The Dunciad

The Dunciad is a landmark literary satire by Alexander Pope published in three different versions at different times. The first version (the "three book" Dunciad) was published in 1728. The second version, where Pope confirmed his authorship of the work, appeared in the Dunciad Variorum in 1735. The New Dunciad, in four books and with a different hero, appeared in 1743. The poem celebrates the goddess Dulness and the progress of her chosen agents as they bring decay and imbecility and tastelessness to the kingdom of Great Britain.

The three-book Dunciad and the Dunciad Variorum

Pope first published The Dunciad in 1728 in three books, with Lewis Theobald as its "hero." The poem was not signed, and he used only initials in the text to refer to the various Dunces in the kingdom of Dulness. However, "Keys" immediately came out to identify the figures mentioned in the text, and an Irish pirate edition was printed that filled in the names (sometimes inaccurately). Additionally, the men attacked by Pope also wrote angry denunciations of the poem, attacking Pope's poetry and person. Pope endured attacks from, among others, George Duckett, Thomas Burnet, and Richard Blackmore. All of these, however, were less vicious than the attack launched by Edmund Curll, a notoriously unscrupulous publisher, who produced his own pirate copy of the Dunciad with astounding swiftness, and also published 'The Popiad' and a number of pamphlets attacking Pope.

Related Topics:
Irish - George Duckett - Thomas Burnet - Richard Blackmore - Edmund Curll

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1729, Pope published an acknowledged edition of the poem, and the Dunciad Variorum appeared in 1732. The Variorum was substantially the same text as the 1729 edition, but it now had a lengthy prolegomenon. The prefatory material has Pope speaking in his own defense, although under a variety of other names; for example, "A Letter to the Publisher Occasioned by the Present Edition of the Dunciad" is signed by William Cleland (d. 1741), a friend of the poet, but is thought by most scholars to have been penned by Pope himself.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In these prefatory materials, Pope points out that the Keys were often wrong about the allusions, and he explains his reluctance at spelling out the names. He says that he wishes to avoid elevating the targets of the satire by mentioning their names, but he prints the full names to protect innocents from being presumed to be the targets. Pope also apologizes for using parody of the Classics (for his poem imitates both Homer and Virgil) by pointing out that the ancients also used parody to belittle unworthy poets. Pope's preface is followed by advertisements from the bookseller, a section called "Testimonies of Authors Concerning Our Poet and his Works" by "Martinus Scriblerus," and a further section named "Martinus Scriblerus, of the Poem."

Related Topics:
Parody - Homer - Virgil

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Martinus Scriblerus was a corporate identity employed by Pope and the other members of the Scriblerians. Therefore, these two portions of the preface could have been written by any of its members, but they, like the other prefatory materials, were most likely written by Pope himself. The various Dunces had written responses to Pope after the first publication of The Dunciad, and they had not only written against Pope, but had explained why Pope had attacked other writers. In the "Testimonies" section, Martinus Scriblerus culls all the comments the Dunces made about each other in their replies and sets them side by side, so that each is condemned by another. He also culls their contradictory characterizations of Pope, so that they seem to all damn and praise the same qualities over and over again.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The "Testimonies" also includes commendations from Pope's friends. The words of Edward Young, James Thomson, and Jonathan Swift are brought together to praise Pope specifically for being temperate and timely in his charges. The conclusion asks the reader "to chuse whether thou wilt incline to the Testimonies of Authors avowed" (like Pope's friends) "or of Authors concealed" (like many of the Dunces)--in short, "of those who knew him, or of those who knew him not."

Related Topics:
Edward Young - James Thomson - Jonathan Swift

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Tibbald" King of Dunces

Alexander Pope had a proximal and long term cause for choosing Lewis Theobald as the King of Dunces for the first version of the Dunciad. The proximate cause was Theobald's publication of Shakespeare Restored, or a Specimen of the many Errors as well Comitted as Unamended by Mr Pope in his late edition of this poet; designed not only to correct the said Edition, but to restore the true Reading of Shakespeare in all the Editions ever published in 1726. Pope had published his own version of Shakespeare in 1725, and he had made a number of errors in it. He had "smoothed" some of Shakespeare's lines, had chosen readings that eliminated puns (which Pope regarded as low humor), and had, indeed, missed several good readings and preserved some bad ones. In the Dunciad Variorum, Pope complains that he had put out newspaper advertisements when he was working on Shakespeare, asking for anyone with suggestions to come forward, and that Theobald had hidden all of his material. Indeed, when Pope produced a second edition of his Shakespeare in 1728, he incorporated many of Theobald's textual readings.

