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Alexander PopeAn Essay on Man
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1734A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Epistle 4Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Summary Epistle 4: “On the Nature and State of Man with Respect to Happiness”
The first section (Lines 1-28) discusses happiness and the many contradictory ideas that people harbor. The speaker says that both “the fool and the wise” (Line 6) hold incorrect views about what happiness is. Happiness is elusive, difficult to define. It is “nowhere to be found, and everywhere” (Line 16). However, happiness is not about wealth or power: The speaker writes that it cannot be purchased and is “always free” (Line 17). They say that some people find happiness in bliss, others in rest, but that no one has found a general definition of happiness that works for all.
Section 2 (Lines 29-76) proposes that happiness is what all people seek, and that God has made it accessible to all—“all states can reach it, and all heads conceive” (Line 30). The search for happiness is not about one individual’s joy, but the happiness of everyone. The speaker says that God works by “general laws” (Line 36): Happiness is based on social love as well as self-love. No one can live as a “caverned hermit” (Line 42) and be happy; individual happiness is dependent on the happiness of everyone else. Though people have different amounts of wealth or intelligence, their ability to feel happiness is equal—“all are equal in their happiness” (Line 54). If everyone had the same characteristics, there would be more suffering and unhappiness because everyone would constantly “contest” (Line 64) their place in society. Fear and hope sustain a balance between people in terms of how happy they are, even if their outward circumstances seem unequal.
In section 3 (Lines 77-122), the speaker boils down happiness to “health, peace, and competence” (Line 80). They consider the relationship between happiness and virtue. Fortunes gained by immoral actions are less enjoyable than those gained by good ones. People commonly make the error of thinking that virtuous people are unhappy and people who commit vice are happier. The speaker says this is a symptom of being “blind to truth, and God’s whole scheme” (Line 93). They say that “ills or accidents” (Line 98) are equally distributed, but people notice more when bad things happen to virtuous people who don’t seem to deserve them. Though people lament that the good son, Abel, was murdered by the bad son, Cain, humans should accept that God’s wisdom is involved even when bad things happen.
Section 4 (Lines 123-130) explores how Nature cannot put human needs above itself. The speaker mentions Etna, the volcanic crater that the famous Greek philosopher Empedocles fell into. Gravity will not cease for the benefit of humanity, nor will a temple refrain from falling to save the head of Chartres, another Greek philosopher.
In Section 5 (Lines 131-148), the speaker says that people wish for a better world. However, they don’t know how to achieve anything beyond what God has made because they cannot agree. What some people view as good, others view as evil. For this reason, the speaker argues that people should trust in God’s judgment above their own.
In Section 6 (Lines 149-308), the speaker says that external good or material security is not the reward of virtue; instead, virtuous people are rewarded with contentment. Good people feel joy that comes from within themselves. The speaker concludes that it is wrong to focus on material wealth as a metric of virtue, that honor lies in acting “well your part” (Line 194). They say that heroes are not necessarily great, nor are villains, and that fame is a vain thing to seek: “What’s fame? A fancied life on other’s breath” (Line 237). Those who are ambitious seek greatness, but do not understand that this entails sacrificing happiness. As one’s greatness grows, virtue usually dwindles. Those with power cannot die peacefully, as “their glory” and “their shame” (Line 308) haunt them.
In Section 7 (Lines 309-398), the speaker says that virtue is equal to happiness in the afterlife. By behaving virtuously, people align themselves with “the immense design” (Line 333) that connects Nature and God to humans through the chain of being. The highest morals are rooted in the “love of God, and love of man” (Line 340). Virtue is to love one’s neighbor, and true happiness comes from benevolence. Self-love begins with the individual. Then the individual learns to love their family, friends, community, and even people who they don’t know. Eventually, this love encompasses “every creature in, of every kind” (Line 370). The speaker returns to the initial hypothesis of the poem, which is that humanity should seek knowledge of itself.
