10. discuss "the rape of lock" as a piece of satire.

Satire in The Rape of The Lock

The rape of the lock is a brilliant and humorous satire on the aristocratic society of England, with
its social scandals, follies, trivialities and vanities in general of fashionable men and women.
Dryden said, “The true end of satire is the amendment of vice by correction,” and that is what
Pope set out to do in his “Rape of the Lock.” By using the burlesque, mockery, and irony, Pope
ridicules the deviation of his society.

Satire in “The Rape of The Lock" can be called a social satire because it satirizes the society as a
whole in ways still relevant to to-days world. Moreover it is not a satire against any individual,
but against the follies and vanities of fashionable men and women in general. Through Belinda
Pope satirizes the fashionable women of the time and through Baron, he satirizes the aristocratic
gentlemen of the age. However, the reason for why Pope’s “The Rape of The Lock” can be called
a social satire is given below:

The poem is, in fact, a satire upon feminine frivolity. And Pope introduces the readers with many
“Female Errors”. At the very beginning Pope satirizes the idleness late rising of aristocratic
woman by Belinda. It was the hour of twelve when Belinda opened her eyes to fall asleep again-

“Now Lap-dogs give themselves the rowzing Shake,

And sleepless Lovers, just at Twelve, awake:”

The poet goes on to make fun of the vanities of woman .The aristocratic ladies of those days
were over fond of gilded chariots and of ombre; and the poet makes fun of that over fondness
here .These vanities, he says, do not end even with the death of the woman:

“Think not, when Woman's transient Breath is fled,

That all her Vanities at once are dead."

The poet also expresses the weakness of these ladies for entertainment and for marked balls.
The satire in the following lines is obvious:
“With varying Vanities, from ev'ry Part,

They shift the moving Toyshop of their Heart"

Woman, in short, are all frivolous beings whose genuine interest is in love making and they felt
keenly interested in the love letters that they received. The poet makes fun of Belinda by saying
that when at least she woke up from her prolonged sleep, “Thy eyes first opened on a Billet
doux" in which the lover had spoken at charms. He satirizes by saying that love making was the
greatest pastime of young ladies .They expected attention and gifts from the lovers, but they
were rather inconsistent in their love.

The poet also ridicules the women’s excessive attention of self embellishment and self
decoration of a famous satirical passage. Belinda is described as commencing her toilet
operations with prayer to the cosmetic power, puffs, and powders lie on Belinda's dressing table.

“Here Files of Pins extend their shining Rows,

Puffs, Powders, Patches, Bibles, Billet-doux.”

Another object of satire is present in the arrangement of things on the table: the Bibles are
usually placed in the midst of her beauty aids. But Bible is the holy book which should be kept
separately. So, Bible is as important as other thing to Belinda. This type of attitude towards
religion is satirized by Pope.

Then the poet satirizes how chastity and serious thing might be lost in the world of philanderers.
Honour was merely a word with little meaning to them and reputation was more important than
honour. A lady's honour is no more serious than her staining new brocade, a lady's missing a ball
is as serious is her forgetting her heart. As Elwin points, "The relative importance of things, the
little with them is great, and the great little. They attach as much importance to a china jar as to
their honour as much to religion as to dances and masquerades, as much to their lap-dogs as to
husbands."

"Not louder shirks to pitying Heaven are cast

When husbands or when lap dogs breathe their last"

In this poem, Pope also satirizes Belinda as well as whole fashionable woman's pretended purity.
Because of her false purity, she was punished. Ariel discovered that Belinda was not quite keen
on preserving her virtue and therefore she withdraws from the scene pope satirizes Belinda by
saying that if she tried she could save his hair but she tried outwardly not from her heart. Pope
also satirizes the aristocratic men of his time. They are as frivolous as the ladies. Lord peter and
his fellows are the representatives of the fashionable society of the time .They are all idle, empty
minded folk, and seem to have nothing else undo but making love or flirting with ladies and
pope satirizes this.

One can't easily forget the satire in the portraits of sir Plume, another fashionable gentleman,
with his snuff emptiness. When he is requested by his beloved Thalestris to persuade Lord Petre
to surrender the precious hairs of Belinda, he utters words which are unsurpassed in their
emptiness and pore ridicules this emptiness:

“With earnest eyes, and round unthinking face,

He first the snuff-box open'd, then the case,

And thus broke out — "My Lord, why, what the devil?

"Z — ds! damn the lock! 'fore Gad, you must be civil!

Plague on't!'t is past a jest — nay prithee, pox!

Give her the hair" — he spoke, and rapp'd his box.” (593-598)

Nothing shows more clearly the faithfulness and unthinking folly of the smart set than this little
speech of Lord Plume. Not only that the poet has also satirized the system of justice. At four in
the afternoon, judges hurriedly sign the sentence so that they could have their dinner in time.
This is their sense of responsibility and showings these judges Pope satirizes the system of justice
of his time. He says about them:-

“Mean while, declining from the Noon of day,

The sun obliquely shoots his burning ray;

The hungry Judges soon the sentence sign,

And wretches hang that jury-men may dine;”

Even Pope has attacked the concept of friendship. Friends are hollow and fickle.

Belinda’s friend Thalestris is as shallow as the age in which she lives. As soon as the reputation of
Belinda is gone, she doesn’t like to be called her friend, because it will be a disgrace to be known
as her friend henceforth.

Thus the poem is a delicate humorous and witty satire on the upper class society of the
eighteenth century. It exposes the follies with a light ridicule. It points the idle life of pleasure
seeking young men and women. It introduces us to a world of frivolity and fashion and by
showing these; he wants to correct these things.

Consider The Rape of the Lock as a Social Satire

Among the satirists of English literature, Alexander Pope occupies a great place. He belonged to
the school of a juvenile. Pope had less of the mellow wisdom of Horace’s maturity and more of
the filthy temper of his youth. Pope is famous for his satires and is rightly considered the
representative of his age. The Rape of the Lock bears the explicit marks of a social satire.

A satire is an exposure of human weaknesses, follies, foibles, and absurdities. The Rape of the
Lock is a satire on the life of the aristocratic ladies of the eighteenth century. We see here the
elegance and the emptiness, the meanness and the vanity, the jealousies, idleness, frivolities,
vanities, shallowness, hypocrisy, false ideas of honor, excessive interest in toilet and self-
embellishment etc of the age which was given to the seeking of physical pleasure leaving behind
the high ideals of life.

At the very outset of the poem, the poet laughs at little men engaging in tasks so bold and at
gentle ladies who are capable of such ‘mighty rage’. The vanities of the ladies such as their love
of gilded chariots, their ambition to get married to peers and dukes or men of the higher social
position are indicated in the opening canto. Even after death, the ladies retain their
temperaments and transform into four kinds of supernatural creatures. Early in their youth,
these ladies learned to roll their eyes and to blush in a coquettish manner. The weakness of
these ladies for entertainments and for masked balls is too ridiculed. The poet makes a fun of
love letters which these ladies received from their fans and lovers. The world of Belinda was a
target of the poet’s attack. The satirical book is formed to delight at once and lash the age. It is
an assault on a social pre-occupied with superficialities Belinda, the central character of the
poem is described as the “cosmetic powers.” The Bible was among her cosmetics and this
demonstrates how the people of the age were insincere in their pursuit of religion. Belinda is
depicted in Canto I, as a warrior getting ready for the battle, the battle to entrap men by her
graces and charms.

Ariel, the leader of the sylphs engaged to protect the chastity of the beautiful Belinda, is not sure
of Belinda’s purity of thought. There was a hidden desire to come in touch with amorous
gentlemen. He says,

“Whether the nymph shall break Diana’s law,

Or some frail China jar receive a flew,

Or whether Heav’n was doom’d that shock.”

These lines show the moral bankruptcy of the ladies of that time, as far as this fashionable world
was concerned, the loss of virtue was nothing important but the little things like the snipping of
a curl might be disastrous.

During the time of Pope, the ladies kept domestic pets such as dogs and parrots. Belinda had her
shock and Poll. She set many stores for these pets. Their domestic pets were as important as
their husbands. The poet has admirably satirized them in the poem.
“Not louder shrieks to pitying heaven are cast

When husbands or when lap-dogs breathe their last.”

