Analysis of Alexander Popes An Essay on Man - 949 Words

Analysis of Alexander Popes An Essay on Man There are three main issues that Pope talks about in his long poem An Essay on Man. First, the poet evokes a timeless vision of humanity in which the universe is connected to a great chain that extends from God to the tiniest form of life. Secondly, Pope discusses Gods plan in which evil must exist for the sake of the greater good, a paradox not fully understandable by human reason. Thirdly, the poem accuses human beings of being proud and impious. Pope feels that man claims more insight into the nature of existence then he possesses. In An Essay on Man Pope is trying to make clear the relationship of humanity to the universe, himself, society and also to happiness. He states†¦show more content†¦Man knows that he possesses free will. In order for him to make the right choices, man must know that there is a choice to make between good and evil, and that he has to accept responsibility for his choices. Pope discuses the presence of evil throughout the universal chain: If the great end be human happiness then nature deviates; and can man do less? (330). This implies that there is beauty in nature, but there is also evil when nature destroys towns, homes and human life. If nature can be evil, how can man be expected never to be evil? Man has the power of good to help feed the hungry, care for the sick, and comfort the dying. Yet, man chooses to exercise his evil side: destroying, killing and bringing down those that are weaker. In addition to discussing evil, Pope also suggests that human beings are full of pride and impiety. All this dread order break-for whom? For thee? Vile worm! laments Pope, Oh madness! Pride! impiety! (332). He is saying that man sees himself as the center of the universe around which all things revolve. Humanity cares about nothing but itself. Pope draws us into the poem by reminding us that we too have tendencies to make assumptions and that we all have our own desire to see the universe revolving around us. Pope discusses humanitys downfall, writing: In pride in reasoning pride, our error lies (329). Here, Pope puts forth theShow MoreRelatedThe Role of Nature4799 Words   |  20 Pagesthe divine order of the universe. The present analysis will spotlight Popes Essay On Man and Coleridges Rime of an Ancient Mariner. First, I want to show that Coleridge and Pope advocate a pantheistic and a deistic conception of Nature, respectively. This should be the general framework through which I will try to show some other differences. Then, in a second time, the use of a concept like reason will be analysed in regard to Popes Essay on Man. This step shows that even if Pope is a writerRead More Happiness in the Fourth Epistle of Alexander Popes An Essay on Man5580 Words   |  23 Pages Alexander Popes philosophical poem An Essay on Man, published in 1732-134, may even more precisely be classified, to use a German phrase, as Weltanschauungliche Dichtung (worldviewish poetry). That it is appropriate to understand An Essay on Man as world view in verse, as a work which depicts humanitys relationship to and understanding of a perplexing and amazing world, is indicated in the statement of the poems Design in which the author avows that his goal was to examine Man in the abstractRead MoreAlexander Pope s Translation Of The Iliad984 Words   |  4 Pages Sometime last year, I started to bike to my job an hour early, in order to spend time reading before work at a nearby coffee shop. 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Wycliffs teachings reached Bohemia after his death and were picked up by John Huss, at the university of Prague, in early 1400sRead MoreCleanth Brookss Essay Irony as a Principle of Structure9125 Words   |  37 PagesHistory and Class Consciousness Preface THE collection and publication of these essays in book form is not intended to give them a greater importance as a whole than would be due to each individually. For the most part they are attempts, arising out of actual work for the party, to clarify the theoretical problems of the revolutionary movement in the mind ,of the author and his readers. The exceptions to this are the two essays Reification and the Consciousness of the Proletariat and Towards a Methodology