Was all sweetness and light?

Was all sweetness and light?

If you say that a relationship or situation is not all sweetness and light, you mean that it is not as pleasant as it appears to be.

Who said sweetness and light?

Matthew Arnold
In 1704 Jonathan Swift wrote of beauty and intelligence as ”the two noblest of things, sweetness and light. ” In 1869, Matthew Arnold made Swift’s latter phrase a touchstone of Victorian sensibility as the title of the first chapter of his ”Culture and Anarchy.

Where does the expression sweetness and light come from?

Ostentatious amiability and friendliness, as in One day she has a temper tantrum, the next day she’s all sweetness and light. This phrase was coined by Jonathan Swift in his Battle of the Books (1704), where it referred literally to the products of bees: honey and light from beeswax candles.

What sweetness means?

adj. sweet·er, sweet·est. 1. Having the taste of sugar or a substance containing or resembling sugar, as honey or saccharin. 2.

What is sweetness and light of culture?

It gained widespread currency in the Victorian era, when English poet and essayist Matthew Arnold picked it up as the title of the first section of his 1869 book Culture and Anarchy: An Essay in Political and Social Criticism, where “sweetness and light” stands for beauty and intelligence, the two key components of an …

Are perfection reason and the will of God therefore equated with sweetness and light?

(There is a unitive force, “God,” who possesses a “will” or purpose to dominate history, and culture is “rational.” 411, God’s will is an intended universal order in the world–an inevitable force or law of change. Are perfection, reason and the will of God therefore equated with sweetness and light?

What does Arnold mean by machinery?

The idea of free trade was machinery, but machinery that is fetishized when people think of it as intrinsically valuable, a goal unto itself, rather than a means to an end.

How has Arnold portrayed culture in his text Culture and Anarchy?

Culture and Anarchy, major work of criticism by Matthew Arnold, published in 1869. In it Arnold contrasts culture, which he defines as “the study of perfection,” with anarchy, the prevalent mood of England’s then new democracy, which lacks standards and a sense of direction.

What’s another word for sweetness?

What is another word for sweetness?

Who is a sweet person?

If you describe someone as sweet, you mean that they are pleasant, kind, and gentle towards other people. If you describe a small person or thing as sweet, you mean that they are attractive in a simple or unsophisticated way. [informal] …a sweet little baby girl. The house was really sweet.

What is sweetness and light according to Arnold?

For Arnold, sweetness is beauty, and light is intelligence – and together they make up “the essential character of human perfection,” which had its fullest development, he believed, among the ancient Greeks.

Who are the Philistines According to Arnold?

Arnold usually applied the term ‘the Philistines’ to the prosperous bourgeoisie, especially to its nonconformist Liberal representatives.

Which is the best definition of sweetness and light?

sweetness and light. noun. 1 : a harmonious combination of beauty and enlightenment viewed as a hallmark of culture. 2a : amiable reasonableness of disposition they were all sweetness and light.

When did sweetness and light become an idiom?

The phrase came into regular use as an English language idiom after the publication of Arnold’s essay.

Who is the author of sweetness and light?

A phrase popularized by the nineteenth-century English author Matthew Arnold; it had been used earlier by Jonathan Swift. According to Arnold, sweetness and light are two things that a culture should strive for.

Why is culture important in sweetness and light?

Culture is worthwhile because it reminds us of what’s important and renews our passion for “sweetness and light” (471). When true culture is achieved, true greatness occurs and social classes are destroyed.