“Epistle II: To a Lady”
- How is this epistolary essay structured? Do Pope’s examples illustrate the introductory hypothesis, “Most women have no character at all”?
- What are some examples of the essay’s wit, and against what or whom is the humor directed?
- What is added by the fact that the epistle is composed in verse? Does this make it more or less serious?
- How does the epistle differentiate the essential traits of men and women? According the the author, what are the characteristics of an ideal woman?
- In her pre- and post-lapsarian states, would Milton’s Eve have illustrated the essay’s definition of female character? To what extent do the women of “The Rape of the Lock” fit within these categories?
- What effect is created by Pope’s initial and final references to his “lady” friend?
- Is this or is it not an anti-feminist essay? In forming your judgment, what assumptions are you making? Are there forms of outside evidence which might bear on the answer to this question?
- What is known about Pope’s life which might help explain his stated attitudes on the nature of women? About the views of members of his social group? Of early eighteenth-century views of women?
- What social forces might have prompted an insistence on the inferior mental or moral qualities of women?
- Can you reconcile the 1735 epistle’s statement that “Good as well as ill/Woman’s at beast a contradiction still” with the conclusion to “An Essay on Man” published two years earlier, “Whatever is, is RIGHT”?
- Have you encountered similar arguments/claims in your reading of contemporary literature? Are there contrasts in context or tone?
- Is any constructive purpose served by debates about the nature and relative merits of male/female differences? What do contemporary biologists and social psychologists have to say about this issue?
“An Essay on Man,” selections
- Is poetry the best genre for this “essay”? Would the essay have a different effect if composed in prose?
- What effect do the Miltonic echoes have on the reader’s sense of Pope’s intention? Do they elevate or degrade his theme?
- What are some ways in which this essay differs in organization, language, or mode of documentation from the “Essay on Criticism”? Do you prefer the 1709-1711 essay or the 1733 one, and why?
- What is Pope’s essential argument in support of the clarity of his “one truth”: “Whatever is, is RIGHT”? Have any lines of rebuttal been omitted?
- Is the essay’s style appropriate to its content—that is, if Pope had believed that all that exists is wrong, would he have been forced to change his style?
- To what extent do you find the conclusion of epistle I harmonious with the tone and style of the opening liens of epistle II?
- Are some of the issues here raised by Pope debated by later literary works? By modern or contemporary political theorists, politicians or theologians?
- Which of the issues raised by Pope do you think are resolved in this poem? Do you think his approach is valuable?