Culture and Anarchy · Characters
Character guide
Key figures in Culture and Anarchy by Matthew Arnold.
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Narrator
major
Also known as I, me, myself, mine
He moves through England's parks, chapels, and newspapers as an uneasy conscience, measuring every cry for fire and strength against the neglected claims of sweetness and light. His great desire is to reconcile Hebraism and Hellenism, right doing and right thinking, in a single perfected self; his flaw is the impatience of a man who sees the destination clearly and cannot make his countrymen walk faster. Because he frames the whole argument, his voice sets the terms by which Barbarians, Philistines, and Populace will be judged.
Mr. Bright
supporting
Also known as Mr. Bright
He stands among the believers in action, the men who want things settled first and understood afterwards, and who grow restless when the friends of culture refuse to lend a hand to practical operations. His confidence in liberty as the law of human life collides with the narrator's insistence that the only perfect freedom is a service to our best self. He matters because his impatience crystallizes the central quarrel of the book: whether a nation can be saved by fire and strength alone, or must first obtain a sounder basis of knowledge on which to act.
Philistine
supporting
Also known as the Philistine, Philistines, the British Philistines
He is the solid, liberty-loving, chapel-going man of business whom the narrator neither scorns nor flatters, but seeks to perfect by cultivating in him a delicacy that can be a law to itself. His tragedy is that he narrows his spiritual and intellectual life for the satisfaction of his ordinary self, remaining insensible to the finer shades of feeling in love and marriage while trusting external rule to govern what only inward tact can. He matters because the whole argument turns on whether his best self can be developed, not merely his ordinary self liberated.
St. Paul
supporting
Also known as St. Paul
He presides over the long schooling of mankind in self-conquest, the centuries of painful effort that the narrator credits with making England capable of walking steadfastly by whatever light it knows. Yet his stiff and stark notions must be turned upon by a stream of fresh thought and consciousness, as Bishop Wilson did, if Hebraism is ever to become a joint force with Hellenism rather than its rival. He matters because the book's hope of a perfected humanity rests on whether his discipline can be crowned, not replaced, by sweetness and light.
Jesus Christ
supporting
Also known as Christ
He stands at the meeting point of the book's two great forces, the Hebrew passion for conduct and the Hellenic passion for seeing things as they are, since his religion teaches that the only perfect freedom is a service. The narrator invokes him not as a doctrinal authority but as the living proof that self-conquest and intelligence can be one, that renouncement is as true a law of human life as liberty. He matters because the argument's final hope, that England might walk by true light with the same zeal it once gave to imperfect light, is unimaginable without his example.
Bishop Wilson
minor
Also known as Bishop Wilson
A bishop whose maxims on conduct and conscience are cited by the narrator.
Mr. Murphy
minor
Also known as Mr. Murphy
A contemporary figure criticized for his narrow religious and political views.
Mr. Frederic Harrison
minor
Also known as Mr. Frederic Harrison
A positivist thinker whose ideas on culture and religion are debated.
Mr. Spurgeon
minor
Also known as Mr. Spurgeon
A popular preacher whose style and influence are discussed in the text.
Socrates
minor
Also known as Socrates
Classical philosopher used as a model of the examined life and intellectual inquiry.
Mr. Chambers
minor
Also known as Mr. Chambers
A figure mentioned in relation to educational and cultural debates.
Hooker
minor
Also known as Hooker
Theologian Richard Hooker, cited for his views on law and church governance.
Mr. Lowe
minor
Also known as Mr. Lowe
A politician whose educational policies are criticized in the book.
Mr. Robert Buchanan
minor
Also known as Mr. Robert Buchanan
A poet and critic whose literary views are referenced.
Plato
minor
Also known as Plato
Greek philosopher whose ideas on beauty and truth underpin the concept of culture.
Barbarians
minor
Also known as the Barbarians, Barbarian
A social class representing the aristocracy, defined by external refinement.
Mr. Bradlaugh
minor
Also known as Mr. Bradlaugh
A secularist and political activist whose views are critiqued.
Solomon
minor
Also known as Solomon
Biblical king cited for his wisdom and as a symbol of Hebraic tradition.
M. Renan
minor
Also known as M. Renan
French historian and philosopher whose works on religion are referenced.
Mr. Walter Travers
minor
Also known as Travers, a Mr. Walter Travers
A clergyman mentioned in connection with religious controversies.
Queen Elizabeth
minor
Also known as Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth
Tudor monarch referenced in discussions of state and religion.
Mr. Sidgwick
minor
Also known as Mr. Sidgwick
A philosopher and educator whose views on ethics are referenced.
Mr. Roebuck
minor
Also known as Mr. Roebuck
A politician whose speeches on reform are critiqued.
Mr. Carlyle
minor
Also known as Mr. Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle, whose views on heroism and culture are referenced.
Mr. Beales
minor
Also known as Mr. Beales
A political reformer mentioned in the context of liberal movements.
Colonel Dickson
minor
Also known as Colonel
A military figure referenced in passing in political discussions.
Dr. Newman
minor
Also known as Dr. Newman
John Henry Newman, theologian whose views on faith and reason are discussed.
Bentham
minor
Also known as Bentham
Jeremy Bentham, utilitarian philosopher whose ideas are critiqued.
Brother Noyes
minor
Also known as Brother Noyes
A religious figure associated with perfectionist movements.
Mr. Odger
minor
Also known as Mr. Odger
A working-class political activist mentioned in reform discussions.
Mr. Hepworth Dixon
minor
Also known as Mr. Dixon, Mr. Hepworth Dixon
A writer whose works on spiritualism and culture are referenced critically.
Franklin
minor
Also known as Franklin
Benjamin Franklin, cited as an example of practical wisdom and self-improvement.
Aristotle
minor
Also known as Aristotle
Greek philosopher whose ethical and political ideas are invoked.
Mr. White
minor
Also known as Mr. White
A contemporary figure mentioned in passing in cultural debates.
Joubert
minor
Also known as Joubert
French moralist whose aphorisms on culture and thought are quoted.
Goethe
minor
Also known as Goethe
German poet and thinker, a model of Hellenic balance and cultural breadth.
Sir Daniel Gooch
minor
Also known as Daniel, Dan
A railway engineer and politician mentioned in a cultural context.
M. Sainte-Beuve
minor
Also known as M. Sainte - Beuve
French literary critic whose methods are discussed in relation to culture.
Mr. Smith
minor
Also known as a Mr. Smith, Poor Mr. Smith
A generic figure used to illustrate points about social class and culture.
Isaac Walton
minor
Also known as Walton
Author of The Compleat Angler, cited as an example of a harmonious life.
Wilhelm von Humboldt
minor
Also known as Humboldt
German philosopher and statesman whose ideas on education are cited.
Mr. Gladstone
minor
Also known as 3 Mr. Gladstone
Prime minister William Gladstone, referenced in political and cultural debates.
Mr. Miall
minor
Also known as Mr. Miall
A Nonconformist politician and advocate for religious liberty.
Constantine
minor
Also known as Constantine
Roman emperor whose conversion to Christianity is referenced historically.
Canning
minor
Also known as Canning
British statesman George Canning, referenced in political context.
Newman Weeks
minor
Also known as Newman Weeks
A minor figure mentioned in relation to religious controversies.
Mr. Tennyson
minor
Also known as Mr. Tennyson
Poet Alfred Lord Tennyson, cited as a representative of culture.