Related Topics:
1726 - 1725 - Puns

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Pope, however, had already a quarrel with Theobald. The first mention of Theobald in Pope's writings is the 1727, Peri Bathos, in Miscellanies, Volume the Third (which was actually the first volume), but Pope's attack there shows that Theobald was already a figure of fun. Regardless of the quarrels, though, Theobald was, in a sense, the nearly perfect King of Dunces. The Dunciad's action concerns the gradual sublimation of all arts and letters into Dulness by the action of hireling authors. Theobald, as a man who had attempted the stage and failed, plagiarized a play, attempted translation and failed to such a degree that John Dennis referred to him as a "notorious Ideot," attempted subscription translation and failed to produce, and who had just turned his full attention to political attack writing, was an epitome, for Pope, of all that was wrong with British letters. Additionally, Pope's goddess of Dulness begins the poem already controlling state poetry, odes, and political writing, so Theobald as King of Dunces is the man who can lead her to control the stage as well. Theobald's writings for John Rich, in particular, are singled out within the Dunciad as abominations for their mixing of tragedy and comedy and their "low" pantomime and opera, they are not the first to bring the Smithfield muses to the ears of kings, but they ferried them over in bulk.

Related Topics:
Peri Bathos - John Rich

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Overview of the three book Dunciad

The central premise of the poem is the same as that of MacFlecknoe: the crowning of a new King of Dulness. However, Pope's poem is far more wide-ranging and specific than Dryden's had been. His satire is political and cultural in very specific ways. Rather than merely lambasting "vice" and "corruption," Pope attacks very particular degradations of political discourse and particular degradations of the arts.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The political attack is on the Whigs, and specifically on the Hanoverian Whigs. The poem opens, in fact, with the goddess Dulness noting that "Still Dunce the second rules like Dunce the first," which is an exceptionally daring reference to George II, who had come to the throne earlier in the year. Furthermore, although the King of Dunces, Theobald, writes for the radical Tory Mist's Journal, Pope consistently hammers at radical protestant authors and controversialists. Daniel Defoe is mentioned almost as frequently as anyone in the poem, and the booksellers picked out for abuse both specialized in partisan Whig publications.

Related Topics:
Whigs - George II - Tory - Daniel Defoe

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The cultural attack is broader than the political one, and it may underlie the whole. Pope attacks, over and over again, those who write for pay. While Samuel Johnson would say, half a century later, that no man but a blockhead ever wrote but for money, Pope's attack is not on those who get paid, but those who will write on cue for the highest bid. He attacks hired pens, the authors who perform poetry or religious writing for the greatest pay alone, who do not believe in what they are doing. As he puts it in book II, "He (a patron) chinks his purse, and takes his seat of state... And (among the poets) instant, fancy feels th' imputed sense" (II 189-91). He objects not to professional writers, but to hackney writers. His dunce booksellers will trick and counterfeit their way to wealth, and his dunce poets will wheedle and flatter anyone for enough money to keep the bills paid.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The plot of the poem is simple. Dulness, the goddess, appears at a Lord Mayor's Day in 1724 and notes that her king, Elkannah Settle, has died. She chooses Lewis Theobald as his successor. In honor of his coronation, she holds heroic games. He is then transported to the Temple of Dulness, where he has visions of the future. The poem has a consistent setting and time, as well. Book I covers the night after the Lord Mayor's Day, Book II the morning to dusk, and Book III the darkest night. Furthermore, the poem begins at the end of the Lord Mayor's procession, goes in Book II to the Strand, then to Fleet Street (where booksellers were), down by Bridewell Prison to the Fleet ditch, then to Ludgate at the end of Book II; in Book III, Dulness goes through Ludgate to the City of London to her temple.

