Hello and welcome to the Discourse. In Book 1, Pope efficiently used the classical epic element of invoking muses and his muses for The Dunciad are the goddess of Dulness, Jove, and Fate.
Dulness is a lack of imagination, lack of talent, and lack of taste that presided over the efforts of hack writers and bad poets promoted by vain patrons and greedy, ruthless publishers. During Pope’s age, Dulness was becoming the primary color of literature and arts that Pope opposed and satirized in this long mock epic. Like the heroes of Classical epics, Pope’s hero Tibbald (or Bayes) creates an altar to sacrifice his petty incomplete poems to please the goddess Dulness and she is more than pleased. And then she declares him the king of Dunces. The tradition of classical epics demands a huge celebratory competition and prizes for the coronation of King Cibber and that becomes the beginning of Book 2. Book 2 contains 428 lines composed in Heroic couplets.
In Virgil’s Aeneid, Aeneas declares the competition of athletic games that included a boat race, a foot race, a boxing match, and an archery contest. In Homer’s Odyssey, the games were ordained by the gods and the goddess Thetis proposed the prizes in honor of her son Achilles. Pope brings in the competition and games in his mock epic as the King of Dunces has been proclaimed. Dulness ordains competitions to celebrate the coronation which includes the phantom poet race, a pissing contest, a tickling contest, a diving contest, and finally a challenge to see which critic might stay awake longest while being read incredibly dull work.
Summary of The Dunciad Book 2
All the writers and poets serving the goddess of Dulness are enthusiastic about the celebratory games to be held in honor of King Cibber. Along with them, the publishers, booksellers, printers, and stationers are also present at the celebratory ground to take part in the “high heroic games.” The First heroic game announced is the Phantom Poet Race for which the goddess of Dulness creates “a poet’s form” as a prize for the winner of the race. The perfect dull poet’s form is “a brain full of feathers, a heart full of lead,” and a plump figure connoting commercial success. The goddess announces that all the booksellers, publishers, and printers are allowed to take part in the Phantom Poet race and the winner, the quickest and nimblest poet capable of reaching this effigy that she made of the dullest poet will have the first right on it so that he may print and publish the dullest poet’s work and make profits.
All the printers and publishers drool over the impressive effigy of the dullest poet and among them is “Lofty Lintot” (satirized Barnaby Bernand Lintot) who claims "This prize is mine; who tempt it are my foes; // With me began this genius, and shall end." Lintot didn’t expect any bookseller, printer, or publisher to stand against him and he was right as all the other publishers and printers feared him. But then, he got a challenge from Curll (Edmund Curll) who stood tall and said, "The race by vigour, not by vaunts is won; // ‘So take the hindmost, Hell.’-- He said, and run.”
Lintot is very heavy and fat and thus a strong but slow runner while Curll is very swift and it appears that he will win the race but fate intervenes and Curll slips in a puddle of his wife's waste outside of his neighbor's shop. Curll’s fall reduces his chances of winning the race and thus, he calls Jove, the king of Roman Gods, and begs him for help winning the race. Curll tries everything possible to cajole Jove into helping him and says, “And him and his, if more devotion warms, //
Down with the Bible, up with the Pope's Arms” However, Jove completely ignores Curll as he is disinterested in these competitions. Cloacina, a minor goddess of the sewer system, serving Jove observes the plight of Curll. She feels pity for him and remembers that Curll often honors her with his work. She begs Jove to help Curll. Jove isn’t interested but listens to her and shows the way. She visits him and has him "oil'd with magic juices for the course." The magic juices work wonders and he wins the Phantom race. This is a juxtaposition to Homer’s The Illiad. When Agamemnon takes away Briesis, the captive trophy of Achilles from him, he feels cheated and dishonored. He calls his mother Thetis, a minor goddess, and servant of Zeus, and asks her help in gaining his honor back. Thetis requests Zeus to help Achilles and so he does by allowing the Achaeans to be beaten back by the Trojans. Cloacinna is Thetis’ counterpart while Curll, who just slipped on his wife’s puddle of waste, appears more heroic than Achilles.
When Curll goes to take the effigy of the Phantom poet, it disappears and then reappears again. Curll continues to grab it but fails every time. The Queen of Dulness plays a trick on him. He sees illusions of other dull poets and tries to grab them too but continues to fail. At last, Dulness takes pity on him and tells him that his actual reward is that all decent writers will soon have their work made dull like the works of the poets under the Goddess and he will make a good fortune out of them. Dulness offers him a fine tapestry depicting all her servants, including Curll himself, as the reward for his victory in the Phantom poet race.
Then appears a gorgeous poetess named Eliza. The goddess of Dulness announces the literal pissing contest the winner of which will win the voluptuous poetess. Many publishers and printers take part in the competition including Curll, Osborne, and Eridanus. Despite his efforts, Curll loses this time and Thomas Osborne wins the fair poetess in the pissing contest.
The next is the tickling contest. An extravagant and wealthy-looking man with an impressive entourage comes forward. Dulness announces that the poet who wins the tickling contest will get this wealthy man as his patron. The winner will be determined by "who can tickle best." Leonald Welsted appears to be an expert at tickling but as he is about to win the contest, a young unheard-off poet prays to Venus to help him win the contest as he is in dire need of a patron to survive. Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, listens to him and tells him about the weakness of the wealthy man just like she informed Paris about Achilles’ heal in Homer’s Illiad. Welsted loses and the young poet wins.
Dulness decides to entertain herself and announces a new game of Cat Call. She invites all her servants and worshippers to shout, chant, and make the most chaotic noise possible to determine who is the loudest. All the Dunces enthusiastically take part and chant loudly to please her. She finds that all are equal in their loud and disruptive sound and offers each of them a Cat Call as a gift. Yet, someone should be the winner and thus, she encourages her "Brayers" to make the loudest noises possible. Richard Blackmore wins with his vast loud voice.
The next competition is for journalists, party writers, and gossip writers. All the Dunces gather around the Fleet Ditch for the competition as Dulness announces that the winner will be the diver who can both stay down the longest and also show his love for reveling in the dirt more than any other. She declares that the winning diver will get the weekly journals and a pig of lead. Several Dunces take part in the competition along with a "desp'rate pack" of gazetteers, or pamphlet publishers. William Arnall wins the prize of the weekly journals and a pig of lead as he returns from the depths and claims that he touched the mud-nymphs and witnessed a branch of the river Styx blending into the Thames, the river necessary to cross into the Underworld.
The last is the competition of critics in which all the critics and intellectuals were made to listen to the dullest and most laborious writing possible without falling asleep. The one who could remain awake would win the competition. All of the critics, the audience, and even the readers of these works, despite their best efforts, ultimately fall prey to sleep-inducing literature. Even King Ciber, the dullest of all Dunces couldn’t resist and falls asleep on the Goddess' lap and begins to dream. Dulness wins the competition as she remains awake.
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!
No comments:
Post a Comment