Alexander Pope was an 18th century English poet known for his use of the heroic couplet and for his satirical works. He received little formal education but was a prolific reader. Some of his most famous works include Essay on Criticism, Essay on Man, The Rape of the Lock, and pastoral poems. Pope socialized with other prominent writers of the time like Swift, Arbuthnot, and Gay. The Neoclassical period emphasized order, reason, and restraint and viewed humanity and human nature through a religious, political, and philosophical lens. Pope's religious thinking is evident in works like Essay on Man, which explores theological concepts through a philosophical poem. His Universal Prayer is a religious poem

1. INTRODUCTION
TO
PRESENTATION

4. TOPIC
BIOGRAPHICAL BACKGROUND
OF
ALEXANDER POPE
•HISLIFE
•FAMILY
•RELIGION
•MARITAL STATUS
•EDUCATION

5. EDUCATION
As Spence says,
“In some respects for not having a
regular education, he read originally
for the sense, whereas we are
taught for so many years to read
only for words”

6. HIS WORKS
 Heroic Couplet
 Translation of Homer
 Satire

7.  Essay On Criticism
 Essay On Man
 The Rape Of The Lock
 Pastorals
 Universal Prayer (Religious
Poem)

8. HIS CONTEMPORARIES
 SWIFT
 ARBUTHNOT
 GAY
 BOLINGBROKE

10. THE AGE OF NEOCLASSICISM
INTRODUCTION
RENAISSANCE VIEW OF MAN
DEFINITION OF MAN IN NEOCLASSICAL AGE

11. REPLACE
D
IMAGINATION,
INVENTION, AND
EXPERIMENTATIO
N

12. • Order and Reason
• Restraint
• Common Sense
EMPHASIZES
ON: • Religious, Political,
Philosophical.
• Economic
Conservations

13. MAN
•Most appropriate subject of Art
•Art itself as essentially
pragmatic as valuable because it
was somehow useful,
•Something properly intellectual
rather than emotional

14. NEOCLASSICAL ASSUMPTIONS AND
THEIR IMPLICATION
Because
Past Present human nature
is constant.
“Nothing can please many, and please long
but just representation of general nature.
(Samuel Johnson)

15. Emphasized
Common Human Characteristics
Neoclassical artists express
New effective ways Old truths
“True wit is nature to advantage dressed,
what often was thought, but never so well
expressed. (Alexander
Pope)

16. INFLUENCE OF CLASSICS
Respect for past
Wisdom of past
Human
Human nature
achievements
is imperfect,
are limited, so
Human aims should
also be limited.

17. SOCIAL THEMES
READER
S
MEMBERS IF
SOCIETY
CHARACTER
S
NEOCLASSICAL
WRITERS

18. AGE OF REASON
CLASSICAL IDEALS
MODERATION ORDER
INSPIRED THIS PERIOD
Common sense of
society
Emphasize
Individual
imagination

19. REASON
Traditionally assumed to be
the highest mental faculty,
But, considered it as a
sufficient guide by many
thinkers of this period.

20. Religious
Morality Reason
beliefs
De-
Revelation Grace
emphasized
To act rightly to
Morality one‟s fellow
beings on earth.

21. Sharp and brilliant wit produced
within the clearly defined ideals of
neoclassical art.
Focused on people in their social
context.
World‟s greatest age of comedy
and satire

22. THEOLOGY OF
EIGHTEENTH
CENTURY

23. POPE‟S RELIGIOUS
THINKING
 His religious thinking is prominent
in his poetry.
 His poem “Essay On Man” shows
his theology which is influenced
by seventeenth century
philosophers.
 And “Universal Prayer” is said to
be “short companion to the poem”

24. ESSAY ON MAN
 It is a philosophical poem.
 Itis written in heroic couplets,
 published between 1732 and
1734.
 Pope intended this poem to be
the centerpiece of a proposed
system of ethics that was to be
put forth in poetic form.

25. THEOLOGICAL CONCEPTS IN
THE POEM “ESSAY ON MAN”
 Anthropocentric Worldview
 The Great Chain of Being
 Natural Laws
 Principle Of Plenitude
 Deism
 Characteristics Of Deism

26. ANTHROPOCENTRIC
WORLDVIEW
 This view regards humankind as
centre of existence.
 It is a world view that considers
humans to be the most important
factor and value in the universe.

27. THE GREAT CHAIN OF
BEING
GOD
ANGELIC
BEING
HUMANITY
ANIMALS
PLANTS
MINERALS

29. NATURAL LAWS
 Universe as a whole is a perfect
work of God.
 Pope says that no matter how
imperfect, complex, inscrutable
and disturbing the Universe
appears to be,
 it functions in a rational fashion
according to the natural laws.

30. PRINCIPLE OF PLENITUDE
 Plenitude means fullness,
abundance, completeness.
 To humans it appears to be evil
and imperfect in many ways;
 however, Pope points out that this
is due to our limited mindset and
limited intellectual capacity.

