Alexander Pope's "Essay on Criticism"

2009-06-17 08:21:00

You might be one of those students struggling to decipher their literature assignments. Well, classic literature indeed demands higher level of comprehension. So be guided with the basic details that this blog aims to share with you regarding mind-bugling scripts. Let's take off from Alexander Pope's "Essay on Criticism".

This piece is actually a didactic poem, don't get confused with its title. This poetic essay was a relatively new genre, and the "essay" itself was Pope's most ambitious work that time.

The poem starts with a discussion of the rules that ought to govern poetry - enabling a critic to make sound critical judgments.

The "Essay on Criticism," then, is obviously ambiguous. Pope then proceeds to the laws by which a critic must be guided — insisting that critics exist to serve poets, not to attack them.

The final part of the poem tackles the moral qualities and virtues inherent in an ideal critic, who is also an ideal man.

There you have it – an introduction and a bit of the necessary details you need to know towards understanding your literature homeworks.

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