Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Alexander Pope
- 1688-1744
- THE poet of 18th Century England
- set the standard for Neoclassicism
- Born into a Roman Catholic family
the year James II (last Catholic
monarch) was forced to abdicate his
throne
- barred from attending University
- caught a severe case of spinal
tuberculosis & was left dwarfed,
twisted, and delicate of
constitution
- "Essay on Criticism" pub. 1711
- Central idea: the eternal war between critics, who judge
according to a rigid system of regulations, and poets,
hemmed in by such rules and longing to soar
- Critic's duty is to comprehend fully & disinterestedly the poet's form, matter, end
- Pope presents from the poet's
perspective, but he sides with the
critics
- Pope argues raw talent needs to be
educated
- similar to Sidney, Pope believed poet
requires a natural genius, knowledge of
rules of art, & education based on
Neoclassicism
- Pope uses his central terms
in a variety of related but
distinct ways
- "Nature"
- world of divine creation
- human nature
- instincts
- "Art"
- world of human invention
- technique & craft
- class of objects created by
human intelligence &
creativity
- "Wit"
- sense
- intelligence
- creative power
- he typically
repeats his point
- but he also draws a distinction
only to collpase it later