 He submits example of Puritanism that is based on the
impulse of man towards moral development and self -
conquest. This perfection leads to the idea or impulse of
narrowness and insufficiency. He jumps to such conclusion
by judging the religious organizations in terms of sweetness
and light

13.  Culture has perfection that is free from all kinds of
narrowness.
 it stands against all the mischief men who have blind
faith in machinery. In his opinion, the pursuit of
perfection is the pursuit of sweetness and light.
 He who works for sweetness works in the end for light
also; he who works for light works in the end for
sweetness also. Those who work united for sweetness
and light, work to make the reason and the will of God
to prevail.

14. Culture looks beyond machinery___ social,
political and economic, beyond population,
wealth and industry, beyond middle class
liberalism and avoids all kinds of narrowness
and hatred. Culture has one great opinion, the
passion for sweetness and light.
The great men of culture believe in equality
and broad mindedness.

15. They are possessed by a passion to spread
culture from one end of society to the other.
They carry the best knowledge and the best
ideas of their times. It is the duty of these men
to humanize knowledge, and therefore, it
becomes the best knowledge and thought of the
ages, and becomes a true source of sweetness
and light.

16.  Consequently, a man of culture is like a honey bee
 The job of honey bee is to suck the juice from all
flowers (sweet or sour) and to make honey.
 Honey is sweet and liked by all in all forms. Honey
has wax that is not useless because the candles are
made of it light.

17. Hence, in the end of sweetness is light. In this
way, a man of culture seeks knowledge from
all departments and shares it to all. He is not
narrow-minded because such knowledge
brings perfection. So his pursuit of perfection
is sweetness and light.

18. Key Points
 His central focus and argument is on
CURIOSITY- a liberal and intelligent
eagerness(keenness)about things of mind or
mental activities.
 According to him the place of curiosity is
DESIRE. It is desire that make somebody
pursue. The work of desire is to see things as
they are and if it is pursued by intelligent
person with an impartial understanding of
mind. such curiosity lead us to real culture.

19. Culture is a study of perfection.
 There should be pure knowledge and moral
social passion for doing well.
The man of culture should have pure knowledge
and impartial desire and prevail in society for
diminishing human miseries. Such miseries can
be diminished by prevailing sweetness and light
that is the job of man of pursuing perfection.

20.  Man of culture is like honey bee. the job of honey bee is to
collect juice from all flowers (sweet or sour) to make honey.
Honey is sweet like by all in all forms and honey has wax that
is not useless because candles are made of it. Hence in the
sweetness is light..
 In the same way a man of culture seek knowledge from all
departments and share it all. He is not narrow minded because
he brings perfection. So, his pursuit of perfection is sweetness
and light.