Alexander Pope.ppt

1、,Alexander Pope,1.Brief introduction,2.Literary position and style,3.Major Works,4.Analysis of text,Brief Introduction,born on May 21,1688(the year of Glorious Revolution),in London died on May 30,1744 known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer,He a representative Neoclassicism p

2、oet and rational philosopher.,English essayist, critic, satirist. one of the greatest poets of Enlightenment representative of Neoclassicism,a master of poetry in the form of heroic couplets, the most important representative of the English classical poetry,a master of poetry in the form of heroic c

3、ouplet the most important representative of the English classical poetry,Literary Position,the greatest English poet of the classical school in the first half of the 18th century. a master of poetry in the form of heroic couplets, the most important representative of the English classical poetry One

4、 of the fore-most satirists in world literature. He wrote witty and polished versed ridiculing the behavior of his day.,Literature Position,the greatest English poet of the classical school in the first half of the 18th century. a master of poetry in the form of heroic couplets, the most important r

5、epresentative of the English classical poetry One of the fore-most satirists in world literature. He wrote witty and polished versed ridiculing the behavior of his day.,style,Popes works are known for their sparkling wit, good sense, and charm of expression. After Shakespeare, he is the most widely

6、quoted poet in English literature. His poems have a satiric, concise, smooth, graceful and well-balanced style.,2. Neoclassicism in literary criticism refers to the revival of the attitudes and styles of expression of classical literature. It is generally used to describe a period in European histor

7、y beginning in the late seventeenth century and lasting until about 1800. In its purest form, Neoclassicism marked a return to order, proportion, restraint, logic, accuracy, and decorum.,1. Heroic Couplet（英雄双韵体）refers to lines of iambic pentameter which rhyme in pairs. The adjective “heroic” was app

8、lied in the later seventeenth century because of the frequent use of such couplets in heroic poems and dramas. This verse form was introduced into English poetry by Geoffrey Chaucer.,Major Works,The Rape of the Lock 劫发记 An Essay on Criticism批评论 The Dunciad 愚人记 An Essay on Man 论人,1.Popes mock-heroic

9、poem The Rape of the Lock(劫发记) is one of the finest examples of English comic verse. 2.He made his name as a great poet with the publication of An Essay on Criticism (批评论) in 1711.,3.His Dunciad (愚人记) is a scathing attack on dullness and pedantry in literature. 4.He also composed verse essays on phi

10、losophy, literature, and criticism. In An Essay on Man, he brilliantly expressed the philosophical trends and concepts of his age.,An Essay on Criticism,An Essay on Criticism is actually not a essay, but a long poem contains 744lines. It has become so widespread that many English idioms can find the

11、ir origins in it. In this masterpiece, the Young Pope put forward his ideas on poetics. He thinks that nature is the thing that deserves poets attention most.,The Structure of An Essay on Criticism,First 200 lines: The importance of criticism From Line 201 and Line 559: Examples for criticism From L

12、ine 560 to Line 744: Principles for Criticism and the history of criticism in Europe,In An Essay on Criticism, Pope thinks poets should not stay away from nature and he takes poetry in Ancient Greek and Rome is the stereotype for later poets.,BACK,The Rape of the Lock,The Rape of the Lock is a mock-

13、heroic narrative poem written by Alexander Pope, first published anonymously in Lintots Miscellany in May 1712 in two cantos (334 lines), but then revised, expanded and reissued under Popes name on March 2, 1714, in a much-expanded 5-canto version (794 lines). The final form was available in 1717 wi

14、th the addition of Clarissas speech on good humor.,Comments,The humour of the poem comes from the storm in a teacup of vanity being couched within the elaborate, formal verbal structure of an epic poem. In this poem, Pope uses the from of classical epic and stories in Greek and Roman mythology. It s

15、eems that he pays much attention to the incident, but in fact he criticized upper class for their exaggeration of small things which seems to be huge to them.,BACK,A Essay on Man,An Essay on Man is a poem published by Alexander Pope in 1734. It is a rationalistic effort to use philosophy in order to

16、 vindicate the ways of God to man (l.16), a variation of John Miltons claim in the opening lines of Paradise Lost, that he will justify the ways of God to man (1.26). It is concerned with the natural order God has decreed for man. Because man cannot know Gods purposes, he cannot complain about his p

17、osition in the Great Chain of Being (ll.33-34) and must accept that Whatever IS, is RIGHT (l.292), a theme that would soon be satirized by Voltaire in Candide.1 More than any other work, it popularized optimistic philosophy throughout England and the rest of Europe.,Popes Essay on Man and Moral Epis

18、tles were designed to be the parts of a system of ethics which he wanted to express in poetry. Moral Epistles have been known under various other names including Ethic Epistles and Moral Essays. On its publication, An Essay on Man met with great admiration throughout Europe. Voltaire called it the m

19、ost beautiful, the most useful, the most sublime didactic poem ever written in any language. In 1756 Rousseau wrote to Voltaire admiring the poem and saying that it softens my ills and brings me patience. Kant was fond of the poem and would recite long passages of the poem to his students. However later Voltaire renounced his admiration for Pope and Leibnitzs optimism and even wrote a novel, Candide, as a satire on Pope and