#14 - Concept Reference, Must Be True, Subject Perspective

[Administrator]

Complete question explanation.

See the complete passage discussion here: viewtopic.php?f=1158&t=11220

Concept Reference, Must Be True, Subject Perspective. The correct answer is (E)


Arnold believes the middle class was overly concerned with respectability, so we need an answer choice that reflects this.

Answer (A) - this is too genuine, the middle class was concerned with appearances only according to Arnold.

Answer (B) - there's no indication or support for this in the passage.

Answer (C) - this is tempting, but the middle class is concerned not necessarily with money but rather with reputation.

Answer (D) - similar to (A), Arnold doesn't seem to think the middle class actually cares about art at all

Answer (E) - this is the correct answer. The middle class doesn't care about art, but they do care about having a reputation of someone who cares about art.

[meercat44]

I put A for this, and want to be sure I understand why E is the correct answer. Arnold says that middle class patrons were "Philistines, obsessed with respectability." I took this to mean we needed to look for an answer that hinted at respectability. My thinking with A was that being concerned with society as a whole is what many might consider respectable. Why is it that "a desire to establish a reputation as a patron of the arts" speaks more to the idea of respectability? Is Arnold implying that the middle class was mostly concerned with appearances, and E hints more at this idea of outward appearances than A?

[James Finch]

Hi Meercat,

Your last sentence nailed it--"Respectability" here refers to how the individual is viewed by society at large. Patronage of the arts is seen as a means to an end, not an end in itself, as answer choice (A) implies. By patronizing the arts, the middle class were doing the proper, respectable thing, elevating their own stature within society. The value of the art itself was secondary, if considered at all.

Further evidence comes from the two sentences that bookend the sentence you quoted: "The taste of...the upper middle class has not always been apt produce an art that endures," and "...more talented
artists sometimes had to find a place in the margins of the establishment--engaged by a rich patron with eccentric tastes, for example."

Hope this clears things up!