Pope, in his Essay on Man, takes the religious approach when thinking about the common man. In the epistles, Pope suggests that the common man is ungrateful of God. He claims that man only blames God for their hardships, but does not thank him for their bounty. Pope brings to light a theological theory that man attempts to claim that they are better than God, to which he responds with scathing regard. Pope regards the common man as disrespecting because of their blasphemous lack of appreciation of their lord. In this philosophical poem, it could be seen that his distaste for the common man’s disregard of God is relates to Pope’s presentation of his view on the Universe; that no matter how imperfect, complex, inscrutable and disturbing the Universe …show more content…
The common man appears frequently in the literature of the 1820s. He is defined as the “undistinguished commoner lacking class or rank distinction or special attributes” (Miriam Webster Dictionary). In short, the common man is the Everyman, representing the general population in literature. While Pope never specifically refers to the common man, his epistles all focus on the average man in relation to God. Pope describes the hypocrisy of man, “if man 's unhappy, God 's unjust” (Pope). Gray also never makes specific references to the common man, but he also speaks generally about the average man. In less biblical terms, Gray describes the everyday man as he works for the sake of survival rather than prosperity, “Let not Ambition mock their useful toil/Their homely joys, and destiny obscure/Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile/The short and simple annals of the poor” (Gray). The common man is also referred to in the premise of Jacksonian democracy in the context of voting as an important movement in the period during the expansion of the right to vote to include all white …show more content…
He disowns himself from the “maddening crowds ignoble strife” (Gray), preferring instead to pretend he understands the struggles of the lower class. As a classical scholar and professor at Cambridge University, Thomas Gray knew very little about the struggles of the common man. Still, the attempt at establishing a connection between himself and those in the classes below, was not unnoticed as the elegy became his most well-known publication. The year before Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard was published, the European countries suffered several tax revolts from the public, a slave revolt and numerous natural disasters. All factors of a larger distrust separating the commoners and the rich. Gray associating himself with the misfortunes of the Everyman through this work, is a way for him to connect with his own mortality. Gray reflects upon death and how a person is remembered after they are gone. An argument could be made that these considerations are a comparison between Gray’s own achievements and those of the working class. Gray is remembered for his literary achievements, even now, but the plowman whom Gray’s narrator watches leave the churchyard is remembered for nothing but his momentary mention in the elegy. It is this realization that prompts his contemplation of the associations between Gray and the Everyman. Gray could have easily
Alexander Pope was born May 21, 1688, in London. His father was a cloth merchant living in London, both his parents were Catholic. It was a period of intense anti-Catholic sentiment in England, and at some point Alexander's family was forced to relocate to be in compliance with a statute forbidding Catholics from living within ten miles of London or Westminster. They moved to Binfield Berkshire where Pope's early education was affected by his Catholicism. The Catholic schools were illegal but, they were allowed to survive in some places. Prior to his move to Binfield Pope spent a year at Twofold, where he wrote "a satire on some faults of his master," which led to him being whipped and beaten until he became ill. Then once again he was taken from his family.
What does society think of when they look at “The man” today? Some may say that they are how they have always been and will continue to be “a man;” but, what is a man? Is it just the human male or is it the action he preforms that deems the title “man”? Today people see the male as a sex driven, lazy slob whose only goal in life is to get in with the cool group no matter the cost. Is this the worst, or is the male slowly becoming a wasted frat boy who can’t control himself? If one looks back to the time of Julius Caesar, are the men more noble, responsible and valiant? In todays society, men are selfish, lazy, arrogant, slobs who are no more useful than a one legged man in a butt-kicking contest as opposed to the noble men of ancient Rome.
Andrew Jackson was known as the common man because he grew up extremely poor. Prior to the Jackson Presidency, the Presidents before he grew up every differently, they had wealth and family influence which led them to lives they grew up to fulfill. President Jackson was completely different. President Jackson’s family did not have any money or influence.
There is a common root to most (or perhaps all) grave forms of social injustice: the rejection of human equality and the influence of this rejection on human relationships and institutions.
