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British Poetry

Notes 24.2 Alexander Pope: An Essay on Man: Epistle I–IV

24.2.1 An Essay on Man: Epistle I
Summary

The subtitle of the first epistle is “Of the Nature and State of Man, with Respect to the Universe,” and
this section deals with man’s place in the cosmos. Pope argues that to justify God’s ways to man must
necessarily be to justify His ways in relation to all other things. God rules over the whole universe
and has no special favorites, not man nor any other creature. By nature, the universe is an order of
“strong connexions, nice dependencies, / Gradations just” (30-1). This order is, more specifically, a
hierarchy of the “Vast chain of being” in which all of God’s creations have a place (237). Man’s place
in the chain is below the angels but above birds and beasts. Any deviation from this order would
result in cosmic destruction. Because the universe is so highly ordered, chance, as man understands
it, does not exist. Chance is rather “direction, which thou canst not see” (290). Those things that man
sees as disparate or unrelated are all “but parts of one stupendous whole, / Whose body nature is,
and God the soul” (267-8). Thus every element of the universe has complete perfection according to
God’s purpose. Pope concludes the first epistle with the statement “Whatever is, is right,” meaning
that all is for the best and that everything happens according to God’s plan, even though man may
not be able to comprehend it (294).
Here is a section-by-section explanation of the first epistle:
Introduction (1-16): The introduction begins with an address to Henry St. John, Lord Bolingbroke, a
friend of the poet from whose fragmentary philosophical writings Pope likely drew inspiration for
An Essay on Man. Pope urges his friend to “leave all meaner things” and rather embark with Pope
on his quest to “vindicate the ways of God to man (1, 16).
Section I (17-34): Section I argues that man can only understand the universe with regard to human
systems and constructions because he is ignorant of the greater relationships between God’s creations.
Section II (35-76): Section II states that man is imperfect but perfectly suited to his place within the
hierarchy of creation according to the general order of things.
Section III (77-112): Section III demonstrates that man’s happiness depends on both his ignorance of
future events and on his hope for the future.
Section IV (113-30): Section IV claims that man’s sin of pride—the attempt to gain more knowledge
and pretend to greater perfection—is the root of man’s error and misery. By putting himself in the
place of God, judging perfection and justice, man acts impiously.
Section V (131-72): Section V depicts the absurdity of man’s belief that he is the sole cause of the
creation as well as his ridiculous expectation of perfection in the moral world that does not exist in
the natural world.
Section VI (173-206): Section VI decries the unreasonableness of man’s complaints against Providence;
God is good, giving and taking equally. If man had the omniscience of God, he would be miserable:
“The bliss of man / Is, not to act of think beyond mankind” (189-90).
Section VII (207-32): Section VII shows that throughout the visible world, a universal order and
gradation can be observed. This is particularly apparent in the hierarchy of earthly creatures and
their subordination to man. Pope refers specifically to the gradations of sense, instinct, thought,
reflection, and reason. Reason is superior to all.
Section VIII (233-58): Section VIII indicates that if God’s rules of order and subordination are broken,
the whole of creation must be destroyed.
Section IX (259-80): Section IX illustrates the madness of the desire to subvert God’s order.
Section X (281-94): Section X calls on man to submit to God’s power. Absolute submission to God
will ensure that man remains “Safe in the hand of one disposing Pow’r” (287). After all, “Whatever
is, is right” (294).

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