An Essay on Criticism

A metaphor is a comparison between two unlike objects, actions, or situations that does not explicitly denote itself as figurative with a word like “as” or “like.” The resulting alignment is therefore typically more forceful and direct than a simile’s. Pope uses many metaphors to develop his ideas about what makes a good critic and what makes good poetry. For example, he says that once “criticism the Muse’s handmaid proved” and that it was criticism’s role “to dress her charms, and make her more beloved: / But following wits from that intention strayed, / Who could not win the mistress, wooed the maid” (Lines 102-05). Here, Pope also uses personification (ascribing human traits to nonhuman things) to develop his metaphor about the relationship between criticism and the poetic muse: Criticism is poetry’s maid, but those who could not woo the mistress (poetry) wooed her maid instead, assuming that the maid would be more susceptible to praise. This metaphor draws on typical class and gender assumptions from the early 18th century, the idea being that one could corrupt a maid with money or promises of love in order to access her mistress. Like his similes, Pope’s metaphors are often extended and elaborate, in keeping with his emphasis on poetic craft.

Allusion is the reference in one text to other literary figures or texts, historical figures, events, or objects, and/or mythical figures. An Essay on Criticism relies heavily on classical allusion, incorporating references to Greek and Roman poets and critics such as Horace, Homer, Virgil, and Aristotle. Pope also alludes to authors and critics from the Renaissance right up to his contemporary moment. The poem does not contextualize these references, instead presuming the reader’s understanding. This is a hallmark of allusion, but it also serves a rhetorical purpose, demonstrating Pope’s command of literary history in an essay deeply concerned with deep versus shallow education; the implication is that Pope has not only read these authors but understands them so thoroughly that he can casually reference them in support of his own claims.

An allusion of note is to the novel Don Quixote (1605-15) by Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616), which Pope combines with a reference to early 18th-century dramatist and critic John Dennis (1657-1734). Pope uses the hero of Don Quixote, who imagines himself a knight because he reads too many historical romances, as an example of someone who can only focus on one part of a work. Pope recounts how Don Quixote encountered a playwright and discussed at length the importance of hewing closely to the theatrical principles set forth by Aristotle. However, after actually seeing the playwright’s work, Don Quixote was unhappy with it simply because it did not include a battle. John Dennis saw this as a positive example of his attention to the rules of the Grecian stage, but in other parts of the poem Pope critiques too great an attention to rules at the expense of art, so it is not an unmixed compliment.