Junaid Asghar (33)
Jamshed Ahmad (46)
• ------AN ESSAY ON CRITICISM-------
"An Essay On Criticism" is one of the most famous poem written by Alexander pope in 1709
and was first published in 1711. The poem was written in Heroic couplets (A heroic couplet is
a pair of rhyming lines).
Alexander pope was one of the most famous English poet and satirist of early 18th
century or Augustan age. From the age of 12 he suffered numerous health problems,
including Pott disease, a form of tuberculosis that affects the spine, which deformed his body
and stopped his growth, leaving him a hunchback (kubda) person. His tuberculosis infection
caused other health problems including respiratory difficulties, high fevers, inflamed eyes
and abdominal pain. His height was only 4 feet and 6 inches. And because of bad physique
he left his school so that no one make fun of him. He also never got married but it is believed
that she proposed a girl but she rejected his proposal and also made fun of him. These are
some Notable works of Alexander Pope :- An essay on criticism, The rape of the Lock, The
Dunciad and Essay on Man.
An Essay On Criticism is divided into three parts :-
PART l :- Thesis (It presents a problem).
1. Writing or judgement :- Pope argues that it is not easy to become a writer or a critic
and to become a good critic you have to be a good writer because if you can't write poetry
then how can you judge the poetry of others? In the 18th century it was common that
people who are unsuccessful in writing will claim to be critics. Pope called these critics
half-learned and uneducated.
2. Self knowledge :- A good critics should know about their limitations, skills, abilities,
taste, power of understanding and their weak points - instead of guessing or acting or
assuming that we know every thing. And being a critic we should first criticise our own
self, we should criticise our knowledge, limits, and we need to accept that we also make
mistakes. And a critic should never judge a piece of literature based on his personal taste
because if we don't like something it doesn't mean that it is bad.
3. Abstract Qualities :- It is essential to every writer.
1st Quality :- Nature :- Pope says that nature is the source and the end of art. A critic
should always follow the rules of nature because everything is well organized in nature. 2nd
Quality :- Wit and Judgement :- here wit means creativity and judgement means
correction. It means when we write a piece of literature we are creative and then we judge
whether We made mistakes or not. So wit and judgement support each other just like
husband and wife who support each other. It means according to Pope poetry and criticism
support each other.
PART ll :- Antithesis (what makes a bad critic) :- It deals with the points that makes a bad
critic.
1. Pride :- People who are proud are always fools. So a critic should always avoid
pride and try to know their own faults and limitations and admits that they also make
mistakes.
2. Little learning :- Little learning is very dangerous for us. It is better to have
no knowledge because a person with little knowledge will always act like an intelligent
person but actually they are fools( just like an empty container which makes so much noise).
And on the other hand a person with deep knowledge never pretend to be superior. (just like
those trees over-laden with fruits which appears to be bending low so that everyone can
enjoy their blessed fruits).
3. Fearless Youth :- Pope says that a critic should always expand his thoughts
and try to understand everything From a author's point of view. And always read the whole
part of work with a clean set of mind, and not to read just to find the mistakes.
4. Making the whole depend upon a part :- As soon as some bad critics find a
single mistake in the piece of literature then according to them the whole piece of literature is
bad. 5. Conceit :- It is a long metaphor used to compare two different things. Some
bad critics believed that we should excessively use conceit and other literary devices in the
work of literature. But pope argues that we should not excessively use conceit and other
literary devices because being simple is good sometimes.
6. Language :- Some bad critics judge a piece of literature according to the
language, if it is written in good language then it is good and if it is written in bad language
then it is bad. On this Pope argues that language do not stand alone. What makes a good
piece of literature is true expression of emotions.
7. Numbers :- Some bad critics judge a work by counting the number of lines and
words in the poetry, they also care for rhyme and rhythm. On this Pope argues that we
should not judge a piece of work on the basis of quantity but we should judge on the basis of
quality.
8. Critics who never express their own thoughts :- Some bad critics never
express their own thoughts they just wait to see what others thinks and they just follow it.
9.Critics who judge by Author's names :- If some bad critics personally likes the author
then they also like their works and if they hate the author then they also hate their works.
10. Critics who base their analysis on social status :- Some bad critics praise the
works if the writer is someone important in society, but if he is ordinary then they will criticise
his work.
11. Schismatics :- Some bad critics keeps changing their mind but the audience will
not trust a critic who keeps changing his mind. A good critic should always stick to his
opinion. 12. Critics who make themselves the measure of mankind :- It means if the
author's political, religious and social standards agrees to the critic's then the author is good,
if they don't then the author is bad.
PART lll :- Antithesis (Celebration of good critics) :- It deals with some qualities of a good
critics.
1. A critic should speak when he /she is sure about his/her opinion.
2. A critic should always speak, argue with self-confidence.
3. A critic should always follow a poets or critics who truly understands poetry and follow
nature.
4. A good critic should also know his/her own knowledge, taste and judgement.
5. And the most important quality is a critic should always be friends with everyone and
judge a piece of literature fairly.
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