The eighteenth-century society lacked moral values. The poet has lashed at the lack of morality
in both men and women. The ladies were very serious to maintain a good reputation. The sake
of maintaining a good reputation, they could sacrifice everything, even chastity virtue might be
last, but not a good name.

“Honour forbid! at whose unrivalled shrine

Ease, pleasure, virtue, all our sex resign.”

Belinda expresses the same attitude when she declares that she would not have felt so offended
if the Baron had spared that particular lock and stolen any other hair from her head.

“Oh! hadst thou, cruel been content to seize,

Hairs less in sight, or any hairs but these!”

These lines bring out how Belinda is aware of her physical beauty but not of her chastity. Belinda
is the representative of the aristocratic society and through her character, we get a clear picture
of the eighteenth-century society.

Pope does not spare the men of his society. He has brought them out to pay their dues. These
are beautiful passages in which men were castigated. In one such passage, Pope describes how
the Barons worship the ladies. The Baron is described as building an altar of twelve vast French
romances with three garters, half a pair of gloves, and all the trophies of his former loves. He
sets fire to it with his sighs and with tender love letters.
The conversation that the ladies had at the court did not spare his eyes. Such a conversation was
always empty of substance. The talk generally centered round dance parties, court visits and the
scandalous behaviors of some member of the court. The parses in the conversation were felt
filled by snuff-talking, fan swinging, singing, laughing, ogling and all that. Even the judges and
jurymen are ridiculed for hurrying to get back home to satisfy their hunger. The poet says:

“The hungry judged soon the sentences sign,

And wretches hang that jury-men may dine.”

Card-parties were common; Ombre was the favorite game. Belinda and two knights played this
game in which she longed to show her powers. Other aspects of the contemporary life were also
dealt with in a ridiculous manner. ‘The poem in effect’ says Sin Leslie Stephen, is a satire upon
feminine frivolity. It continues the strain of mocking against hoops and patches and their wearers
which supplied Addison and his colleagues with the materials of so many spectators. Actually,
Pope looked at all the walks of the then life for his consideration and mocked at them whenever
he found an inconsistency in the society. As a result, The Rape of the Lock has become a faithful
mirror of the eighteenth century.

https://www.slideshare.net/FarooqNiazi2/the-rape-of-lock-a-social-satire

11 Use of couplets in mac flecknoe

Dryden's poem "Mac Flecknoe" functions as a satire of Thomas Shadwell, another playwright of
the time. The poem is written in heroic couplets, or rhyming couplets in iambic pentameter. This
form of writing comes across as more whimsical and light-hearted than other forms, with its
sing-songy rhyming lines. This services Dryden in "Mac Flecknoe" by enabling him to establish a
setting as far-fetched as "the realms of Nonsense" and to satirize Shadwell so harshly without
negative repercussions (Dryden 6).

The basic premise of "Mac Flecknoe" involves this so-called character of Mac, who refers to
Shadwell, taking over in "[governing]... all the realms of Nonsense" (4, 6). In this nonsense world,
Shadwell is considered the perfect ruler because he is " 'Mature in dullness' " and " 'stands
confirmed in true stupidity' " (16, 18). Upon taking his throne, Shadwell "[swears]... / That he til
death true dullness [will] maintain" and in his "realm's defence / Ne'er to have peace with wit,
nor truce with sense" (114-115, 116-117). Obviously, such a society which disvalues traditional
forms of writing, willing that "Thy Tragic Muse [give] smiles, they Comic sleep..." and "Thy
inoffensive satires never bite", is hard to believe (198, 200). Indeed, such a world where witty
and worthwhile writing is actually condemned and dull, pointless writing is extolled is
unbelievable enough to make a reader turn away from the poem entirely, discounting the points
that Dryden is trying to make. The form of the heroic couplet, however, gives the poem a more
whimsical feel; in a sense, Dryden seems to be nodding towards those who say that his world is
too unbelievable, acknowledging that it is obviously an exaggerated setting. As a result, the
reader no longer has to analyze the setting and take it so seriously, but can admit that it's not
supposed to be realistic, and then move on to analyize greater themes of the poem.

In addition, "Mac Flecknoe" is a rather harsh satire on one of Dryden's contemporaries,

Shadwell. Dryden harshly criticizes Shadwell's works, claiming that the author can "teach... /
Pangs without birth, and fruitless industry" (147-148). Dryden also denounces Shadwell, saying
that "[his] mind / By which one way, to dullness, 'tis inclin'd / Which makes [his] writings lean on
one side still" (189-191). Normally, Dryden could receive harsh retribution in response to such a
poem, or be criticized for his heartlessness in attacking another playwright. The carefree, playful
tone brought by the use of heroic couplets, however, gets Dryden off the hook in that it makes
his satire look more like playful jest than serious criticism. Therefore, Dryden can still express his
distaste for Shadwell and his work in a way that readers can comprehend, but at the same time,
doesn't make himself look like such a bad guy.

Satire-Mock-Epic (in Heroic Couplets) https://www.shmoop.com/mac-flecknoe/rhyme-form-

meter.html

https://www.shmoop.com/mac-flecknoe/speaker.html
The poem is written in rhymed couplets of iambic pentameter, also known as heroic couplets.
Whew, that's a whole lot of terminology to take in at one. To see what we mean, take a look at
lines 11-14:

And pond'ring which of all his sons was fit

To reign, and wage immortal war with wit;

Cry'd, 'tis resolv'd; for nature pleads that he

Should only rule, who most resembles me:

Notice how each line is comprised of five iambs—that's just the fancy literary term for an
unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (it makes a sound like daDUM). That's the
iambic pentameter part (penta- just means five). Of course the entire poem is made up of
rhymed couplets, which combined with iambic pentameter, gives you your classic heroic couplet.

This form is typical of epic poetry, but "Mac Flecknoe" is no epic. It's a satire, employing the
meter, rhyme, and elevated language of the epic to make an ironic point. You could call it a
mock-epic, or mock-heroic, a unique poetic style that Dryden popularized in English Restoration
literature. Whatever you call it, you better also call it groundbreaking and influential. Several
decades later, legendary English satirist Alexander Pope would develop this form even further

Heroic Couplets- Mac Flecknoe http://uncenglish120.blogspot.com/2006/10/heroic-couplets-

mac-flecknoe.html?m=1

Heroic Couplet-n : a couplet consisting of two rhymed lines of iambic pentamenter and written in
an elevated style

iambic pentameter-:noun

Definition: a common meter in poetry consisting of an unrhymed line with five feet or accents,
each foot containing an unaccented syllable and an accented syllable

(dictionary.com)

"Mac Flecknoe" is obviously somewhat of a satirical poem. It starts out very elequently with a
couplet in true epic style: "All human things are subject to decay,And, when Fate summons,
monarchs must obey:" However it becomes increasingly clear that the satirical poem is not an
epic at all, rather a poem to mock epic form and content. The heroic couplet pattern of the
poem is used by Dryden to push the tradition of poem form at the time, but it also works for a
few other functions.

The heroic couplet for creates a sing-song meter for "Mac Flecknoe," this helps further the comic
material of the poem. Its rhyme scheme and the couplet rhyme style makes the poem seem like
a children's song or story. the aa, bb, cc... scheme really simplifies the poem. The meter of the
heroic form makes the poem easy to say in verse. It carries a constant beat of iambic
pentameter.The heroic form also allows the poem to parody traditional english poems written in
Heroic Couplet. The name too of the form parodied is also to make note of: the "heroic" couplet.
The form used when talking of heros. Obviously "son" Flecknoe is a hero- just like his father. So
Dryden's idea of royalty and tradition in the poem's content is futher pushed by it's form. The
horrid monarchy is a parody of tradition in the English government while the use of heroic
couplet in such a poem is a parody of its more traditional uses in poetry of love or perhaps even
poems glorifying the monarchy.

