Alexander Pope

(1688-1744)

Dr Islam Aly El-Naggar

Faculty of Education
3rd Year
(2023-2024)
University Email:
[email protected]. edu.eg
 In this Lecture students will be
introduced to:
• Seminal Terms of literary Criticism such as:
• Critical Framework
• Premises vs Assumptions vs
(Core)Principles
• Eclecticism
• Corollary
• Position on sth
• Epigram vs Aphorism vs Maxim
Pope as a representative of Neoclassicism in
England

• Neoclassicism in England vs other parts in

Europe*
• The function of a Critic Or What does it mean to
be a critic in the era of neoclassicism (as
predominant thought)
• The A Critic vs an Artist
• idea of ‘wit’ and ‘reasoning’
• The Concept of (law of) Nature vs Imitation
(Mimesis/representation)
• The Neoclassicist (Augustan)Theory (18th
Century) vs Romantic Theory (19th Century)
 Age of Pope:
Influence(s) … Premises

• The age Pope writes in already accepts

wholeheartedly the neoclassical principles
which Dryden was still at pains to diffuse.
• Pope's Essay on Criticism (1711) is the English
equivalent of Boileau's Art poétique in France: a
re-statement of the neo-Classical principles
when they already are generally known.
• Pope's essay is modelled after the verse epistle
of Horace*
 Main Works

• An Essay on Criticism (1711)

• The Rape of the Lock (1712)
• The Dunciad (1727)
• An Essay on Man (1734)
 Pope’s Critical Framework

• He redefines classical virtues in terms of an

exploration of ‘nature’ and ‘wit’, as necessary to
both Poetry and criticism
• This restatement of classicism is itself situated
within a broader reformulation of literary history,
tradition, and religion …
• His contribution to literary history and literary
criticism (what makes a good critic?) …
• Metacriticism?!
 What is a critical framework in
research?
• An explicit statement of theoretical
assumptions permits the reader to
evaluate them critically.
• The theoretical framework connects the
researcher to existing knowledge.
• Guided by a relevant theory, you are given
a basis for your hypotheses and choice of
research methods.
 An Essay on Man

• A philosophical poem …
• … was an attack [criticism of] on human
arrogance or pride in failing to observe the
limits of human reason/in questioning the
divine authority and seeking to be self-
reliant on the basis of rationality & science.
 … “Pride” as the original sin …
…he espouses an ethic based on an ordered
and hierarchical universe …
but in terms of Newtonian mechanism.
And yet he expresses a broad deistic vision.
 An Essay on Criticism (1711) is perhaps the
clearest statement of neoclassical principles …

• It expresses a worldview which synthesizes

elements of …
1) a Roman Catholic outlook
2) classical aesthetic principles (secular)
3) Deism
What can we call this mix/amalgamation?
**Pope’s Eclecticism
 Pope’s Premises
in
An Essay on Criticism …
• An eclectic mixture of …
- a Roman Catholic vision premised on the
negative significance of pride …
- Humanistic secularism which is perhaps
influenced by Erasmus [a stylistic neoclassicism
with roots in the rhetorical tradition from Aristotle,
Horace, Longinus and modern disciples such as
Boileau*]
- a Modernity in the wake of figures such as Bacon,
Hobbes, and Locke.
 Premise
• A premise is a statement in an argument
that provides reason or support for the
conclusion.
• There can be one or many premises in a
single argument.
 The resulting
conglomeration is
“inharmonious” …
…
 Eclecticism
• Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that
does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm
or set of assumptions, but instead draws
upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to
gain complementary insights into a
subject, or applies different theories in
particular cases.
What governs/controls/has the upper hand
in Pope’s ‘conservative’ and ‘retrospective’
views on nature, God and man?

• A return to the past

• A return to the classical model
• The various secularizing movements …
Pope's Essay on Criticism (Core Principles)

• Pope's Essay on Criticism is a perfect example

of the kind of poetry Pope mastered: pointed1,
epigrammatic 2, aphoristic 3 and not at all lyrical.
• Pope's aim is to give advice to critics on
evaluation, and not to writers on composition.
• He focuses on poetry.
• He thinks that only writers qualify for the role of
critics:
• Let such teach others who themselves excel
• And censure freely, who have written well
 Epigrammatic vs Aphoristic
• Something that's epigrammatic is short and
clever. An aphorism or maxim — a witty, concise
saying — is epigrammatic.
• A poem, statement, or joke that's short and
sweet is epigrammatic.
• An aphorism is a short statement that reveals a
universal truth.
• An epigram is a satirical statement with a funny
twist.
• These two types of literary devices are similar
and often confused, particularly because
epigrams can also be aphorisms.
 Maxim
• A short, pithy statement expressing a
general truth or rule of conduct.
• … is simply a moral rule or principle, which
can be considered objective or subjective,
and dependent on one's philosophy.
• A maxim is often pedagogical and
motivates specific actions.
Both must alike from Heaven derive
their Light,
Those bronto judge, as well as those
to Write.
 The Qualifications of a Good Poet/Critic

• Pope sees that the endeavor of criticism is a

noble one, provided it abides by Horace’s advice
for the poet* …
1. Criticism should be governed by the same rules
that apply to art [Aesthetics*] …
&In addition to …
2. The critic must be conversant with [aware of]
every aspect of the author whom he is examining
…
 √√√ In the interest of good nature and good
sense, Pope urges the critic to …

• Adopt habits of self-criticism* and integrity*.

