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The Augustan Age.
Member rating: No Rating | Words: | Submitted: Thu Jul 11 2002
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The Augustan Age. "Great wit is sure to madness near allied" (Pope, Essay on Criticism). Referring closely to at least two Augustan literary texts, suggest how Augustan 'wit' might be viewed as a defensive strategy against mental and social breakdown. You should take care to provide some definition of what 'wit' is, employing close analysis of texts (suggested examples: Pope, The Dunciad, Letter to Dr Atbuthnot; Swift, 'A Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed', 'Strephone and Chloe', Worthly Montagu, Saturday: The Small Pox etc). Everyone knows what is meant by the word 'wit', and yet no word presents more difficulties in its definition. So firstly, what is wit? Wit is the key term for criticism and is divided into two parts, which consist of true and false wit. True wit is about relationships between ideas and natural objects, whereas false wit mainly consists of words and moves away from nature. So, what...
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