Date of Award

1992

Publication Type

Master Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Department

English Language, Literature, and Creative Writing

Keywords

Literature, English.

Rights

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

Abstract

Although in his major poems about women Pope appears to be reinforcing both his society's attitudes towards women and the conventions that males in his society used to construct female character, in actuality he is not. Rather, Pope critiques his society's acceptance of conventions, such as those that make up the rhetoric of courtship, which result in the subordination of women and the trivializing of their worth. Pope does this by reiterating and then subverting the accepted cliches and conventions that surround women in order to critique them. In order to understand the role of women in Pope's society and what Pope's attitudes towards women were this study examines Pope's place within his society, the role of upper and middle-class women in his society, his relationships with women and his correspondence to and about them. Then, I will illustrate how Pope used conventions and forms such as the rhetoric of courtship, the epistle, and the mock-epic to challenge his society's views about women and women's views about themselves. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)Dept. of English Language, Literature, and Creative Writing. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis1992 .S785. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 31-04, page: 1506. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1992.

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