12.the bard summary

https://mohurley.blogspot.com/2000/10/the-bard-by-thomas-grey-summary.html?m=1

The Bard, by Thomas Grey, summary

Klar, Celtic Romanticism 170

Summary

THE BARD

by Thomas Grey

The Bard is a poem written in 3 parts set at the time of the 1282 Conquest of Edward the First,
when he invaded the kingdom of Llewlyn ap Griffith, “the last Welsh prince.” Edward the First
“Longshanks” (“Cambria’s curse”) ordered all the bards be put to death. “
Politically the Conquest brought to the bardic order a diminished status...” A. H. Dodd writes of a
vanishing social order (A Short History of Wales); future bards “soft-peddled warlike and political
themes.” He recounts a bard’s tale of a 15th c. bard executed under the crabbed “law of London”
for pursuing a family feud. The Statute of Rhyddan didn’t help either, but I digress...

Romantic poet Thomas Gray, a contemporary of Johnson and Goldsmith, opens his poem
evoking the majestic Snowden range. He sets in the midst of a tempest, his protagonist, the
haggard-eyed Poet, who totters the banks of the raging river “Conway” [Conwy], where he
“Struck the deep sorrows of his lyre.” Gray weaves a pageantry of kings: Hoel, Llewellyn,
Cadwallo, Urien, Mordred?...who was Plinlimmon? “Ye died amidst your dying country’s cries—”

Gray weaves a warp of ravens, eagles and revenge upon “Edward’s race. The characters of hell...”
the succession of Edwards- I, II, and III; the sumptuous—nearly neoclassic—funeral scene in II,
2., must be Richard II?, a beloved (and maligned) hero, obviously well mourned.

Gray’s tapestry reveals the Henrys- IV, V, VI; Edward IV; a reference to the War of the Roses in
symbolic language, and the very, very short reign of Richard III, “The Boar.” After four Edwards,
who is evoked in III, 1?

A segue to the Once and Future King preparing us for the Tudor line? Gray is sympathetic to The
Virgin Queene: “Her eye proclaims her of the Briton-Line.” We take a great leap from the 6th c.,
of the Great Poet Taliesin—who like Arthur, rises again—to the last bard, who speaks in a
allegorical Spenserian style (the Red-Cross knight?) as he leaps to his death into the roaring tide.

The landscape is painted majestic—somewhat parallel to the paintings of Constable (too bucolic)
or Turner (too industrial), or even Bierstadt who made the American landscape so famous. But
David Lloyd showed us a fabulous painting of the last bard leaping to his death, so perhaps my
vision is colored by art. “Hark how each giant oak, and desert cave/ Sighs to the torrent’s awful
voice beneath!”

The poem (low on plot) has a two king lists, and a plethora of warriors and damsels. And the
endgame: a bard (or warrior) would rather commit suicide rather than face surrender, is an age-
old Celtic motif. Thomas Gray's poem kicked of the Romantic Movement as well as becoming the
impetus for the founding of the Celtic Twilight movement.
As the victorious army of Edward I marches along the slopes of the Snowdonian mountains near
to the river Conwy they encounter a Welsh bard, who curses the king. The bard invokes the
shades of Cadwallo, Urien and Modred, three of Edward's victims,[1][2] who weave the fate of
Edward's Plantagenet line, dwelling on the various miseries and misfortunes of his descendants.
The bard goes on to predict the return of Welsh rule over Britain in the form of the house of
Tudor, and the flowering of British poetry in the verse of Spenser, Shakespeare and Milton.
Finally he tells Edward:

synopsis https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bard_(poem)

"With joy I see

The different dooms our Fates assign.

Be thine Despair, and sceptred Care;

To triumph, and to die, are mine.

He spoke, and headlong from the mountain's height

Deep in the roaring tide he plunged to endless night."

13 Sheridan as dramatist

https://akgohel.blogspot.com/2015/10/write-note-on-sheridan-as-
dramatist.html?m=1
Richard Brinsley Sheridan, statesman and dramatist, was born in Dublin on Oct. 30,
1751. He belonged to a highly talented family, his grandfather, Thomas Sheridan, being a
prominent Jacobite and a historian,andhisfather, also Thomas Sheridan, a distinguished
actor, theatrical manager, and author.

Sheridan was educated for the bar, but the success of his comedy, “The Rivalsled
him into close relations with the theatre. “The Rivals was followed by “St. Patrick’s Day,” a
farce; “The Duenna,” a comic opera; “A Trip to Scarborough,” an adaptation
fromVanbrugh;“TheSchoolforScandal” (1777); and a patriotic melodrama. “Pizarro.” He was
manager of Drury Lane Theatre which he twice had a chief part in rebuilding; though he had
periods of marked prosperity in his management,andexerciseda powerful influence on the
stage history of his time.

Plays by Richard Brinsley Sheridan:-

1)The Rivals (1775)

2)The Duenna (1775)

3)A Trip to Scarborough (1777)

4)The School for Scandal (1777)

5)The Camp (1778)

6)The Critic (1779)

7)The Glorious First of June (1794)

Sheriden as a dramatist :-

Thomas Brinsley Sheridan was an Irish playwright, librettist, and poet. The following entry
presents recent criticism of Sheridan's works. During his brief career as a playwright, Sheridan
helped revive the English Restoration comedy of manners, which depicts the amorous intrigues
of wealthy society.
 His best-known comedies, The Rivals (1775) and The School for Scandal (1777),
display Sheridan’s talent for sparkling dialogue and farce. Like his Restoration predecessors
William and William Wycherley, Sheridan satirized society, but unlike them, he softened his
humor with gentle morality and sentimentality. While his plays are frequently noted for a lack
of Incisiveness and psychological depth, they are considered by most commentators tobe the
work of an outstanding theatrical craftsman.

In his comic drama The Rivals Sheridan satirizes manners using humor that is
pointed but never cruel. Essentially an ironic play about character, The Rivals presents a
number of absurd individuals and then proceeds to ridicule their flaws and idiosyncrasies.
Among its range of characters, the play introduces the infamous figure of Mrs. Malaprop,
from whose humorouslyin appropriate word usage the term “malapropism” is derived.
Sheridan's libretto for the light opera The Duenna features characters and incidents
drawn from Roman New Comedy and ends with a double marriage happily realized
despite the opposition of Don Jerome—the play's stodgy father figure. Another of
Sheridan's minor works, the farcical St. Patrick's Day; or The Scheming Lieutenant exists very
much in the mode of The Rivals and endeavors to amuse audiences with its affable, if
preposterous, characters. The School for Scandal is both the most popular of Sheridan's
comedies and the most strongly reminiscent of the Restoration period. This attack on a gossip
loving society demonstrates Sheridan's brilliant display of wit in its sharp indictment of manners
that departs considerably from the gentle tone and approach of The Rivals. The story follows
double plot as it portrays the manipulative Lady Sneerwell, the hypocritical Joseph Surface, the
naïve socialite Lady Teazle, the irascible Sir Peter Teazle, and the reformed libertine Charles
Surface, among many other comic figures. Heavily influenced by the Duke of Buckingham's
The Rehearsal, Sheridan’s The Critic; or, Tragedy Rehearsed provides a satirical look at
the theatrical world and is a burlesque of the vanity of artists and critics.

His popular comedy :-

1) The school for scandal :-

 The school for scandal is a popular comedy of Sheridan.This play open in the
eighteenth- century word of fashion. In this corrupt society Iady Teazle has for a own sake
provided herself with a lover , Joseph Surface . meanwhile Joseph , cold hearted hypocrite
has plans of his own, one of which is to marry Sir Peter Teazel’s ward Maria and other to
supplant his own brother Charles is a good natured spend thrift uncle ‘s affection. The
uncle sir oliver returns from india, introduces himself as a money leader to Charles whom
he finds ready to sell even his family portraits , expert that of Sir Oliver himself . This
modest bit of loyality serves to reinstate the prodigal in his uncle’s good opinion , while
Joseph exposed on all side and fades out of the play in disgrace.

It is evident that here we have an amusing mock world where principle

, moral and social , on which human life is actullay conduct are subordinated to the necessities
of an intrigue. The characters bear an amazing similitude to real lpeople and indeed many
of them have long been accepted as a delineations of a certain qualitites and type but
we never forget while we are with them that we are in stage land . “ At first sight The
School for Scandal with its opening scene in which gossip run wild, seems to revive the
world of the restoration , drama but there is a diffrences Light, triffing, frivolous as is
Sheridan ‘s society. It is not fundamentally and flagrantly immoral. His people play with
fire but they are not bured . so much had the moral and social force of the century
accomplished in the years since collier’s attack on the stage.”

