Last class on Pope

04/11/2010 1h 14min
Last class on Pope

Listen "Last class on Pope"

Episode Synopsis

The last class on Pope (except there'll be a makeup on the Essay on Man in December).  The Dunciad and the reign of Dullness.  Theobald as "hero" of first Dunciad, Cibber as hero of second.  "Aristarchus" (i.e.: Pope) on the mock epic and its relation to the serious epic: how the parodic versions of wisdom, bravery, and love come to be vanity, impudence, and debauchery.  Pope's debauchery in an anecdote in Cibber's letter to Pope: Cibber saves him from peril atop a large prostitute.  Pope's cuttingness.  (The rhyme of "K *" and "sing".)  The fact that depth of soul goes with bitterness and despair, in both the Dunciad and in the amazing psychological acuity of Eloisa to Aberlard.

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