• Adopt habits of modesty* and caution*
• Be truthful … associated with “Good Breeding” in
order to gain what he calls ‘aesthetic humility’*
• True Wit vs False Wit
• The ideal critic* …
 Why is integrity important in critical
thinking?
• To have personal integrity requires a
person to objectively reflect on how their
actions align with their personal values
and beliefs.
• To think critically requires being honest
with oneself about biases, prejudices, and
experiences that are unduly influencing
one's thoughts.
 The qualities of an ideal critic can include:

- Attributes of humanity/moral sensibility rather

than aesthetic qualities.
- The only aesthetic quality is taste.
- The other virtues might have a theological
ground, resting on the ability to overcome pride
… ‘aesthetic humility’ … Reason …
 ‘aesthetic humility’ …
- Reason as a corollary /kərɒləri /of humility
*Reason [not as understood by the
individualistic/secular reason of the Enlightenment
philosophers] as understood by the many medieval
thinkers/as a universal archetype in human nature,
constrained by a theological framework.
- Awareness of the critic’s limitations in his striving
after truth.
- Pope’s specific advice to the critic is grounded on
virtues … thus goes beyond what is literary and
extends to the realms of morality, theology, and
art itself …
 Pope sees criticism as an art …

• There is a large overlap between the artistic

elements within criticism and the critical
elements necessary to art …
• Therefore, Pope’s advice to both the poet and
the critic to “follow nature” … the semantic
service of ‘wit’ and ‘judgment’
 Again …

Both must alike from Heaven derive

their Light,
Those bronto judge, as well as those
to Write.
 Hot points
• Wit vs judgment corresponding with art vs
criticism …
• The function of nature in both cases …
- Wit is Expression of nature/dress of thought
- The rules derived from nature …
• Condemning excessive individualism …
• The critic’s task is to recognize the superiority
of great wit …
 Pope’s Classicism …

• What the poet must express is a

universal truth/nature
• Organic unity …
• To follow the Aristotelian maxim
… “right reason” … avoid
extremes/subjective whims
• Go back to false wit
 Maxim
• A short, pithy statement expressing a
general truth or rule of conduct.
• … is simply a moral rule or principle, which
can be considered objective or subjective,
and dependent on one's philosophy.
• A maxim is often pedagogical and
motivates specific actions.
 He defines the intellectual and moral
characteristics of the good critic
• The critic must not pay excessive attention to
small faults; he must appreciate what is good,
irrespective of its being old or new, foreign or
national.
• He must control his obsessions and not
sacrifice his judgement "to one loved folly” ???
• He will seek to appreciate, rather than to find
fault
• The critic will avoid the extremities of novelty
and tradition.
 The intellectual and moral characteristics of the
good critic …

• The critic is “superior to the varieties of critical

narrowness that he draws up for censure”.
• In the third part of the essay, Pope points out the
moral virtues required in the critic:
• Knowledge is not sufficient.
• Honesty is needed
• Humility is needed too in putting forward his
judgement, taking care not to offend …
• "Without good breeding truth is disapproved."
 A good critic must have a “sense of
proportion”

Denotation of the term:

The ability to judge what is most important in a
situation. [Discernment*]
• A good critic knows when to forbear criticising a
great writer.
• Foolish critics will assail him with importunities.
Nay, fly to the altars, there they'll talk you dead
For fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
 The question of historical
consciousness
The main advice given to the critic is not to
set his pride against the author; to try to
understand first the author's spirit and then
judge accordingly (the critic must know a
poet's culture, religion, etc. before we
attempt to judge him.)
 Like Hobbes and Dryden, Pope mistrusts
imagination; Following Nature:

• Imagination misleads understanding

• Only understanding, judgement, can make a
successful work of art for him.
• Judgement makes a writer ‘follow nature’, which
is always the same for Pope.
• Following nature means understanding the rules
and writing according to them.
• Pope sees the rules as a product of Nature; they
are a self-imposed restraint:
 To follow (Rules of) Nature

Those rules of old discovered, not devised,

Are nature still, but nature methodized:
Nature, like liberty, is but restrained
By the same laws which first herself ordained.
 Pope’s Call for a “return to Nature”

• … is complex as he uses the term by generating

a comprehensive redefinition of it in his poem;
nature can refer to:
• The providential order/scheme of the world
which is hierarchical, in which every entity has its
assigned place/ the “Great Chain of Being” as
Pope expounds in his An Essay on Man.
• Classical order: What is normal, central, and
universal in human experience … [the spheres of
morality and knowledge]
 to learn to judge the work as a whole, and
not its isolated parts:

• To appreciate the true merits of a work, and not

the superficial ornaments like good sound or a
good style with no content.[its aesthetic
structure*]
• The harmony between sound and sense finds in
Pope's view its most finished instance in the
figure of imitative harmony [onomatopoeia*]
• 'Tis not enough no harshness gives offense;
• The sound must seem an echo to the sense .
• Soft is the strain when zephyr gently blows,
• And the smooth stream in smoother numbers
flows;
• But when loud surges lash the sounding shore,
• The hoarse, rough verse should like the torrent
roar:
• Whe Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to
throw,
• The line too labours, and the words move slow.
• Not so when swift Camilla scours the plain,
• Flies o'er th' unbending corn, and skims along
 These lines seem to imply that poetry must
avoid clichés

• With sure returns of still expected lines

• Where'er you find "the cooling western breeze"
• In the next line, it "whispers through the trees"
• If crystal streams "with pleasing murmurs creep"
• The reader's threatened (not in vain) with "sleep”
• Clichés [even predictable poetry] is one of the
worst enemies of [good] poetry.
• Poetry should surprise with its wit and its
innovative use of words and images.
 Pope's own Essay on Criticism follows his
requirement for "true wit":

True wit is nature to advantage dressed

What oft was thought, but ne'er so well expressed.
. . . something. . . .
That gives us back the image of our mind.
• Wit is the crown of nature, and not something
alien to it.
• This definition of wit can be traced to a Horatian
source.
 Misconception/Misinterpretation of Pope’s
concept of ‘wit’

• Pope’s conception of ‘wit’ was criticised by

Samuel Johnson
• Johnson believed that Pope has reduced "wit"
from strength of thought to happiness of
language.???
• But this is not Pope's doing: the term was
already evolving from its original meaning
towards a lighter and more frivolous one.
For Pope, Form is not important in itself but
only with respect to subject matter

• "Expression is the dress of thought" and so it

must be suitable, not uniformly bright,
• For diff'rent styles with diff'rent subjects sort
• As several garbs with country, town, and court.
 Critique of Pope's Sartorial Metaphors

• Pope's sartorial metaphors have often been

criticised, because they betray him into denying
what he is trying to assert: that there is an
organic relationship between style and content.
[he is contradicting himself!]
• Defining style as a dress, as something which
exists apart from the thing it covers, is not the
best way to do it, but we must note that Pope is
very careful in not using too much the wor
d "ornamental“
• Anyway, the definition of language as a kind of
dress for thought is not Pope's own: it is
commonplace until the Romantic age, when it
will be severely criticised.
 Conclusion
• Just as Horace and Boileau had written a
short history of literature, Pope ends his
Essay with a short history of criticism.
• He ends his essay with the hope tha
t "wit's fundamental laws" will take root in
England, a country which has bravely
resisted the invasion of culture.
• He sees in Boileau the summit of modern
criticism, and lets us conclude that he
himself is the cornerstone of English
criticism-which he was.
 • General intelligence and
intellectual acuity
--The ability to:
“Wit” & Like produce a concise/poignant
nature, has figure of speech or pun …
a variety of [or the ability to discern
meanings similarities between different
… entities and to perceive the
hidden relationships
underlying the appearance of
things … ]
 • … defining and investing it with ‘moral
significance’ …
• A number of writers and philosophers
argued that wit was a negative
quality … corrupting imagination,
The distortion of truth, profanity, and
skepticism
debate • and the Puritans see wit as
‘defective’ and ‘corrupting’
over ‘wit’ • Pope’s notions of wit were in this
context …
… • He distinguishes between what he
calls ‘true’ wit vs ‘false’ wit.
• He defends literature
• He defends ‘wit’ as a mode of
knowing or apprehension unique to
literature …
 • He redefines classical virtues
in terms of an exploration of
nature and wit, as necessary
Pope’s to both Poetry and criticism;
contribution and this restatement of
to literary classicism is itself situated
history within a broader reformulation
and/or of literary history, tradition,
Criticism/hi and religion …
s classicism • He cautions that the best
poets make the best critic …
the best poetry and the best
criticism are divinely inspired.
 1. He seems modern … why?
2. He also seems less
modern …why?
3. The critic should recognize
the overall unity of a work …
Commentar to avoid falling into partial
y on Pope’s assessments based on the
author’s use of …
criticism 4. The critic needs to
possess a moral sensibility &
a sense of balance and
proportion …
 • Deism: noun
A belief in the existence of a
supreme being, specifically of a
creator who does not intervene
in the universe [Boyle’s thought].
• The Puritans believed that God
had formed a unique covenant,
or agreement, with them. They
Glossary believed that God expected them
to live according to the
Scriptures, to reform the
Anglican Church, and to set a
good example that would cause
those who had remained in
England to change their sinful
ways.