Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The subtitle of The Dunciad was A Heroic Poem. Alexander Pope had all the abilities for writing the highest genre of poetry: an epic. Instead, he wrote a poem better suited to his unheroic times: a mock epic. Book 3 consists of 340 lines, all written in end-rhyming heroic couplets. Alexander Pope not only mimicked Homer’s The Illiad and Virgil’s The Aeneid (and thus the title The Dunciad), but also he mimicked John Milton’s Paradise Lost. As Aeneas, Cibber still has to visit the Underworld and that is the topic of Book 3.
Summary and Analysis of The Dunciad Book 3:
Except for the goddess Dulness, nobody was able to bear the burden of dull literature during the last segment of celebratory games that were arranged on the occasion of the coronation of King Ciber. As King Ciber falls asleep, the goddess lifts him up in her arms and takes him to her temple where she sits on her throne and lays him to rest on her lap. The love and care of motherly Dulness for her favorite son inspires others including romantics, scientists, politicians, poets, architects, and so on. Dulness is depicted as Maid Mary with baby Jesus resting in her lap.
Hence the Fool's Paradise, the Statesman's Scheme, // The air-built Castle, and the golden Dream, | The Maid's romantic wish, the Chemist's flame, // And Poet's vision of eternal Fame.
Then the fancy flies take him down towards the Underworld on the wings of a dream. As Cibber descends, he sees the ‘Elysian Shade’. In Greek mythology, Elysium Field is the home of the blessed souls after death, the final resting place of the souls of the heroic and the pure souls. A “Slip-shod Sibyl” greets Cibber and takes him on a tour of the Underworld. Sibyl, the Greek Prophetess was the guide of Orpheus, the Thracian Bard, who returned from the Underworld untouched by Death. The ‘Slip-shod Sibyl’ is a carelessly mimicked Sibyl serving King Cibber, the favorite son of Dulness, ascertaining his safe return from the Underworld while remaining undead. Elysian Shade is the place of dead dull poets and writers. They are too happy to see King Cibber. John Taylor, the Water Poet paddles King Cibber’s boat across the river Styx. King Cibber meets Shadwell in the Underworld who happened to be the first king of Nonsense and then he sees Bavius, a notoriously bad poet and critic from ancient Rome. Bavius is in charge of dipping the souls of poets into the river occupied by the goddess of forgetfulness and oblivion. Bavius makes sure that the souls of these poets are made dull enough to serve the goddess Dulness upon entering the world. There is a countless number of souls dull enough, waiting to be called to Earth, in service of Dulness. Then Cibber meets the Ghost of Elknath Settle who is appointed by Dulness to guide Cibber, the new king, and make him understand his position in the plan of Dulness. Elknath Settle informs Cibber about the past of Dulness and her prospective future. Settle takes Cibber to the Mount of Vision. In the East of Mount of Vision, Settle says that the goddess of Dulness has conquered most of the land, though Science remains a challenge that has conquered a few territories back in the East. In the South and North, Cibber observes that the force of Science has been halted by vast armies of Dulness, aided by religious movements like Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. (His conqu'ring tribes th'Arabian prophet draws, // And saving Ignorance enthrones by Laws. See Christians, Jews, one heavy sabbath keep, // And all the western world believe and sleep.)
Eknath Settle informs him that the major enemies of the goddess of Dulness are Order, Arts, and Sciences. He says that in past, the goddess of Dulness lost ground only to the spread of Science and Logic. However, she is winning back the lost ground slowly, but definitively. The ghost of Eknath Settle inspires Ciber to help the goddess of Dulness in winning her lost ground back. Settle says that though Science and Logic have infected some people, the Goddess can bring people to heel. He says that once Dulness heels these infected people, it will bring happiness to dullness all over. However, Settle warns Ciber that as the King of Dulness, he ought to be careful not to dominate so harshly that this fog of contentedness might be corrupted.