Sheridan produced in “The School for Scandle “ is a perfect example of

artificial comedy. He made use of none of the licence which the restoration dramatist had
allowed themseleve and without departing for the spirit of his own time , lost nothing
in the way of wit and effect. “ Besides the wit and ingenutity of a play” says
Hazlitt , “ there is a gerenal spirit of frankness and generosity about it , that relieves
the heart as well as clears the lungs. It professes a faith in the natural goodness,
as well as habitual depravity of human nature.”

In the first two of his three great plays “The Rivals” and “ The School for
Scandal “ he combines the comedy of manners with a sentimental admixture which is
partially successful .both plays are remarkable skillful pieces of work and their wit it needs
only be said that they may challenge equality with congrave and Vanbrugh with a
little their coarseness.
2) The Duenna:-

The Duenna is a perfect work of art. It has the utmost sweetness and point. The
plot , the characters, the dialogue are all complete in themselves , and they are all his
own and the best songs are the best that ever were written and except those in
the Beggar’s Opera. They have joyous spirit of intoxication in them, and a stain of the
most melting tenderness.

3) The Critic :-

The final comedy is ‘The Critic’ produced in 1779. The Critic is written on
more broad farcical lines ,but within its limitations it is a delightful piece of extravaganza
and displaying a gift of burlesque of the highest order. A combination of a farcical and
burlesque it is a tradition of ‘ The Knight of Burning pestle ’ ,‘ The Rehearsal ’ , and
fielding’s Pasquine. In addition Sheridan satirizes the humour and affection connected
with the thetre of the time particularly those ‘ Iackey of the drama’ the critic and
publicity agent . The chief character is a Sir Fretful plagiary, a portrite easily
reconisable by his contempury dramatists Richard Cumderland. So successfully was the play
’s burlesque that we are told for several years after its production no tragedy could be
offered to the theatrical managers.

The Critic less equal in equlity , again gives its full of freedom to a
rather cruel , satirical verse which had been somewhat repressed in the preceding play
by the moral purpose of the author . In addition to burlesque, decisive fun pocked at the
bombadtic type of writing.

The critic exhibits wants of fertility. It is comparatively slight , and even so

is made up parts which have no necessary connection but appear to have been put
togather to suit the author’s convey little concern with it and figures in one scene only.
Then the idea of burlesque as a satire on the exaggerations of tragedy is far from
original, being well- known in Sheridan ’s time from The rehearsal , to say nothing of more
recent example.

Conclusion :-
 Sheridan had a striking success when he was very young. His chief prose
comedies are still remembered. His plots are from everyday life. His description are accurate
and graphics. His plays are full of sentation and scandal, thrills andexcitement. He used
irony and satire in a deligate manner.These are wit, charming dialogue and beautiful
repartee. He is a master of comic sitution and of incisive dialogue. his characters are
remarkable for their dramatic qualities, but they have no reality of the stage. They are not
expression of an existing society. the reports of the fools show as much of the author’s
wit as those intelligent characters. The figures are traditional rather than taken from life.
Sheridan produced a most brilliant display of firework.

14 Character of jack absolute

https://www.enotes.com/topics/rivals/characters

Captain Jack Absolute

Captain Jack Absolute (Ensign Beverley), a young aristocrat who poses as a penniless ensign to
win the love of Lydia Languish. After many problems—among them relatives who oppose his
marriage, rivals who challenge him to duels, and misunderstandings with his fiancée—Jack wins
fair Lydia.

15 Pope style and diction

Pope’s style and diction have been criticised as artificial and unnatural. It has been called
mechanical and affected. It has also been pointed out that he lacks spontaneity, grace, and ease
of manner.

There is much in him which seems to be forced and labored. The qualities of lucidity, clearness
and logic are prosaic. The true poetic qualities are poetic rapture, intensity, the glow of passion
and imagination. His poetry is devoid of all these elements; he has only wit and no originality. He
spins out common-places with a mechanical regularity which becomes dull and monotonous.

16 biographical sketch of thomas grey

Thomas Gray - Biography and Works

Thomas Gray was born on 26 December 1716 as the fifth child to Philip Gray and Dorothy
Antrobus in Cornhill, London. He was a poet, letter-writer, classical scholar, and professor at
Pembroke College, Cambridge. His famous Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, published in
1751 gave him name and fame. He issued only 13 poems and was offered the position of the
Poet Laureate in 1757, but he rejected it.

As a boy, Gray was a gentle and studious boy who avoided games and enjoyed reading and
learning from the books. Gray went to Eton College and in 1734, he went up to Peterhouse,
Cambridge, where he found everything dull; the curriculum, the masters, and the friends.

Gray's main writing career started in 1742 when his best friend Richard West died. He became
one of the most learned men of his time. He remained as a scholar in Cambridge and in the later
part of his life he started travelling. He is one of the best known members of Graveyard Poets of
the late 18th century. His major focus on the poem was death, mortality, and sublimity of the
death.

His masterpiece is the Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard written in 1742 and published in
1751. It is one of the most famous and often quoted poems in English literature. It is said that
the elegy is written in the memory of the death of his close fellow Richard West. It gave him
immense success and huge popularity. This poem celebrates the humble life of villagers and the
novelty of the poem lies in the treatment of the same theme of generous death in a different
manner. He mourns for the death of all the average men and the poet himself.

Gray also penned light verse, including Ode on the Death of a Favorite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of
Gold Fishes, a mock elegy concerning Horace Walpole's cat. Some of his best known poems are
"Ode on the Spring," "Sonnet on the Death of Mr. Richard West," "Hymn to Adversity," and "Ode
on a Distant Prospect of Eton College." Gray considered The Progress of Poesy and The Bard, as
his best works. Gray has the ability of sharp observation and playful sense of humor. He is
popular for his phrase, "where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise."
During his free time, Gray travelled extensively to places such as Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Scotland
and especially the Lake District in search of striking landscapes and ancient monuments. In the
last part of his life he kept himself busy in the studies of Celtic and Scandinavian ancient times
and became gradually introverted. At the age of 55 in 1771 he died and was buried in the
country churchyard at Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire, celebrated in his "Elegy."

17 introduce the characters of the play The rival

Captain Jack Absolute https://www.enotes.com/topics/rivals/characters

Captain Jack Absolute (Ensign Beverley), a young aristocrat who poses as a penniless ensign to
win the love of Lydia Languish. After many problems—among them relatives who oppose his
marriage, rivals who challenge him to duels, and misunderstandings with his fiancée—Jack wins
fair Lydia.

Lydia Languish

Lydia Languish, Jack Absolute’s beloved, a girl whose head is so stuffed with the fantastic
adventures of popular fictional people that she cannot bear to marry anyone in her own class.
She spurns Jack Absolute when she learns that he is not the penniless Ensign Beverley, but she is
greatly impressed when she learns that he is to fight a duel because of her, and he wins her
hand.

Sir Anthony Absolute

Sir Anthony Absolute, Jack’s strong-willed father, who insists that Jack marry the woman Sir
Anthony selects. Jack refuses to obey his father’s edict until he learns that Sir Anthony has
chosen Lydia to be his son’s wife.

Mrs. Malaprop
Mrs. Malaprop, Lydia’s aunt, whose eccentric treatment of the English language spawned the
word “malapropism.” She opposes Lydia’s intention to marry Jack, but she drops her objections
at last to bask in the high spirits of those whose problems have found happy solutions.

Bob Acres

Bob Acres, an affable country squire who challenges Ensign Beverley to a duel. When he learns
that Beverley and his friend Jack are the same person, the timid squire is greatly relieved that no
duel will be necessary.

Sir Lucius O’Trigger

Sir Lucius O’Trigger, a brash Irishman who is hoodwinked into believing that he is corresponding
with Lydia when, actually, Mrs. Malaprop and he are exchanging letters. He challenges Jack to a
duel but withdraws when he learns that Lydia never has been interested in him.

