An Essay on Man by Alexander Pope By: Erin Dowdle, Anthony Czepiel, and Tim Mackey

An Essay on Man by Alexander Pope

By: Erin Dowdle, Anthony Czepiel, and Tim Mackey

Who was Alexander Pope?

❏ Born on May 21, 1688 in England❏ Satirical writer during the Restoration period❏ Educated at home❏ Lots of friends, but also haters❏He had tuberculosis, which limited his

activity❏Died on May 30, 1744 in Twickenham, UK

Other Significant Works...

❏ Essay on Criticism- 1711❏ Translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey-

1715 and 1726❏ The Dunciad- 1728❏Moral Essays- 1731 to 1735

Summary on An Essay on Man

❏ Four Epistles(sections) of the poem❏ Focuses on the universe and particularly God and his

relationship with people❏ Pope writes that God has infinite wisdom, and with this

he created the best world possible❏ Also believes that the good of a person is determined

by his whole self and love, both self and social, and

motivate humans' conduct to attain virtue

Comparison of Man

❏ Pope uses word choice to compare man to different beings, such as “... a god, or a beast..” (ln. 8)

❏Uses a lot of contradicting words and phrases to exemplify the difference between good and bad in man

❏Makes references to British society.

Breakdown of Four Epistles

Epistle I: Nature of man and with his place in the universe.Epistle II: Man as an individual.Epistle III: Society's relationship with man and natural political and social hierarchiesEpistle IV: Man's pursuit of happiness.

1st Epistle: Second Paragraph

❏ “’Tis ours to trace Him only in our own.He, who through vast immensity can pierce,See worlds on worlds compose one universe,Observe how system into system runs,What other planets circle other suns,What varied being peoples every star,May tell why Heaven has made us as we are.”

Analysis of 1st Epistle Excerpt

❏ Alexander Pope is saying that God could have chosen whoever and whatever he wanted in a “vast immensity” to mirror himself on, but decided to create humans in his own image

❏ Shows Restoration Period idea of looking at human nature and ideas

Quote and Analysis of Epistle 2 (section in textbook)

❏ “Created half to rise, and half to fall;/ Great lord of all things, yet prey to all;/ Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled;/ The glory, jest, and riddle of the world!”(ln. 15-18)

❏How god created man, what his purpose is in the universe.

❏Contradicting, the battle between good and bad in man.

3rd Epistle: 1st paragraph

❏ “Nothing is foreign: parts relate to whole;One all-extending, all-preserving soulConnects each being, greatest with the least;Made beast in aid of man, and man of beast;All served, all serving: nothing stands alone;The chain holds on, and where it ends, unknown”

Analysis of 3rd Epistle

❏God created a natural order of the universe and the wants of man and creature cause them to be eternally connected with each other

❏Humans must see them and the creatures around them as pieces in a puzzle that all relate with each other

Excerpt from 4th Epistle Paragraph 9

❏ “Know, all the good that individuals find,Or God and Nature meant to mere mankind,Reason’s whole pleasure, all the joys of sense,Lie in three words, health, peace, and competence.”

Analysis of 4th Epistle paragraph

❏ Pope is again looking at human nature and mentions nature itself

❏ Pope is saying that people only need certain things to be happy, “health, peace, and competence”, and as long as they have those things individuals can find good in life