Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The subtitle of the second epistle of An Essay on Man was “Of the Nature and State of Man, with respect to Himself, as an Individual.” As the title suggests, Pope discusses humans as individuals and Pope proposes a better and more harmonious way for a man to live within his surroundings. It is a discourse about the relationship between the individual and God’s greater design.
The second epistle also contains 294 lines composed of Heroic couples, divided into 6 sections or parts. Pope continues using Juxtaposition, Antithesis, Hyperbaton, Assonance, and other literary forms to make his essay appear more interesting.
Section 1 Lines (1-52):
In epistle 1, Pope invested enough time to explain the relationship between Man, God, and the remaining world. He begins the second epistle with a common for the man to “know then thyself.” What Pope means is that a man should understand and know his own self and limits. There’s no reason to study God as it is beyond the limits of man’s rational faculty. He shouldn’t venture to question the design of God. The correct way for the improvement of humans as individuals and the whole of humankind is to study and discover man, his potential, and his limits.
“Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; / The proper study of mankind is man.”
The second epistle begins with an Antithesis, a juxtaposition as in the first line, and Hyperbation has also been used (instead of ‘don’t presume God to scan,’ Pope used “presume not God to scan”.
Pope isn’t saying that all attainable knowledge can be attained from within the Man. Pope says that it seems that the only way to understand the surroundings and other creatures of the world is to study and probe outward. But one should not overanalyze this outward study and presume that one can understand God’s design in its entirety. The man should not pry into God’s affairs but rather study himself, especially his nature, powers, limits, and frailties. Instead of questioning why God created the universe, it is better to probe the reason and validity of our own existence. Pope says that science is the study of nature and God’s creation. Science is the power of man that he may harness for the betterment of himself and society. But often, man becomes too proud of his scientific achievements and starts “imitating God,” and this is foolishness.
“Go, teach Eternal Wisdom how to rule— / Then drop into thyself, and be a fool!”
Those who believe that one day, Man can acquire enough knowledge to solve all the puzzles of the Universe, then it is foolishness because the Universe is limitless but man and mankind have got their limits.
Section 2 (Lines 53-92)
Pope begins this section with Concordia Discors and juxtaposes passion and reason against each other, validating both. He says,
“Two principles in human nature reign; / Self-love, to urge, and reason, to restrain;”
Pope says that two principles are of utmost importance in a man’s life, ‘self-love’ and ‘reason.’
Pope says that while self-love is stronger, it leads to man as an individual. However, the reason is required to lead him about the surroundings, other human beings, and other creatures too.
Pope suggests that ‘self-love’ or passion or desires of an individual drive them to behave in certain ways. However, too much indulgence in passion or desires may bring harm to the individual and society as a whole and thus, Reason is needed to control ‘self-love’ and bring harmony and peace in a man’s life. Thus, Pope says that an Individual’s behavior originated from his inner self, his self-love, passion, and desires but reason regulates their behavior and makes it harmonious. Thus, ‘self-love’ and ‘reason’ despite being opposite, augment each other.
“Pleasure, or wrong or rightly understood, / Our greatest evil, or our greatest good.”
Pope says that unrestricted passion and self-love unchecked by reason can be the greatest evil, but if augmented by reason, it becomes the greatest good. As humanity becomes wiser with experience, reason triumphs over self-love. However, both work together to make people want pleasure and not pain.
Section 3 (Lines 93-202)
In this section, Pope discusses different modes and kinds of ‘self-love’ or passions and how they function in a man’s life. Pope describes the strength of self-love or passion as the driving force of the behavior of an individual and how good it can be. Pope ridicules those who suggest that one should renounce their passions. Rather, Pope says that The ruling passion works to provide man with direction and defines man’s nature and virtue. He criticizes Stoics who renounce passions and says that Stoics may have their virtues but those virtue doesn’t help them, or society, they produce nothing. Passions can be selfish, but if one is passionate about something good, one should cultivate the passion as it helps and drives an individual to achieve.
“Love, hope, and joy, fair pleasure's smiling train, / Hate, fear, and grief, the family of pain,
These mix'd with art, and to due bounds confin'd, / Make and maintain the balance of the mind:
The lights and shades, whose well accorded strife / Gives all the strength and colour of our life.”
Pope uses Concordia Discors again and says that passions bring all sorts of contrasting and opposing emotions, they bring pleasure and pain and appear like lights and shades, but in harmony, they offer colors to our life. The narrator compares passions to a wind that pushes a ship forward. He says that passions are the Individual’s own and not raised by God. God lets man pursue their passions, be they good or bad, and lets him restrict them with the help of reason. All different experiences and emotions, even bad ones like fear or grief, push man forward.
Section 4 (Lines 203-216)
in this section, Pope suggests that man is a mixture of virtues and vices. The narrator says that the individual is a blend of black and white. Everyone is driven by their passions and though reason can help them restrict their passions to appropriate limits, individuals may fail to use reason. Everyone has flaws, but these flaws are part of God's plan. For someone, what appears to be a flaw, may appear a strength to someone else.
“Fools! who from hence into the notion fall, / That vice or virtue there is none at all.”
The narrator ridicules those who say that vice and virtues do not exist.
Section 5 (Lines 217-230)
In this section, Pope describes vices and how evil and destructive they can be.
“Vice is a monster of so frightful mien, / As, to be hated, needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face, / We first endure, then pity, then embrace. “
The narrator says vices often appear juicy and men are easily drawn towards vices.
Section 6 (Lines 231-294)
In this section, the narrator again asserts that a man is a mixture of virtues and vices and suggests that he should remain so because it is within God’s plan. He says that some virtues and some vices must be restricted and few in degree, while some others should be acquired as much as one can. The passions and imperfections are distributed to all individuals of each order of men in all societies. They guide man in every state and at every age of life. The narrator says that Happiness is the purpose of life. An individual’s wants, desires, and flaws draw him to achieve joy, satisfaction, and peace and this is the ‘glory of mankind.’ The narrator says that these wants of individuals make them dependent on each other and thus create the ground for a healthy society. The narrator says that one should not fear his wants, desires, and flaws because, with the help of reason, he will attain a harmonious balance. God has made man such that he can achieve a balance in life's losses with gains. "Though man's a fool, yet God is wise," the narrator says.
In Epistle 2, Pope says that self-love and passions give birth to an individual's behavior and reason shapes it and brings closure to the harmonious existence of man following his passions in limits. He says that the conflict between passions and reason raises virtues and vice and every individual is a mix of these virtues and vices but with the help of reason, every individual can achieve a harmonious balance and that is within God’s plan.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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