Faulkland

Faulkland, Jack’s friend, who is in love with Julia Melville, Lydia’s cousin. Faulkland’s avocation is
worrying about the welfare of his suit for Julia, thus creating obstacles where there are none.
Finally, however, he banishes care and generously accepts Julia’s love.

Julia Melville

Julia Melville, Lydia’s cousin, who marries Faulkland.

The Rivals Characters https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-rivals/characters

Next

Captain Jack Absolute / Ensign Beverley

Captain Jack Absolute / Ensign Beverley

A confident, charming, and quick-witted Captain in the British army, Absolute is wooing the
beautiful Lydia Languish. He tricks Lydia into believing that he is a poor ensign named Beverley in
order to take… (read full character analysis)

Lydia Languish

A passionate, book-obsessed girl of seventeen, Lydia Languish is determined to defy both

convention and the wishes of her aunt and guardian Mrs. Malaprop in her choice of a husband.
She is a fabulously wealthy… (read full character analysis)

Mrs. Malaprop / Delia

Lydia Languish’s aunt and guardian, Mrs. Malaprop is a self-important and pretentious woman of
around fifty, and the comedic heroine of the play. Her speech is garbled by malapropisms
(ridiculous misuses of words), as… (read full character analysis)

Sir Anthony Absolute

A rich baronet with an extremely short fuse, prone to becoming furious at the slightest
provocation and with a habit of making decisions hastily. Sir Anthony wants to secure his son
Absolute a fortune that… (read full character analysis)

Julia Melville

The play’s moral core, Julia is as sensible as she is beautiful. An orphan, she is the ward of Sir
Anthony, but was betrothed to Faulkland by her father before his death. Faulkland’s distrust…
(read full character analysis)

Faulkland

A moody and lovesick young man, Faulkland cannot believe his good fortune in being engaged to
Julia and having her love, and constantly probes Julia to find out whether her love for him is
real… (read full character analysis)

Squire Bob Acres

An impressionable and naïve country landowner, Acres is attempting to make himself more
fashionable and sophisticated in order to win over the affections of Lydia Languish. His attempts
to swear genteelly, learn French dances… (read full character analysis)

Sir Lucius O’Trigger

An Irish baronet who has lost his land and home, but prizes his valor in duels and family honor
above all else, Sir Lucius is carrying on a secret correspondence with “Delia.” He is encouraged…
(read full character analysis)
Lucy

A maid in the household of Mrs. Malaprop and Lydia, Lucy is a master manipulator. Charged with
carrying letters between different courting pairs, Lucy pretends to be simpleminded in order to
gain the trust… (read full character analysis)

David

The servant to Acres, David has a provincial boy’s understanding of the world and sees the
manor where he lives with Acres as the center of the world. He is treated by Acres a… (read full
character analysis)

Minor Characters

Fag

Absolute’s servant, Fag has pretentions to being a sophisticated and world-wise man. He speaks
pompously to his social superiors and talks down to other servants. He delights in knowing the
secrets of Absolute’s tricks and deceptions and is fiercely loyal to Absolute.

Thomas

A straightforward and goodhearted man, Thomas serves as Sir Anthony’s servant.

Characters wiki

Bob Acres and His Servant, illustration by Edwin Austin Abbey, c. 1895

Sir Anthony Absolute, a wealthy baronet

Captain Jack Absolute, his son, disguised as Ensign Beverley

Faulkland, friend of Jack Absolute

Bob Acres, friend of Jack Absolute

Sir Lucius O'Trigger, an Irish baronet

Fag, Captain Absolute's servant

David, Bob Acres' servant

Thomas, Sir Anthony's servant

Lydia Languish, a wealthy teenaged heiress, in love with "Ensign Beverley"

Mrs. Malaprop, Lydia's middle-aged guardian

Julia Melville, a young relation of the Absolutes, in love with Faulkland

Lucy, Lydia's conniving maid

18 joseph addison as a magazine founder

Joseph Addison (1 May 1672 – 17 June 1719) was an English essayist, poet, playwright and
politician. He was the eldest son of The Reverend Lancelot Addison. His name is usually
remembered alongside that of his long-standing friend Richard Steele, with whom he founded
The Spectator magazine.

Magazine founder wiki

Joseph Addison: engraving after the Kneller portrait

He met Jonathan Swift in Ireland and remained there for a year. Later, he helped form the Kitcat
Club and renewed his friendship with Richard Steele. In 1709, Steele began to publish the Tatler,
and Addison became a regular contributor. In 1711 they began The Spectator; its first issue
appeared on 1 March 1711. This paper, which was originally a daily, was published until 20
December 1714, interrupted for a year by the publication of The Guardian in 1713. His last
publication was The Freeholder, a political paper, in 1715–16.

19 character sketch of belinda

http://englishliterature24.blogspot.com/2017/09/sketch-character-of-belinda.html

Alexander Pope has designed The Rape of the Lock as the representative works depicting Belinda
as the model of the common fashionable ladies of his time. Belinda is the chief attraction and
she becomes the heroine of it. She is the only leading character. Yet her screams and the flashes
of lightening from her eyes are compared to those of an epic hero.

There are several aspects of the personality of Belinda as portrayed by Pope in The Rape of the
Lock. At the very outset of the poem, we see her as an idle and late-rising aristocratic lady who
possesses keen interest in domestic pets. Her idleness is established when we see her sleeping
unto twelve. Besides, they felt interested in the love letters of their so-called beloved. When
Belinda at last got up from bed after having been licked by Shock, her eyes first opened on a
love-letter.

Therefore, she is full of vanities and loves gilded chariots and ombre. At the same time, she is
ambitious to get married to peers and dukes or to other high officials. This is why she frequently
visits the Hampton Court in the river Thames. She passes an aristocratic life and mixes with the
Barons recklessly.

Moreover, Belinda is the embodiment of the coquetry, the art, the artifice and the false pride.
However, Ariel acquaints us with her flirtatious nature when exhorting his fellow spirits to
remain vigilant. Ariel discovers surprisingly that in spite of all her pretence, she is amorously
inclined towards a gallant.

Then, we get the picture of her shallow outlook about religious faiths and beliefs. She is a
worshiper of beauty who prays to the goddess of beauty and offers all the items of cosmetics
before her. She is a typical presentation of women’s excessive attention to self decoration and
embellishment. She gathers all the fashionable items from all over the world-Indian glowing
gems, Arabian perfumes, files of pins, puffs, powders, patches etc. In a satirical passage, Pope
describes Belinda in a Confucius mood before her dressing table.

Here files of pains extend their shining rows,

Puffs, powders, patches, bibles, billet-doux.

Thus, assigned by her maid Betty, Belinda seeks to improve her bodily charms. However, she
does not show any respect for the holly book, Bible.

Therefore, the moral bankruptcy of these ladies is further ridiculed when Thalestris points out
the need for sacrificing everything, even chastity, for reputation. They consider that virtue might
be lost, but not a good name.
To wind up we can say that The Rape of the Lock is a mockery of the manners of the tea-cup
times of Queen Anne. Here, Pope seeks to throw light upon the fickle minded fashionable ladies
of the 18th century England depicting Belinda as the representative character.

Give a character sketch of Belinda http://notes-point.blogspot.com/2015/01/give-character-

sketch-of-belinda-in.html

Answer:

Pope has presented Belinda as a complex character. He has presented her in different roles and
under different shades, some are satirical other ironical but all entertaining. The character of
Belinda has created much controversy since the publication of the poem. Some critics consider
her treatment fair while others as unfair. However, the reality lies in between these two
extremes we can discuss her character under the following heads:

1: The Heroine o f the Poem:-

Belinda is the heroine of the story. It is her character around whom the story of the whole poem
is woven. We see her sleeping till noon and her awakening by her lap dog “Shock”. We are
present at her toilet and watch the progress of the sacred rites of pride. Then we see her
proceeding from the Thames River to the Hampton Court. Then her smiling looks upon the well
dressed youths that crowds her. In short, she is the main character and heroine of the poem.

2: Belinda ve Miss Arabella Fermore:-

It is through Belinda that poet laughs at the follies of female sex. Belinda is the Miss Arabella
Fermore of real life. She was an acknowledged beauty of her time, when Pope wrote this poem.
Her different portraits show two locks of hair that rests on her shoulder. These two

locks are the same that we found in Belinda's character and this poem is all about the rapping of
these two locks by Lord Peter.