Related Topics:
1724 - Fleet Street - Bridewell Prison - Ludgate - City of London

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The arguments of the three books

Book I

The poem begins with an epic invocation, "Books and the Man I sing, the first who brings/ The Smithfield Muses to the Ear of Kings" (Smithfield being the site of Bartholomew Fair entertainments, and the man in question was Elkannah Settle, who had written for Bartholomew Fair after the Glorious Revolution; Pope makes him the one who brought pantomime, farce, and monster shows to the royal theaters). The goddess Dulness notes that her power is so great that, "Time himself stands still at her command,/ Realms shift their place, and Ocean turns to land," and thus claims credit for the routine violation of the Unities of Aristotle in poetry. On Lord Mayor's Day of 1724, when Sir George Thorold was Lord Mayor, Dulness announces the death of the current King of Dunces, Elkanah Settle. Settle had been the City Poet, and his job had been to commemorate Lord Mayor's Day pageants. Thanks to his hard work in stultifying the senses of the nation, Dulness claims control of all official verse, and all current poets are her subjects ("While pensive Poets painful vigils keep,/ Sleepless themselves to give their readers sleep" I. 91-92). She mentions Thomas Heywood, Daniel Defoe (for writing political journalism), Ambrose Philips, Nahum Tate, and Sir Richard Blackmore as her darlings. However, her triumph is not complete, and she aspires to control dramatic poetry as well as political, religious, and hack poetry. She therefore decides that Theobald will be the new King.

Related Topics:
Bartholomew Fair - Glorious Revolution - Unities - Aristotle - 1724 - Sir George Thorold - Thomas Heywood - Daniel Defoe - Ambrose Philips - Nahum Tate

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The action shifts to the library of Lewis Theobald, which is "A Gothic Vatican! of Greece and Rome/ Well-purg'd, and worthy Withers, Quarles, and Blome" (a Vatican Library for Northern European authors, and especially notable for vainglorious and contentious writing and criticism). Theobald is despairing of succeeding in writing dull poetry and plays, and he is debating whether to return to being a lawyer (for that had been Theobald's first trade) or to become a political hack. He decides to give up poetry and become an entirely hired pen for Nathaniel Mist and his Mist's Journal. He therefore collects all the books of bad poetry in his library along with his own works and makes a virgin sacrifice of them (virgin because no one has ever read them) by setting fire to the pile. The goddess Dulness appears to him in a fog and drops a sheet of Thule (a poem by Ambrose Philips that was supposed to be an epic, but which only appeared as a single sheet) on the fire, extinguishing it with the poem's perpetually wet ink. Dulness tells Theobald that he is the new King of Dunces and points him to the stage. She shows him,

Related Topics:
Vatican Library - Nathaniel Mist

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:"How, with less reading than makes felons 'scape,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Less human genius than God gives an ape,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Small thanks to France and none to Rome or Greece,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:A past, vamp'd, future, old, reviv'd, new piece,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:'Twixt Plautus, Fletcher, Congreve, and Corneille,

Related Topics:
Plautus - Fletcher - Congreve - Corneille

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Can make a Cibber, Johnson, or Ozell." (I. 235-40)

Related Topics:
Cibber - Johnson - Ozell

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The book ends with a hail of praise, calling Theobald now the new King Log (from Aesop's fable).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Book II

Book II centers on the highly scatalogical "heroic games." Theobald sits on throne of Dulness, which is a velvetine tub ("tub" being the common term for the pulpit of Dissenters), and Dulness declares the opening of heroic games to celebrate his coronation. Therefore, all her sons come before her on the Strand in London, leaving half the kingdom depopulated, for she summons both dull writers, their booksellers, and all who are stupid enough to patronize dull writers.

Related Topics:
Dissenters - Strand - London

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The first game is for booksellers. (Booksellers at the time purchased manuscripts from authors, and the proceeds from book sales went entirely to the bookseller, with the author getting no more than the advance price.) Dulness therefore decides upon a race for the booksellers. She creates a phantom Poet,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:"No meagre, muse-rid mope, adust and thin,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:In a dun night-gown of his own loose skin," (II. 33-4)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

but, instead, a fat, well dressed poet (and therefore a wealthy, noble one who would command sales by his title). The phantom poet is named More, a reference to James Moore Smyth, who had plagiarized both Arbuthnot (Historico-physical Account of the South-Sea Bubble) and Pope (Memoirs of a Parish Clark), and whose only original play had been the failed The Rival Modes. The booksellers immediately set out running to be the first to grab More, with Bernard Lintot setting forth with a roar (Lintot had been James Moore Smyth's publisher), only to be challenged by Edmund Curll:

Related Topics:
James Moore Smyth - Bernard Lintot

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:"As when a dab-chick waddles thro' the copse,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:On feet and wings, and flies, and wades, and hops;

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:So lab'ring on, with shoulders, hands, and head,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Wide as a windmill all his figure spread . . .