Analysis: Epistle 4
In Epistle 4, the poem explores the concept of human happiness and the role that it plays in the universal order. The speaker uses elevated diction, rhetorical questions, allusion, imagery, and metaphor to explore beliefs about happiness and God and to create an elegant and rational tone. The speaker explores virtue and its relationship to happiness, addressing common assumptions about happiness that they believe are false.
The speaker personifies abstract concepts for poetic purposes. They personify Heaven as a being that inhabits the human spirit during blissful moments: “Heaven breathes through every member of the whole” (Line 61). They use elevated diction and a serious tone when discussing God and spiritual matters. They argue that God has made happiness come from within, rather than from outside material possessions or power: “God in externals could not place content” (Line 66). In this way, the speaker argues that God is ultimately just and good.
The speaker addresses social and material inequality, claiming that happiness is equally distributed. They state that “Bliss is the same in subject or in king/In who obtain defence, and who defend” (Lines 58-59). The alliteration of “same” and “subject” and “defence” and “defend” accentuates the statement’s sonic qualities. It suggests a similarity between the rulers and the peasants in that both seek happiness.
The speaker believes that humans’ efforts to attain happiness through external possessions are mere “vain toil” (Line 75). They use imagery of “mountains piled on mountains” (Line 74) to allude to the struggle of Sisyphus, a deity who in Greek myth is punished by the Gods, forced to pile rocks that fall for eternity.
The speaker believes that happiness does not depend on outside circumstances. They point out that people feel happier when they attain pleasure through moral rather than immoral actions. The speaker states: “The good or bad the gifts of fortune gain/But these less taste them, as they worse obtain” (Lines 83-84). Here, the speaker compares the “taste” of something to how much pleasure one can gain from a particular action. They are showing that the things that people gain from committing immoral acts are less enjoyable than the things that people gain from good ones.
The speaker uses allusions to justify their view of happiness. They allude to the deaths of Falkland, Turenne, Sidney, Digby, and Marseilles, all military leaders who died young. They say that no one knows why some die young and others old, but people should be grateful for a long life, “in life if long can be” (Line 109). The speaker also uses a personal anecdote to further their claim, expressing gratitude that their mother was still alive.
The speaker alludes to John Calvin, a divisive religious figure who introduced the concept of “predestination,” the belief that God already decided the future. The speaker argues that people usually disagree on what is good and what is evil, as some people admired Calvin while others felt he was an “instrument of hell” (Line 138). This reference is relevant to the speaker’s idea of God. The speaker’s concept of an orderly universe suggests that people are simply living out God’s vision; thus the future is already determined and there is no free will.
However, individual human reason and the passions are central to the speaker’s ideas about human nature; this suggests that people do have the ability to act freely. The errors that people make are evidence of their freedom.
The speaker mentions a common argument against their idea that virtue and happiness are linked: “But sometimes virtue starves, while vice is fed” (Line 149). Virtue is depicted as a person that does not have food, while vice is personified as one who is satisfied. The speaker emphasizes the superficial nature of this vision with sarcasm: “Is the reward of virtue bread?” (Epistle 4, Line 150). The speaker is pointing out the separation between spiritual goodness and earthly success; happiness is the reward of virtue, rather than money, luxury, or power.
The speaker references Caesar and Eugene of Savoy, a famous general during the War of the Spanish Succession. The speaker points out that fame does not prevent one from dying: “A Eugene living or a Caesar dead” (Line 244). Fame is simply a way of seeking validation from silly admirers; it has little to do with real happiness.
The speaker uses inversion to emphasize their view on the importance of hope. They write: “Hope of known bliss, and Faith in bliss unknown” (Line 346), inverting the words “known bliss” and “bliss unknown” to compare hope for the future with faith in an afterlife. This diction creates an optimistic tone, suggesting the hope that the speaker intends for their poem to give to readers.
The speaker creates a sense of symmetry, echoing the first epistle and praising their friend to whom the poem is dedicated, Henry St. John. They call him their “guide, philosopher, and friend” (Epistle 4, Line 390). The speaker also summarizes the central themes of the poem, that reason, passion, self-love, social love, and virtue all contribute to happiness and fulfillment of God’s vision.
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By Alexander Pope