3: A creation o f Wit, Beauty and Poetry:-

Belinda is a creation of wit, beauty and poetry. She wakes up at 12 and the first thing which
grasps her attention is a love-letter. Then she paints and decorates her with diamonds,
ornaments, perfumes and puffs, powders and patches . Then she went out for the

conquest of lovers. Her smiles are sunny, her manners polished, her eyes large. She goes for sail
and then to Hampton court and participate in different fun making activities. Then her locks are
raped by the Baron. She fights with the help of snuff and bodkin. Her party triumphs but she is
unable to regain her lost locks.

4: An object of Mockery and Adoration:-

Belinda is both object of ridicule and beauty which compel admiration. As a representative of
the aristocratic class, she is mocked at. But, as a beautiful and charming lady, she deserves our
admiration. On the one hand, she is mocked at; on the other hand she is praised as a woman of
beauty and charm. She is almost presented as goddess of beauty and youth.

5: Representative of her class:-

Belinda is represents lady Fermore of real life, whom Lord Peter made angry by cutting her lock.
Lord Peter in the poem is represented by the Baron. Both the families of Fermore and Peter’s
were inimical to each other but they were friendly to Pope. Pope would not have been able in
bringing them close to each other if he had not presented them satirically. Therefore, as an
individual, Pope praised them but in the full-fledged version he mocked at them. Belinda and
Lord Peter appeared to him as typical representative of their class and he satires them.

6: Central Character of the poem :-

From the opening lines, it immediately becomes clear that Belinda is the central character. She is
the heroine of this mock-epic. Here in the fourth line, she is given a place which is higher than
any other’s; she is both the end and means of the poem. She is accorded the status of the
goddess of charm and beauty. Her character represents degradation of aristocratic class. This
makes her character larger than other character of the poem.

7: Her Ravishing and Dazzling beautv:-

The first thing that Pope tells us about Belinda is her ravishing dazzling

beauty. When she opens her eyes, brightness of her eyes seemed to eclipse the

sun. This metaphor suggests the dazzling beauty of Belinda.

8: Her Habits:-

Pope has described Belinda's habits in detail. She is a late riser and awakes 12’o clock in the day.
She is extremely sophisticated and has great love for luxuries and beauty. It seems she has no
other interests in life. The first thing she does after awaking up is to make up her. This is a clear
indication of the fact that beautifying herself is like a religious rite for her.

9: Her romantic nature:-

Belinda has a romantic nature. Her journey on the river Thames can be compared with that of
Cleopatra in Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra. This parallel strengthens her romantic nature.
Like Cleopatra her physical charms makes even religious sanctity irrelevant. She wears a lively
and agile look in her eyes and on her face which reveals the brilliance and intelligence of her
mind. She is cautiously courteous to everyone, and gives pleasing gesture to all. She sheds her
smiles on everyone who comes to her as the sun sheds its warmth on everyone. Her physical
charm is captivating and can shake the faith of anyone.
10: A shrewd Coquette :-

Belinda is true representative of the vices found in her class, but none of them is serious. She
reveals to us her shrewdness and coquetry. She is blind with a sense of arrogance. Above all,
Pope wants to present her as an embodiment of self-deception.

11: An emotional Being:-_________

Belinda is an emotional being. She is excessively joyful in victory and greatly tearful in sorrow.
When Baron succeeds in cutting the lock of Belinda, she shows the extreme of being exceedingly
sorrowful and tearful.

12: Lack o f spirituality:-

In Belinda spiritual lackness is quite evident. She just like all aristocratic ladies of her time is
more careful about personal reputation rather than spiritual sacredness. She is hardly aware of
her soul and she is only sentimental. She has no sense of moral integrity.

Character sketch. of belinda in rape of lock https://brainly.in/question/2663661

Pope’s remarkable poem ‘The Rape of the Lock’ is essentially a social satire. The poem exposes
in a witty manner the follies and absurdities of the aristocratic life of the 18th century England.
The principal targets of satire in the poem are the fashionable and aristocratic ladies and
gentlemen of the time. In this poem, Pope reveals himself essentially as the spokesman of his
age.

At the very outset of the poem, Pope calls our attention to the idleness and late-rising
aristocratic ladies of the time who possesses keen interest in domestic pets. The vanities of
those ladies, such as their love of gilded chariots and omber are also made known to us in the
very beginning of the poem. Their ambition to get married to peers and dukes or other high
officials is also ridiculed in the opening canto of the poem.

Then, we can find that the coquetry, the art, the artifice and the false pride and vanities of the
aristocratic ladies are the chief concern of Pope in this poem. These ladies in the very early of
their life learn how to blush in a coquettish manner. Their heart shifts from one beloved to
another according to their need. They would sink on their rich quilts and pretend sickness so
those young gallants should come to inquiry after their health and should see the costly gowns
on their body. Besides, they feel interested in the love-letters of their so-called beloved. When
Belinda gets up from bed at last after having been licked by Shock, her eyes first open on a love-
letter.
Toilet is the chief concern of these aristocratic ladies. On of the most celebrated passages in The
Rape of the Lock, is the one in which Belinda is described at her dressing table. We are told that
before commencing her toilet operations, Belinda offers a prayer to ‘the cosmetic power’. She
gathers all the fashionable items from all over the world-Indian glowing gems, Arabian perfumes,
files of pins, puffs, powders, patches etc.

Moreover, the moral bankruptcy of these ladies is further ridiculed when Thalestris points out
the need for sacrificing everything, even chastity, for the seek of reputation. They consider that
virtue might be lost, but not a good name.

The same attitude of mind is expressed in the lines in which Belinda declares that she would not
have left so offended if the Baron had stolen any other hair from her but spared that particular
lock.

Oh, hadst thou, cruel! Been content to seize.

Thus, we may conclude that Pope attempts to expose the follies and absurdities of the royal
English society in a witty manner. Here, he has employed all the recognized weapons of satire in
an effective way. So, The Rape of the Lock is rightly considered the true genius of his satirical
work.

Read more on Brainly.in - https://brainly.in/question/2663661#readmore

other sites http://www.josbd.com/character-of-belinda-in-the-rape-of-the-lock/

20 analysis of the poem mac flecknoe

https://www.shmoop.com/elegy-country-churchyard/analysis.html

Satire-Mock-Epic (in Heroic Couplets)

The poem is written in rhymed couplets of iambic pentameter, also known as heroic couplets.
Whew, that's a whole lot of terminology to take in at one. To see what we mean, take a look at
lines 11-14:

And pond'ring which of all his sons was fit

To reign, and wage immortal war with wit;

Cry'd, 'tis resolv'd; for nature pleads that he

Should only rule, who most resembles me:

Notice how each line is comprised of five iambs—that's just the fancy literary term for an
unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (it makes a sound like daDUM). That's the
iambic pentameter part (penta- just means five). Of course the entire poem is made up of
rhymed couplets, which combined with iambic pentameter, gives you your classic heroic couplet.

This form is typical of epic poetry, but "Mac Flecknoe" is no epic. It's a satire, employing the
meter, rhyme, and elevated language of the epic to make an ironic point. You could call it a
mock-epic, or mock-heroic, a unique poetic style that Dryden popularized in English Restoration
literature. Whatever you call it, you better also call it groundbreaking and influential. Several
decades later, legendary English satirist Alexander Pope would develop this form even further.

ANALYSIS: SPEAKER

Narrating in the style of the third-person omniscient narrators of classical epics like The Iliad and
The Aeneid, we soon realize that our speaker actually refers to himself in the first person, briefly
inserting himself in the story (check out lines 25-32). This speaker seems earnest at times, and
totally tongue-in-cheek at others, but certainly does his part to propagate the opinion that
Shadwell is as bad a writer as they come.

But let's be real. Sure, when talking poetry, it's never a good idea to mix-up the author and the
speaker. But in this case we have to say that the speaker is pretty much just John Dryden. He
pokes a bit of fun at his own expense, even referring to himself as a "dunce" (31). But this dose
of self-deprecation occurs for the sake of irony; we get the sense that he doesn't take himself too
seriously, unlike, say, Shadwell. For, ultimately, we get the sense that the opinions the speaker
shares are Dryden's own. We know he was extremely critical of many of his contemporaries, and
skeptical of the cheap, unimaginative nature of many of the day's popular poems and plays.
"Mac Flecknoe," it seems, is at least in part Dryden's clever way of critiquing not just Shadwell,
but the entire English literary scene.

