2. LEQs
What is the role and significance of style in
creating literature?
How do writers use diction, imagery and tone
(especially humorous or ironic tone) to reveal
important political , social or economic
attitudes?
3. Pope’s Life
Born May 21, 1688 (Restoration), London
Crippled at 12; hunchback
Never married, but involved with two women in his life
Martha Blount and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
Never formally educated because he was Catholic
Gained an appreciate for the classics and writing
Conformed to strict writing rules
Greatest work (at 24) was The Rape of the Lock, a mock-
heroic
Financially independent through translations of the Iliad and
the Odyssey
Died 1744, Twickenham
4. Pope’s Writing
First Period
Pastorals—1709
Two most important poems were Essay on Criticism
(1711) and The Rape of the Lock (1714)
Second Period
Iliad translation (1715)
Odyssey translation (1726)
Third Period
Dunciad (1728)
Essay on Man (1734)
5. 18th Century Background
Augustan Age (1660-1780)
Bracketed between “rigid scholarship” of the 17th cent.
and scientific/religious skepticism of the 19th cent.
Interest in society, and self as part of society
All aspects—politician to servant—examined
Satirized ruthlessly
Writer depended on patron, but could also be
independent
Printing press came of age
Expanding, healthy economy
Civilized society = London; exotic ideas admired
6. Literary Background
Augustan Age (1660-1780)
Basic rule—man had to follow “Nature”
The pure standards of taste and judgment that should
control man’s artistic endeavors
Knowledge of classics and former civilizations
Strict adherence of rules and regulations
Heroic couplets (suitable for lofty themes)
Art subservient to Nature
Also called Reason and Common Sense
Formalism stifled freedom of expression
Various forms: mock epic, ode, epistle, and epigram
7. Pope’s Methods
Pope and the 18th Century
No advantage of vernacular speech, but he used
colloquialisms
Mature outlook, poise and control, careful judgment
Exposed shallow flaws in society
Imitation
Re-creation of a work
Pope translated old into Augustan phraseology
8. Pope’s Methods
Pope and Society
Poked fun at society, e.g. The Rape of the Lock
Commentary on British legal system
Biting satire against others
Pope and the Classics
Looked to Homer (favorite) and French classicism
Pope and Didactic Poetry
Teach lessons to society
“Hope springs eternal in the human breast” and “A little
learning is a dangerous thing”
9. Pope’s Methods
Pope and Poetic Form
Heroic couplet
“Laugh where we must, be candid where we can;
But vindicate the ways of God to Man.”
11. Satire & the Mock Heroic
SATIRE: the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the
like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice,
folly, etc.
MOCK HEROIC is a form of satire that adapts the
elevated heroic style of the classical epic poem
to a trivial subject.
12. The Epic Conventions
• High formal diction
• Invocation of the Muse
• “machinery” (i.e. gods or supernatural figures)
• Gods speak to hero in a dream
• The arming of the hero
• Sacrifice to the gods
• Exhortation of the general to the troops
• Catalog of the armies
• Battle scenes
• Descent into the underworld
• Intercession of the gods
• Ascension of the dead into the heavens
13. Background
Refashioned like Virgil’s Aeneid or Homer’s
Odyssey
Pope had three aims:
Patch a feud between two well-known families (a
lock of hair was stolen)
Ridicule the shallowness and useless frivolity in the
upper class
Make fun of the epic conventions
14. Historical Background
Three prominent Roman Catholic families: the
Carylls, the Fermors, and the Petres.
Fermors had a daughter, Arabella.
Petres had a son, Lord Petre.
Lord Petre cut off a lock of Arabella’s hair as a joke,
causing the bitter quarrel.
John Caryll asked Pope if he would write a poem to
heal the breach.
15. Important Attributes
Characters
Belinda (Arabella Fermor)
The Baron or Lord (Robert, Lord Petre of Essex)
The Muse (John Caryll)
Sir Plume (Sir George Browne)
Thalestris, an Amazon (Lady Browne)
Clarissa (?)
Places
The Mall
Hampton Court
The Ring
Rosamonda’s Lake
16. Important Attributes
Use of sylphs
Part of the “epic machinery”
Borrowed from the classics
The game of Ombre
Structure of the poem
Five cantos (sections)
Regular rhyming couplets
17. Research (due 12/12)
Sylphs, salamanders, undines, gnomes and their
connection to Paracelsus
The game of Ombre
Extra Credit: Learn how to play and teach us
Mock epic, ode, epistle, and epigram
Heroic couplets
Patron of the arts (FYI: Latin, patronus)