As Settle discusses the future plans of the goddess of Dulness with King Ciber, he informs that Dulness has now set her eyes on Great Britain as her most vital target to establish her realm worldwide. He then introduces Cibber to a few servants of Dulness who may prove to be a great help to Cibber in establishing the rule of Dulness in England. Cibber notices that these figures are great destroyers and corrupters of language, science, and order. He decides to appoint them as agents of Dulness in his service. He notices that all of them, like him, are plagiarizers who steal and borrow from great minds like their sons. “Tis yours, a Bacon or a Locke to blame, //
A Newton's genius, or a Milton's flame: | But oh! with One, immortal one dispense, // The source of Newton's Light, of Bacon's Sense!”
But just like all sons come to hate their fathers for whatever they give them, these plagiarizers hate all those great minds of past and present and thus, are good to be the servants of the goddess Dulness and degrade arts and scholarship. While King Cibber feels strength as he observes these plagiarists, the ghost of Elknath Settle feels a moment of unrest as if a ‘ray of reason’ enters his mind. He harshly shouts at these impoverished souls deft at plagiarism not to hate the great minds from whom they steal and borrow. But the moment passes so fast and goes missing in the fog of Dulness once more.
Then Cibber sees the future as the scene changes and some fantastic creatures of the night and gothic monsters and visions of chaos encircle him. He sees "Gods, imps, and monsters, music, rage, and mirth, / A fire, a jig, a battle, and a ball" and this marks the beginning of the new and stronger reign under King Cibber. However, his dull mind couldn’t recognize what he observed and thus, the Angel of Dulness appears to explain to him that these fantastic beasts and gothic monsters represent prophecies of what is to come under his rule. One may find similarities between the deep philosophical meetings of Adam with Archangel Gabriel in Milton’s Paradise Lost and the meeting of Cibber with the Angel of Dulness in Pope’s The Dunciad.
Settle is too happy to see how things may change in favor of the goddess Dulness in the coming future but he is worried too because he saw similar visions during his own time but they didn’t fructify. King Cibber comes to know that Dulness is the daughter of Chaos and Night and she aims to bring the reign of Chaos into the world so that she may reign in the world and the underworld along with Chaos and Night. Settle shares the prospects of how Dulness might spread across Britain, beginning most strongly in opera and the theaters. Eventually, though, the dream promises that Dulness shall spread as far as court. Cibber feels terrible and threatened as he sees chaos. Bavius reaches him and anoints him again with a poppy plant and then the fantastic beasts of Night and fearsome monsters of Chaos celebrate King Ciber with energy and excitement as Bavious announces King Cibber as the ruler of the Underworld and says, “This, this is he, foretold by ancient rhymes: // Th' Augustus born to bring Saturnian times.” Ciber couldn’t bear the excitement of visions of Chaos. The prophetic visions of Dulness' reign are so overwhelming that Cibber finally cries "'Enough! Enough!" and wakes up abruptly from his dream.
Book 3 offers greater meaning to Pope's struggle against the hack-poets and faulty patron culture of the court. He recognizes that Dulness is the greatest enemy of Reason and Science and Dulness gets ample aid from religion and lethargy. This offers a continuous progression to Dulness despite the efforts of souls like Bacon, Locke, Newton, and Milton. Thus, while Elknath Settle was a great leader of Dulness’ realm, Cibber is greater than him. As Cibber enters the Underworld in the beginning, he sees a huge army of dull souls ready to infiltrate Earth and support Dulness in establishing her reign throughout the world, and by the end of Book 3, Cibber realizes the certainty of victory over Chaos and Night under his realm and this threatens him, like any reader of the poem would feel.
Ciber sees East, North, and South from the Mount of Vision but he doesn’t see the West, where the sun sets. In classical literature, the West represents death. Pope uses the symbol to assert that the Sun will never set on Dulness and Fate has ascertained that her reign is inevitable.
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