Prematurity, Periodicity, and Agency in ‘The Function of Criticism at the Present Time'

Abstract

Analyzes “The Function of Criticism at the Present Time” to expose Arnold’s attitude toward millenarianism, explore the functions he assigns to poetry in his work, and trace the influence of Plato’s Theaetetus on his thinking. Believes the essay is Arnold’s renunciation of the possibility of social renovation. Challenges ideas that Arnold was a proponent of middle- class hegemony.