Alexander Pope, An Epistle to a Lady

Ian Gordon (Anglia Ruskin University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1735 - 1744

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Epistolary
Poetry (any)

Resources

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Of The Characters of Women: An Epistle To A Lady

, to give the poem its full title, was the last of the four ethic epistles Pope wrote, though he gave it second place when he collected his “Epistles to Several Persons” together in his

Works

, Vol. II, published on 23 April 1735.

An Epistle To A Lady

had first been published as a separate poem two and a half months earlier, on 8 February 1735, a year after

An Epistle To Cobham

, to which it was intended as a companion piece. If

An Epistle To Cobham

focuses primarily on the characters of men, although it includes two cutting satiric vignettes of women,

An Epistle To A Lady

focuses exclusively on the characters of women. Although the target of the satire appears at first to be aristocratic and wealthy women, the venom that Pope expends upon…

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2143 words

Citation: Gordon, Ian. "An Epistle to a Lady". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 January 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6702, accessed 21 November 2024.]

Alexander Pope, An Epistle to a Lady

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