An Essay on Criticism (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Alexander Pope
- First Published: 1711
- Type of Work: Poetry
- Genres: Criticism, Short fiction, Essays
- Subjects: Nature, Literature, Art or artists, Poetry or poets, Genius, Criticism, Imagination, Epigrams
Critical Evaluation:
Published when Alexander Pope was twenty-two years of age, An Essay on Criticism remains one of the best known discussions of literary criticism, of its ends and means, in the English language. It is the source of numerous familiar epigrams known to the reading public. Pope was very young when he wrote the work; existing evidence points to 1708 or 1709 as the probable period of composition. Pope wrote of its composition: “The things that I have written fastest, have always pleased the most. I wrote the Essay on Criticism fast; for I had...
[The entire page is 2320 words long]
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