An Essay on "An Essay on Criticism": Derision as Inspiration
Abstract
This paper responds to Alexander Pope's derisive reproach of his contemporary literary critics in "An Essay on Criticism" (1711). His condescending tone initially intimidates, then challenges a stubborn reader who longs to prove him wrong. In stumbling verse, my speaker's rhyming thoughts capture a shifting attitude, moving from intimidation to defiance. Though it uses an unconventional, admittedly less explicit argumentative style, this paper demonstrates how Pope's derision might have inspired his contemporaries to clean up their act.
Copyright (c) 2018 Cameron R Butt
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Any submissions made by the author to the Albatross are in agreement of release under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported license. This license permits The Albatross as well as others to share this work through any means for non-commercial purposes given that proper attribution is given to the author as well as the publisher.
Authors retain copyright of their work.
By submitting their article to The Albatross, the author grants the The Albatross the rights for first publishing.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