ANALYSIS: SETTING

Where It All Goes Down

The poem takes place in the "realm of nonsense." It might be tough to find this kingdom on a
map, but Dryden, via old king Flecknoe, gives it a shot (check out lines 139-144). The realm's
capital city, where Shadwell is ultimately crowned, Dryden ironically calls "Augusta"—an
impressive-sounding, regal name that's basically just a stand-in for an especially grungy version
of London. He mentions actual London neighborhood and street names throughout the poem,
though, grounding this fictitious "realm of nonsense" in real-life geography, but this Augusta
seems even more rundown and lowbrow than its real counterpart.

Dryden wrote "Mac Flecknoe" sometime in the late 1670s, squarely in the middle of what
historians and critics now call the Restoration Period. Though this period marks the start of the
Enlightenment in British history, by the sounds of "Mac Flecknoe," Dryden certainly didn't seem
to find his fellow writers to be so enlightened. Dryden was a pretty important part of this
seventeenth-century English Restoration literary scene, and this poem's settings allow him to
focus squarely on those goings on. In "Mac Flecknoe," he dishes out critique after critique to
pretty much all of his notable contemporaries, and especially to the very unfortunate, totally
destroyed Thomas Shadwell.

ANALYSIS: SOUND CHECK

BACK NEXT

"Mac Flecknoe" is aerodynamically designed to sound awesome when read aloud. End-stopped,
end-rhymed, and about as heroic as it gets, the poem, written in iambic pentameter, takes on a
rolling, dramatic quality. Think Chaucer. Think Shakespeare. Think epic.

Dryden also employs the lofty, sometimes melodramatic diction one might expect of a grandiose
epic of gods and kings. Check out just one excerpt:

Methinks I see the new Arion sail,

The lute still trembling underneath thy nail.

At thy well sharpen'd thumb from shore to shore

The treble squeaks for fear, the basses roar:

Echoes from Pissing-Alley, Shadwell call,

And Shadwell they resound from Aston Hall. (43-48)

The elevated "praise" of Shadwell here is richly detailed… as echoing through a public urinal. In
moments like this, Dryden's rich soundscape and heroic tone expertly juxtaposes with the
lowbrow stupidity of the poem's subject matter. In this sense, "Mac Flecknoe" is a crash course
in irony, with Dryden utilizing an elevated, epic voice to parody his buddy (maybe frenemy?),
Thomas Shadwell.

ANALYSIS: WHAT'S UP WITH THE TITLE?

The main title, "Mac Flecknoe," doesn't clue us into a whole lot about what to expect in the
poem. Unless you have your PhD in Mediocre Mid-seventeenth Century English-Irish Poetry, the
name "Flecknoe" probably doesn't ring a bell. It's a reference to Richard Flecknoe, an utterly
average and totally obscure poet—the relevance of whom is still unclear in relation to our author
John Dryden, or Thomas Shadwell, the poem's actual subject. "Mac" was an informal term used
to informally address a man of an unknown name, which hints subtly at the satirical and
lowbrow tone of the poem. But that's about all we have to work with there.

The subtitle, however ("A Satire upon the True-blue Protestant Poet T.S."), gives us a pretty solid
idea of the poem's content and purpose. Dryden tells us flat-out that that the poem is a satire,
(or rather a "satyr" as it's spelled in the original), upon somebody named… T.S. Who is this
mysterious T.S. we might wonder? T.S. Eliot? Taylor Swift? Tupac Shakur? Tom Selleck? These are
all excellent guesses, if we do say so ourselves. We know now, though, that the T.S. in question is
none other than English poet Thomas Shadwell, archrival of Dryden.

This connection is hardly obvious to us now. Shadwell is no Shakespeare, as Dryden makes

abundantly clear. But folks reading the poem back in the 1680s would probably have been able
to connect the dots. Seeing as this isn't the 1680s, however, and nobody knows who the wide
world of sports Thomas Shadwell even is anymore (apparently for good reason), we're here to
help. Check out our "In a Nutshell" and "Detailed Summary" for more.
ANALYSIS: CALLING CARD

Mock-Epic

One name stands out above all others in English Restoration literature. It's not John Dryden.
(Sorry, we know that was probably misleading.) The writer we were thinking of is John Milton,
best known for his towering masterpiece Paradise Lost. Milton pretty much invented the modern
epic as we know it. But can you guess who invented the modern mock-epic?

That's right, you nailed it. Dryden made waves with his patented mock-epic, or mock-heroic
poetic style, taking the dramatic power of Milton and turning it totally sideways for comedic
effect. Later English writers like Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift drew directly from Dryden's
sharp wit and sense of comedic irony, as they perfected the art of satire. Those guys took his
idea to the next level, but Dryden, with "Mac Flecknoe," did it first.

ANALYSIS: TOUGH-O-METER

(9) Mount Everest

Pack a bag, Shmoopers. In fact, pack a couple. This poem is long, with lots of obscure historical
and literary references (just check out our "Shout Outs"). It's written in that weird Restoration-
era English that mostly makes sense, until words start showing up (like "supinely" and "drugget")
that haven't seen the light of day in four centuries. But if you can slog your way through, what
you'll find is an extremely clever, totally hilarious critique of a bad artist producing bad art—a
theme which will never stop being relevant.

ANALYSIS: TRIVIA

Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge

John Dryden was Poet Laureate of England from 1668 to 1689, when he was replaced by none
other than Thomas Shadwell. Shadwell got the last laugh then, but we think Dryden was playing
the long game. (Source)

Dryden became such a towering figure in the Restoration literary scene that the entire era
became known by some as "The Age of Dryden." (Source)
When Jonathan Swift published his first poem in 1692, Dryden, a distant relative, was rumored
to have said: "Cousin Swift, you will never be a poet." Of course Swift turned out to be one of the
greatest writers in English literature. Score one for J-Swift.

ANALYSIS: STEAMINESS RATING

Exactly how steamy is this poem?

PG-13

There's a bit of lewdness in "Mac Flecknoe," as was the case for most comedies in the time of
Dryden. The Realm of Nonsense is characterized by prostitution as well as bad poetry, with the
new king Shadwell ironically taking his throne in the heart of the brothel district. That's about
where the sex stops, though, with Dryden seeming to prefer his scatological humor, of which
"Mac Flecknoe" certainly has no shortage (check out lines 15-18, 49-55, and 94-101—if you
dare).

ANALYSIS: ALLUSIONS

BACK NEXT

When poets refer to other great works, people, and events, it’s usually not accidental. Put on
your super-sleuth hat and figure out why.

Literary and Philosophical References

Welcome to the world of "Mac Flecknoe," which contains more shout outs than sense. Dryden
throws out numerous references to the classics, including to numerous Greek and Roman stories
and myths and the Bible. His entire poetic style is a shout out to the epic tradition, following in
the footsteps of Homer, Virgil, and Milton, while employing Chaucer's heroic couplets.

And then, of course, Dryden manages to name drop every single freaking English literary figure
within 100 years. Most of these references are pretty obscure; guys like John Ogleby and Thomas
Dekker aren't exactly heavy hitters in British literature. But Dryden does remind us of a few
noteworthy names, including the great playwright Ben Jonson.

But the name Dryden really wants us to remember is Thomas Shadwell. Dryden's archrival and
fellow English poet and playwright, the unfortunate Shadwell is the butt of pretty much every
joke in "Mac Flecknoe," and the axis around which the entire poem revolves. Dryden takes care
to reference what seems like every piece of writing Shadwell ever produced, and mock every
one of his characters worth mentioning—probably not the most flattering shout out Shadwell
could have hoped for.

