“Dover Beach” was officially published in 1867, however, it was estimated to be written in 1851; this occurred shortly after Matthew Arnold’s marriage to Frances Lucy Wightman. The time period was the Victorian Era (ruling period of Queen Victoria). Furthermore, the time of writing was just after the industrial revolution which was historically known to end around 1840; the industrial revolution caused great social and economic reform. The time of writing was only three years after the European revolutions of 1848, in which a series of revolts occurred against different European monarchies. These revolutions ended in failure, which caused repression as well as a widespread feeling of disillusionment among liberals.