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Full in the middle way there stood a lake,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Which Curl's Corinna chanc'd that morn to make,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:(Such was her wont, at early down to drop

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Her evening cates before his neighbour's shop,)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Here fortun'd Curl to slide; loud shout the band,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:And Bernard! Bernard! rings thro' all the Strand." (II 59-70)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The race seemingly having been decided by progress through bed-pan slops, Curll prays to Jove, who consults the goddess Cloacina. He hears the prayer, passes a pile of feces down, and catapults Curll to the victory. As Curll grabs the phantom More, the poems it seemed to have fly back to their real authors, and even the clothes go to the unpaid tailors who had made them (James Moore Smyth had run through an inherited fortune and bankrupted himself by 1727). Dulness urges Curll to repeat the joke, to pretend to the public that his dull poets were really great poets, to print things by false names. (Curll had published numerous works by "Joseph Gay" to trick the public into thinking they were by John Gay.) For his victory, she awards Curll a tapestry showing the fates of famous Dunces. On it, he sees Daniel Defoe with his ears chopped off, John Tutchin being whipped publically through western England, two political journalists clubbed to death (on the same day), and himself being wrapped in a blanket and whipped by the students of Westminster (for having printed an unauthorized edition of the sermons of the school's master, thereby robbing the school's own printer).

Related Topics:
Jove - Cloacina - John Tutchin - England - Westminster

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The next contest Dulness proposes is for the phantom poetess, Eliza (Eliza Haywood), a

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:". . . Juno of majestic size,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:With cow-like-udders, and with ox-like eyes" (II 155-6).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The booksellers will urinate to see whose urinary stream is the highest. Curll and Chetham compete. Chetham's efforts are insufficient to produce an arc, and he splashes his own face. Curll, on the other hand, produces a stream over his own head, burning (with an implied case of venereal disease) all the while. For this, Chetham is awarded a kettle, while Curll gets the phantom lady's works and company.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The next contest is for authors, and it is the game of "tickling": getting money from patrons by flattery. A very wealthy nobleman, attended by jockeys, huntsmen, a large sedan chair with six porters, takes his seat. One poet attempts to flatter his pride. A painter attempts to paint a glowing portrait. An opera author attempts to please his ears. John Oldmixon simply asks for the money (Oldmixon had attacked Pope in The Catholic Poet, but Pope claims that his real crime was plagiarism in his Critical History of England, which slandered the Stuarts and got him an office from the Whig ministry), only to have the lord clench his money tighter. Finally, a young man with no artistic ability sends his sister to the lord and wins the prize.

Related Topics:
Sedan chair - John Oldmixon - Stuarts

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Another contest, primarily for critics, comes next. In this, Dulness offers up the prize of a "catcall" and a drum that can drown out the braying of asses to the one who can make the most senseless noise and impress the king of monkeys. They are invited to improve mustard-bowl thunder (as the sound effect of thunder on the stage had been made using a mustard bowl and a shot previously, and John Dennis had invented a new method) and the sound of the bell (used in tragedies to enhance the pitiful action). Pope describes the resulting game thus:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:"'Twas chatt'ring, grinning, mouthing, jabb'ring all,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:And Noise, and Norton, Brangling, and Breval,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Dennis and Dissonance; and captious Art,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:And Snip-snap short, and Interruption smart.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:'Hold (cry'd the Queen) A Catcall each shall win,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Equal your merits! equal is your din!" (II. 229-234)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The critics are then invited to all bray at the same time. In this, Richard Blackmore wins easily:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:"All hail him victor in both gifts of Song,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Who sings so loudly, and who sings so long." (II. 255-6)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

