Literary Foundation

Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) was a Victorian poet and critic and could be called a critic's critic because his criticism chose to be an educator and guardian of public opinion and propagate the best ideas instead of taking care only about beauties and defects of any works of art He is known for creating a current of true and fresh ideas that had an immense impact on the whole School of literary criticism including new critics such as T. S. Eliot, F. R. Leavis and Allen Tate. He is the founder of the Sociological School of Criticism and through his touchstone method introduced scientific objectivity to critical evaluation by providing comparison and analysis as two primary tools of criticism. Arnold was convinced that the future of poetry was immense because the Orthodox religion was declining. And this deciling will force mankind to turn toward poetry for its joy, consolation and elevation of the mind. Therefore he, in his seminal essay The Study of Poetry (1888), says that poetry ...

A modern poet-critic, Thomas Stearns Eliot, popularly known as a T S Eliot, was a versatile personality of the 20th century. He made a significant contribution to the field of literary criticism and strongly influenced the school of new criticism. His work may be broadly grouped into three categories: (a) Theoretical Criticism, dealing with the principles of literature, (b) Descriptive and Practical Criticism, and (c) Theological essay. His critical contribution includes- Tradition and the Individual Talent (1919), The Function of Criticism (1923), and The Frontier of Criticism (1956). His critical essay 'Tradition and the Individual Talent' published in 1919, has three parts: one deals with the concept of Tradition, the second gives a theory of Impersonality, and the third is a summary of all. Through this essay, he influenced the new criticism by introducing the idea that the value of a work of art must be viewed in the context of the artist's previous work, a "simul...