21 analyze the poem elegy written in a country courtyard

22 write about sir roger at church

The essay “Sir Roger at Church” was written by Joseph Addison. The essay narrates the story of
Sir Roger and his deeds and services that he offers in the church. He would sponsor generously
to the well being of the church and its equipment. He only wants everyone to attend the church
n every Sunday to maintain their discipline and faith on the Almighty. He would take an active
part in the church and he would maintain the church’s discipline. The essay is all about what and
how he actually contributes generously to the church just to make sure that the truth of God
reaches people’s hearts.

Read more on Brainly.in - https://brainly.in/question/9625106#readmore

23 what moral lesson do you find in the rape of the lock

The moral of the poem is: Life is too short, pay attention to what actually matters; don't steam
yourself up over trivia.

The overriding moral lesson of "The Rape of the Lock" is the sheer folly of vanity. In the poem,
Pope ably satirizes the shallowness and superficiality of upper-class English society, a society in
which appearance is everything; it's not what you are, but what people think you are that
matters.

24 joseph adison's contribution to literature

Contribution

It is as an essayist that Addison is remembered today. He began writing essays quite casually. In
April 1709, his childhood friend Richard Steele started the Tatler. Addison contributed 42 essays
to the Tatler, while Steele wrote 188. Regarding Addison's help, Steele remarked, "when I had
once called him in, I could not subsist without dependence on him".[11] The Tatler was
discontinued on 2 January 1711. The Spectator began publication on 1 March of that year, and it
continued – being issued daily, and achieving great popularity – until 6 December 1712. It
exercised an influence over the reading public of the time, and Addison soon became the leading
partner in it, contributing 274 essays out of a total of 635; Steele wrote 236. Addison also
assisted Steele with The Guardian, which began in 1713.

The breezy, conversational style of the essays later prompted Bishop Richard Hurd to reprove
Addison for what he called an "Addisonian Termination", or preposition stranding, a grammatical
construction that ends a sentence with a preposition.[12]

He wrote an essay entitled Dialogues on Medals which was translated to the French by
eighteenth-century priest and journalist Simon-Jérôme Bourlet de Vauxcelles (1733–1802). His
essay "Adventures of a Shilling" (1710) is a brief, early example of an it-narrative or object
narrative, a genre that would become more common later in the century.[13] He also left an
incomplete work, Of the Christian Religion.

https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/english-literature-1500-1799-
biographies/joseph-addison

ADDISON, JOSEPH (1672–1719)

ADDISON, JOSEPH (1672–1719), English poet, essayist, and critic. Addison helped to elevate the
literary status of English prose while holding important political offices for the Whig party. He
was born in 1672 at Milston, Wiltshire. His father, the Reverend Launcelot Addison, was the dean
of Lichfield, Staffordshire, and Addison attended Lichfield Grammar School and then, in 1686,
Charterhouse School in London, where he met Richard Steele. Addison's study of classical poetry
and his Latin poems at Queen's College, Oxford, won him a demy (scholarship) in the 1690s to
Magdalen College, where he took his M.A. and was a fellow from 1697 to 1711. His classical
scholarly knowledge, especially on the Roman idea of citizenship, informs the moral beliefs in his
writing.
Addison's passionate interest in and deep knowledge of Roman poetry and history are evident in
his early prose works evaluating the best Roman poets, his translations of such poets as Virgil
and Ovid (1694 and 1717), and his own highly praised imitations of Latin poets such as Horace.
He modeled his own prose style after the formal elegance and familiar diction of Latin poetry,
which he praised. After writing a celebratory poem on John Dryden—"To Mr. Dryden"—he wrote
an introductory essay on Virgil for Dryden's translation of the Georgics in 1697. Addison's own
translations provided English readers with an accessible text through adding explanatory
commentaries and replacing obscure allusions with familiar ones. Eight of Addison's Latin poems
were included in an anthology he edited at Oxford in 1699, Musarum Anglicarum Analecta (An
assembly of English muses).

One poem, "Pax Gulielmi Auspiciis Europae Reddita" (Peace returned to Europe under William's
auspices), compliments William III's ability as a monarch and celebrates the 1697 Treaty of
Ryswick, which ended the War of the Grand Alliance. A partisan of Protestantism and the Whigs,
Addison in his earliest poetry supported the Protestant succession of William of Orange and
Mary. "Poem to his Majesty" was dedicated to John Somers, an important Whig, and "William's
Peace" was dedicated to Charles Montagu, Lord Halifax, the Whig treasurer. Montagu became
Addison's patron and secured him a pension of £200 to undertake a grand tour on the Continent
between 1699 and 1704. Addison toured several countries and studied French neoclassical
literary theorists; his itinerary, particularly to places of classical literary interest, is recorded in
Remarks upon Several Parts of Italy, published in 1705.

Addison's eulogy on John Churchill, duke of Marlborough's victory over the French at Blenheim
in his poem "The Campaign" in 1704 secured him a position as excise commissioner of appeals
and brought him increasing popularity. His involvement with the Kit-Kat Club, a political and
literary society for Whig writers and politicians, renewed his friendship with Steele, and he
contributed to Steele's play The Tender Husband (1705). Commissioned to write an English
opera to counter the trend for Italian opera, he produced the unsuccessful Rosamond in 1707.
Meanwhile, the status of his politically administrative appointments increased because of his
anti-Jacobite pamphlets such as "The Present State of the War." He became a prominent
spokesman for the Whigs, progressing from undersecretary of state to Charles Spencer, earl of
Sunderland, in 1706 to chief secretary to the earl of Wharton, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, in
1709.

Assisting Steele in his editorship of the London Gazette in 1708, Addison then wrote forty-nine
issues of The Tatler, the successful periodical established by Steele, moving between England
and Ireland in 1709 and 1710. His essays focus on the classics, character types, and natural
religion and oscillate between a witty, humorous tone and a moral seriousness, making
reference to classical antecedents. His support of Whig policies continued with his writing five
issues of the Whig Examiner during the elections of 1710, and becoming member of Parliament
for Malmesbury, Wiltshire. Addison's essays in The Spectator, which appeared six days a week
from March 1711 to December 1712, established his reputation for popularizing literary theory
and new philosophies in a carefully poised, accessible, and sustained format. He wrote a series
of essays on English tragedy, on the opera, on John Milton's poem Paradise Lost, and on the
imagination, all designed to enlighten and improve the common reader. Addison later revived
The Spectator briefly to support George I.

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In 1713, his tragedy Cato ran for thirty nights at Drury Lane Theatre. A story of the struggle of a
Roman republican, the play's political overtones ensured its success. It was praised by Voltaire as
the first English "rational tragedy" and translated into French, Spanish, Italian, and Latin.
Awaiting the accession of Prince George of Hanover, Addison was appointed secretary of the
Regency in 1714. He published the periodical The Freeholder, or Political Essays (1715–1716)
supporting George I during the Jacobite rebellion. His most prestigious political appointment was
secretary of state in 1717. His last play, the comedy The Drummer, in 1716, was a failure. The
same year he married the Countess of Warwick and lived in Holland House in London. Along
with his increasing ill health, Addison quarreled with former friends such as Alexander Pope,
over a rival translation of the Iliad, and Richard Steele, over the restriction of hereditary peers in
the peerage bill. Addison died, estranged from Steele, on 17 June 1719.

https://www.enotes.com/topics/joseph-addison/in-depth

Joseph Addison wrote in almost every genre flourishing in British literature during the reigns of
William III and Queen Anne. In addition to his three plays, Addison wrote verse in Latin and in
English, a travel book, a scholarly account of ancient Roman coins, political pamphlets, and
hundreds of essays for The Tatler, The Spectator, and other periodicals. This variety reflects the
active literary culture of the time, Addison’s own wide learning, and his search for his proper
niche.

Because of Addison’s varied canon, there has yet to be a satisfactory complete edition. The first
attempt, by Thomas Tickell in 1721, omitted some embarrassing early works and many of the
periodical essays. Another collected edition a century later restored some early works and
offered a fuller selection of essays. Two good modern critical editions cover most of Addison’s
corpus: A. C. Guthkelch’s The Miscellaneous Works (1914) includes the plays as well as the
poetry and nonperiodical prose works, and Donald Bond’s The Spectator (1965) covers Addison’s
essays for the most famous periodical to which he contributed. Essays written for other journals
await modern editions. Addison’s Letters, an unrevealing collection, was published in 1941.