(Blackmore had written six epic poems, a "Prince" and "King" Arthur, in twenty books, an Eliza in ten books, an Alfred in twelve books, etc. and had earned the nickname "Everlasting Blackmore." Additionally, Pope disliked his overuse of the verb "bray" for love and battle and so had chosen to have Blackmore's "bray" the most insistent.)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The assembled horde go down by Bridewell (the women's prison) between 11:00 AM and 12:00 PM, when the women prisoners are being whipped, and go "To where Fleet-ditch with disemboguing streams/ Rolls the large tribute of dead dogs to Thames" (II 267-8). The Fleet Ditch was the sewer outlet for the city at the time, where all of the gutters of the city washed into the river. It was silted, muddy, and mixed with river and city waters.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the ditch, the political hacks are ordered to strip off their clothes and engage in a diving contest. Dulness says, "Who flings most filth, and wide pollutes around/ The stream, be his the Weekly Journals, bound" (II 267-8), while a load of lead will go to the deepest diver and a load of coal to the others who participate. "The Weekly Journals" was a collective noun, referring to London Journal, Mist's Journal, British Journal, Daily Journal, inter al. In this contest, John Dennis climbs up as high as a post and dives in, disappearing forever. Next, "Smedly" dives in and vanishes. Others attempt the task, but none succeed like Leonard Welsted (who had satirized Pope, Gay, and Arbuthnot's play Three Hours after Marriage in 1717), for he goes in swinging his arms like a windmill (to splash all with mud): "No crab more active in the dirty dance,/ Downward to climb, and backward to advance" (II 296-7). He wins the Journals, but Smedly reappears, saying that he had gone all the way down to Hades, where he had seen that a branch of Styx flows into the Thames, so that all who drink city water grow dull and forgetful from Lethe.

Related Topics:
Leonard Welsted - 1717 - Hades - Styx - Lethe

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Smedly becomes Dulness's high priest, and the company move to Ludgate. There, the young critics are asked to weigh the difference between Richard Blackmore and John "Orator" Henley. The one who can will be the chief judge of Dulness. Three sophomores from Cambridge University and three lawyers from Temple Bar attempt the task, but they all fall asleep. The entire company slowly falls asleep, with the last being Susanna Centlivre (who had attacked Pope's translation of Homer before its publication) and "Norton Defoe" (another false identity created by a political author who claimed to be the "true son" of Daniel Defoe). Finally, Folly herself is killed by the dullness of the works being read aloud.

Related Topics:
John "Orator" Henley - Cambridge University - Temple Bar - Susanna Centlivre - Homer - Folly

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Book III

Book three is set in the Temple of Dulness in the City. Theobald sleeps with his head on the goddess's lap, with royal blue fogs surrounding him. In his dream, he goes to Hades and visits the shade of Elkannah Settle. There he sees millions of souls waiting for new bodies as their souls transmigrate. Bavius dips each soul in Lethe to make it dull before sending it to a new body. (In classical mythology, the souls of the dead were put into Lethe to forget their lives before passing on to their final reward, but these are dipped in Lethe before being born.) Elkannah Settle hails Theobald as the great promised one, the messiah of Dulness, for Bavius had dipped him over and over again, from lifetime to lifetime, before he was perfected in stupidity and ready to be born as Theobald. Theobald had formerly been a Boetian, several Dutchmen, several monks, all before being himself: "All nonsense thus, of old or modern date, / Shall in thee centre, from thee circulate" (III 51-2).

Related Topics:
Transmigrate - Bavius - Mythology - Messiah - Boetian - Dutchmen - Monk

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Settle gives Theobald full knowledge of Dulness. This is his baptism: the time when he can claim his divine role and begin his mission (in a parody of Jesus being blessed by the Holy Spirit). Settle shows Theobald the past triumphs of Dulness in its battles with reason and science. He surveys the translatio stultitia: the Great Wall of China and the emperor burning all learned books, Egypt and Omar I burning the books in the Ptlomaean library. Then he turns to follow the light of the sun/learning to Europe and says,

Related Topics:
Baptism - Jesus - Holy Spirit - Translatio stultitia - Great Wall of China - Omar I

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:"How little, mark! that portion of the ball,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Where, faint at best, the beams of Science fall.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Soon as they dawn, from Hyperborean skies,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Embody'd dark, what clouds of Vandals rise!" (III 75-8)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Goths, Alans, Huns, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, and Islam are all seen as destroyers of learning. Christianity in the medieval period is also an enemy of learning and reason in Settle's view:

Related Topics:
Goths - Alans - Huns - Ostrogoths - Visigoths - Islam - Christianity

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:"See Christians, Jews, one heavy sabbath keep;

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:And all the Western World believe and sleep." (III 91-2)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Pope lambasts the medieval popes for destroying statuary and books that depicted Classical gods and goddesses and for vandalizing others, for making statues of Pan into Moses.

