Hero of the Dull

My final British Literature essay which compares John Dryden's and Alexander Pope's use of mock epic and satire in "Mac Flecknoe" and "Dunciad."

John Dryden and Alexander Pope both use mock epic in their satires “Mac Flecknoe” and “Dunciad” to show the folly of the society in which they lived. Both writers satire the same elements of their society: it's “dullness” and lack of lack of regard for anything outside the immediate physical realm. Their contempt for the society in which they live manifests itself in these mock epics which portray characters striving to achieve dullness and destroy meaning.
The mock epic genre uses the literary devices of epics to praise characters who are unworthy of such devices, making them appear ridiculous by contrast. Both “Mac Flecknoe” and “Dunciad” describe the efforts of their characters to continue spreading their values of dullness and meaninglessness throughout the world. The efforts of these characters in achieving these ludicrous goals are described solemnly using very grandiose comparisons and language that is satirical because it is so out of place in such characters.
“Mac Flecknoe” tells the story of the Irish poet Flecknoe, who realizes his death is near and decrees Shadwell to be his successor as the King of Dullness. Rhymed couplets and triplets are used to describe, at length, why Shadwell is perfectly fit for the this position. In typical epics when a ruler dies he seeks a successor who bears the same qualities and will carry on his rule in the same way. Dryden mimics this in Flecknoe's appointing of Shadwell, “[Shadwell] alone my perfect image bears.” (line 15) Unlike typical epics, however, the traits that Flecknoe admires in Shadwell are anti-heroic traits including dullness, stupidity, witlessness, thoughtlessness, and corpulence. In doing this, Dryden makes Flecknoe's every praise of Shadwell ridicule.
Dryden mercilessly mocks Shadwell's use of language as tautology, saying that his works are essentially lengthy displays of vocabulary and word-play with no meaning at all behind them. Flecknoe takes note of this in the lines “The rest to some faint meaning make pretense, / But [Shadwell] never deviates into sense.” (lines 19-20) He then goes on to list various other out-of-style writers, himself included, as “types,” or prefigurings of Shadwell, “Thou last great prophet of tautology,” (line 30) in the same way that Moses was considered a prefiguring of Christ. Dryden makes Shadwell's inheritance to the throne of dullness seem like a long awaited plan that is finally coming to fruition, much like God's divine plan to send his son to redeem mankind.
Shadwell's coronation scene is described as drawing crowds of bad writers and poets from within a mile and a half of The Nursery that is to be his throne, rather than attracting kings and heroes from vast distances as is typical of true epics. The ceremony of his coronation requires him to swear an oath to his “father,” Flecknoe, “That he till death true dullness would maintain,” (line 115) unlike traditional kingly oaths of protecting one's subjects and upholding justice. Upon the completion of the coronation Flecknoe give a long speech in epic style, praising the new reign of dullness that Shadwell will bring to the world. This is concluded with a lengthy description of Shadwell's qualities which Flecknoe bears but Ben Johnson does not, arriving at the conclusion that Johnson's work, unlike Shadwell's, had minor merit and wit. This adds additional personal insult to Shadwell, who was the self-proclaimed successor of Johnson.
Pope, while disgusted with many of the same characteristics in his contemporaries as Dryden, makes his satirical point in a far less personal manner. “Dunciad,”much like “Mac Flecknoe,” uses mock epic to describe characters who act in the interest of dullness to destroy meaning and bring about an age of Chaos and darkness. The characters involved in this satire are many, but all strive to appease the Goddess of Dullness through repetition and lack of original thought.
Dullness, according to Pope, is born of Chaos and Night and is rightly depicted as having her head concealed by a cloud. In the fourth book, Pope describes the many enemies that she has defeated including Science, Wit, Logic, and Rhetoric. At the same time her allies, Sophistry, Billingsgate, false Morality, and Causistry assist her in carrying out the execution of these enemies so that none may challenge her reign. Unlike the endings of typical epics in which order is restored after evil is vanquished, “Dunciad” ends with the triumph of Dullness, ushering in the reign of Chaos.
In the section of “Dulcinea” entitled “The Carnation and the Butterfly,” Pope mocks even the science of his time, saying that it has no real meaning or connection to humanity but simply studies and collects that which is aesthetically pleasing. This scene depicts two amateur scientists who seek the judgment of Dullness to settle their feud, much like the biblical story of King Solomon. A gardener petitions Dullness to punish a butterfly collector for ruining his perfectly grown carnation. The butterfly collector's defense is that he paid no attention to the carnation when he destroyed it to capture the butterfly, “I meddle, Goddess! only in my sphere.” (line 432) Pope scorns this type of behavior as selfish and irresponsible, though Dullness, of course, praises both the “scientists,” for both have wasted their time in admiring the physical trivialities of the world rather than trying to discern any higher purpose. She further condemns those who would wonder about metaphysical or heavenly concepts, wishing man was made with better eyesight allowing him to study physical objects in better detail and therefore “See Nature in some partial narrow shape, / And let the Author of the whole escape.” (lines 455-456)
In the final section of “Dulcinea,” Dullness sends forth everyone who had come to witness her rising to power so that they may continue entertaining themselves rather than performing the duties of their positions. As she is about to decree more, she yawns and all of creation starts to fall asleep from overbearing dullness. As everything falls asleep, so too do the sciences disappear until only Night and Chaos are left with Dullness. Before the sciences vanish entirely however, they are greatly corrupted by Dullness, to the point where the most spiritual experiences are defined in terms of mathematics, and morality dies from this lack of higher purpose. With this final loss there is nothing left that can be said to be a part of humanity and Chaos is restored, extinguishing the light that was God's original creation so that all lies in “Universal Darkness.” (line 656)
Both Dryden and Pope are highly critical of their targets in their satires and both use the techniques of mock epic to ridicule their characters, who are clearly unbefitting of the high praise and lofty comparisons of the epic style. While they both disagreed with the same qualities in their contemporaries, and their satires are highly personal attacks on many of their colleagues, Dryden's is by far more personal. “Mac Flecknoe” expresses outright contempt for Dryden's former colleague, Thomas Shadwell while “Dunciad” expresses Pope's general disagreement with the society, education, politics, and religion of his time. Their criticism of their own society is abundantly clear in both cases, and their points are made while maintaining the wit which they mock their colleagues for not having.