Pope chose to utilize the heroic couplet to trivialize this mock- epic “But when to mischief mortals bend their will, how soon they find it instruments of ill!” (3. 53-54). He also employs in many instances, historic allusions to give the poem a serious feel “Fear the just Gods, and think of Scylla's fate! chang'd to a bird, and sent to flit in air, she dearl...
Stillinger, Jack, Deidre Lynch, Stephen Greenblatt, and M H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Volume D. New York, N.Y: W.W. Norton & Co, 2006. Print.
Gray begins with his argument by explaining the roles of women and men, both in lower class families and in the noble houses, focusing on their submissive roles. "The busy housewife [plies] her evening care," minding the children until "their sire's return" from a hard day of work (lines 22-23). Gray depicts the work of a lower class male as a ploughman, working from morning until night at his useful toil, without ambition and wit...
Marxist criticism leaves society thinking that dominant classes overpower social order. However, its goal is to present ideas of changing social realities, so future generations will know all people are important and equal. During the Victorian period, a Governess was faced with contradictory burdens leaving them uneasy with status imbalance. The governess is uncomfortable with the fact that she could be similar to the servants/ghosts, because she still feels that she is above them socially. Her desire to break out of the class structure, yet her inability to do so, shows her dependence on the structure. From her first moments at Bly or the “castle of romance”, she instantly feels the conflict between her emotional...
Herman Melville believed deeply in his notion that the common-man receives no justice, only the elite member in a society. Perhaps his belief originated in the society that he lived in, or the situations such as a Civil War, that impacted his viewpoint. Throughout this story, the reader is repeatedly introduced to the consistent idea that the common-man is on his own, and the situations that he encompasses are distorted and augmented as time passes.
Henry James’ “Odgers Funeral” published in England in 1877 on Lippincott’s Magazine. The passage is critical and ignorant of his point of view on the people at the funeral. He criticizes and is disrespectful to the lower class people.
In their short stories “The Dead” by James Joyce and “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift, the author sought to express the disgruntled emotions felt by young men and women of their era. Both authors use commentary and powerful language to justify the emotions felt during this time. They express their displeasure with society, in the case of Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” and the strife of expectations of a man in Joyce’s “The Dead”. The author’s use of tone in both stories reflects the feelings each felt and themes each attack display the emotional state of society of their time.
The commoners were the masses. They spent their lives engaged in hard physical labor, with virtually no chance of moving up in society.
Analysis of The March of the Dead by Robert W. Service, The Souls of the Slain by Thomas Hardy and Slain by T.W.H. Cross
“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” is a poem composed by Thomas Gray over a period of ten years. Beginning shortly after the death of his close friend Richard West in 1742, “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” was first published in 1751. This poem’s use of dubbal entendre may lead the intended audience away from the overall theme of death, mourning, loss, despair and sadness; however, this poem clearly uses several literary devices to convey the author’s feelings toward the death of his friend Richard West, his beloved mother, aunt and those fallen soldiers of the Civil War. This essay will discuss how Gray uses that symbolism and dubbal entendre throughout the poem to convey the inevitability of death, mourning, conflict within self, finding virtue in one’s life, dealing with one’s misfortunes and giving recognition to those who would otherwise seem insignificant.
This poem fits within the scope of the period due to its mention of arts and sciences. Its focus on those things which are measuarable and seen rather than the Romantic period that it followed. Pope, not only turned away from his Catholic upbringing but identified with those around him who believed that if something existed, then it was supposed to exist, without much faith that God had much to do with any of it. Knowing that Pope’s beliefs aligned with those writing during the Age of Reason and was focused on science rather than religion and arts more than the upper echelons of society makes the work clearer in its focus. Pope put his belief in those things that he could see, feel and experince rather than in something that was potentially hidden from his view. His loss of faith could be a result of the struggles that he went through when he was younger, simply by being associated with a certain religion. It could also be argued that by being born sickly, never reaching a normal height, having a twisted spine and other maladies which haunted him could have angered him at God, and he hoped that science could potentially provide him with some relief for some of his