Related Topics:
Pan - Moses

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Settle then surveys the future. He says that Grub Street will be Dulness's Mount Parnassus, where the goddess will "Behold a hundred sons, and each a dunce" (III 130). He names two sons of contemporary dunces who were already showing signs of stupidity: Theophilus Cibber (III 134) and the son of Bishop Burnet.

Related Topics:
Grub Street - Mount Parnassus - Theophilus Cibber - Bishop Burnet

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Settle turns to examine the present state of duncery, and this section of the third book is the longest. He first looks to literary critics, who are happiest when their authors complain the most. Scholars are described as:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:"A Lumberhouse of Books in every head,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:For ever reading, never to be read." (III 189-90)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

From critics, he turns to the contrastives of triumphant dunces and lost merit. Orator Henley gets special attention here (lines 195 ff.). Henley had set himself up as a professional lecturer. On Sundays, he would discuss theology, and on Wednesdays any other subject, and those who went to hear him would pay a shilling each ("Oh great Restorer of the good old Stage,/ Preacher at once, and Zany of thy Age!" 201-202), while learned bishops and skilled preachers spoke to empty congregations. Next come the theatres: a Dr. Faustus was the toast of the 1726-1727 season, with both Lincoln's Inn Fields and Drury Lane competing for more and more lavish stage effects to get the audiences in:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:"Gods, imps, and monsters, music, rage, and mirth,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:A fire, a jig, a battle, and a ball,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Till one wide Conflagration swallows all." (III 233-6)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This competition of vulgarity is lead by two theaters, and each has its champion of decadence. At Lincoln's Inn Fields is the "Angel of Dulness," John Rich:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:"Immortal Rich! how calm he sits at ease

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Mid snows of paper, and fierce hail of pease;

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:And proud his mistress' orders to perform,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Rides in the whirlwind, and directs the storm." (III 257-260)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rich's ability to ride in a stage whirlwind (in parody of God in the Book of Job) is matched by Colley Cibber and John Booth, patentees of the Drury Lane theater, who mount the stage in purple dragons and have an aerial battle. Dulness is the winner in these contests, for she benefits. Settle urges Theobald to refine these entertainments, to hammer them home and get them all the way to court, so that Dulness can be the true emporess of the land. He prophesizes that Theobald will live in an age that will see Laurence Eusden the Poet Laureate and Colley Cibber the "Lord Chancellor of plays".

Related Topics:
God - Book of Job - Laurence Eusden

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Settle then reveals some current triumphs of dullness over good sense. He mentions William Benson as the proper judge of architecture,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:"While Wren with sorrow to the grave descends,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Gay dies un-pension'd with a hundred Friends.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Hibernian Politicks, O Swift, thy doom,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:And Pope's translating three whole years with Broome." (III 325-328)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

William Benson was a fool who had taken the place of Sir Christopher Wren and told the House of Lords that the house was unsound and falling down. It was not. John Gay never obtained a pension and yet was often remarked as one of the most jovial, intelligent, and compassionate wits of the age. Jonathan Swift had been "exiled" to Ireland, where he had become involved in Irish politics. Pope himself had spent three years translating Homer. Settle sees in these things great prospects for the coming age of darkness.

Related Topics:
Sir Christopher Wren - House of Lords - John Gay - Ireland - Homer

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The poem ends with a vision of the apocalypse of nonsense:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:"Lo! the great Anarch's ancient reign restor'd,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Light dies before her uncreating word." (III 339-40)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Settle invokes the second coming of stupidity, urging,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:"Thy hand great Dulness! lets the curtain fall,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:And universal Darkness covers all." (III 355-6)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At the very conclusion, Theobald cannot take any more joy, and he wakes. The vision goes back through the ivory gate of Morpheus.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Themes of the Three Book Dunciad

The Three Book Dunciad has an extensive inversion of Virgil's Aeneid, but it also structures itself heavily around a Christological theme. To some degree, this imagery of unholy consecration had been present in Dryden's MacFlecknoe, but Pope's King of Dunces is much more menacing than Thomas Shadwell could ever have been in Dryden's poem. It is not a case of an unworthy man getting praised that spurs the poem, but rather a force of degradation and decadence that motivates it. Pope is not targeting one man, but rather a social decline that he feels is all but irrevocable. In the Four Book Dunciad (or Dunciad B), any hope of redemption or reversal is gone, and the poem is even more nihilstic.

Related Topics:
Christological - Thomas Shadwell

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~