31. Now the question arises that, if our mind has
limited intellectual capacity, than what is the
message behind this?

32. Pope gets the message across that humans
must accept their position in the "Great
Chain of Being" which is at a middle stage
between the angels and the beasts of the
world. If we are able to accomplish this then
we potentially could lead happy and
virtuous lives

33. Deism is a religious philosophy
became prominent in 17th and 18th
century.
• It holds that reason and observation of the
natural world.
It can determine that the universe is
the product of an all powerful creator.

34. Diest typically rejects supernatural
events.
Prophecy
Intervention
Miracles
of God

35. Characteristics Of Deism
 Concept of reason.
 Argument for the existence of
God.
 Deist mission.
 Freedom and Necessity
 Belief about immortality of the
soul.
 Deist terminology.

36. UNIVERSAL PRAYER
EXPLANATION OF THE POEM AND CRITICAL
ANALYSIS

37. Significance of the title.
• Stylistic features.
Main theme.
• Figurative language

38. QUATRAIN 1

39. • God is called father because he is the
What „Father‟
suggests. creator, life giver, law giver and protector
• Alliteration of “s” is present in first stanza and the
words are saint, savage, and sage. The alliteration
Alliteration of “j” is also present in the words Jehovah and
Jove.
• He is addressing to God who is in every age whether it is present or
in old times, who is worshipped by or loved intensely by saint, by
uncivilized men and by wise men and these different people
Addressing belonging to different region has different names of God which is
to God Jehovah, Jove, or Lord.

40. QUATRAIN 2

41. refers to the
Great First submission
Cause to God's
Will,
the great principle
Free will embodied in the
Essay did not imply
blind determination,
on the contrary, it
recognizes free will
Not tends . The poet is not
asking the 'Cause'
towards because his limited
intellectual capacity is
fatalism unable to understand.

42. QUATRAIN 3

43. Nature fast • that God knows everything because he is omnipotent,
He knows what will happen. but, still he left the will free,
which suggest that God does not intervene in the
in fate process of this world.
• Dark, blind
Imagery • that God gave him light or sense to think and
differentiate between good and bad despite of all the
evilness in the world. God has given him reason to think
• He lefts on humans to choose for themselves. In third
Alliteration stanza the alliteration of “f” is present and the words are
fast and fate.
• there is allusion from Paradise Lost Book 9; “left free
Allusion the human will" (line 351). But that is totally different
from Milton's concept of free will. But the diction is
exactly the same.

44. QUATRAIN 4

45. Immortality
Conscience Salvation
of the soul
moral sense to choose good or evil or that sense
which warns him
This conscience teaches him to avoid hell more, or
condemn intensely hell rather than going to
heaven.
for his better afterlife. He wants to shun the hell
forever.

46. QUATRAIN 5

47. CONTENTEDNESS
Contentednessis the
obedience of God

48. QUATRAIN 6

49. BENEVOLENCE
God‟s blessings are not
confined only to man but,
also other creatures are
enjoying it.

50. QUATRAIN 7

51. DAMNATION
God deals damnation
around the land on
each foe of God that
He judges.

52. QUATRAIN 8

53. GOD‟S GRACE
 Pope evidently believes
that grace should more
probably be associated with
the sinner/non-believer of
God than the righteous
person.

54. QUATRAIN 9

55. TO ERR IS HUMAN
Human beings are
vulnerable to evil or
wickedness.

56. QUATRAIN 10

57. SERVING HUMANITY
 Use of „I‟ and „me‟
 The poets aspiration is to serve
mankind, to do pious deeds and to
show kindness to all human beings.
 Moreover he desires to hide and avoid
the faults and temptations he sees
and to show mercy to others in the
same manner that God showed him
mercy.
 Literary term- Anadiplosis: ‘mercy’

58. QUATRAIN 11

59. SELF-RECOGNITION
 The poet wants complete purgation of
his soul. He can be mean sometimes
but he can still by corrected by God‟s
breath.
 Anthropomorphism:
Act of attributing human forms or
quality to entities which are not
human.

60.  Sense of Agape or Caritas that is
God‟s love with man and man‟s love
towards God.
 Moreover he appeals to God to lead
his way whenever he goes through
this day‟s life or death.

61. QUATRAIN 12

62. PROSPERITY AND FAITH
 The poet‟s ultimate wish is to
have his daily bread and
peace to his soul.
 Alliteration:
“Though know‟st if best
bestowed or not”

63. QUATRAIN 13

64. GOD‟S GREATNESS
 Almighty God whose temple
occupies all the space, whose
altar includes the earth, sea and
skies so,
 He says let all the living beings
raise up their voices and shouts of
praise to God.
 Imagery:
temple, earth, sea and sky.

66. CONCLUSION