The Dunciad

The Dunciad in Four Books is a mock-heroic narrative poem by English poet Alexander Pope, one of the leading voices of Augustan literature in the first half of the 18th century. An original version in three books was published anonymously in 1728, followed by the Dunciad Variorum in 1729, which bore Pope’s name and included new introductory materials. A fourth book, or New Dunciad, was published in 1742 and intended as a sequel, and the final four-book version was published in 1743.

Although there are differences between the various editions, each focuses primarily on The Decline of Literary and Intellectual Standards of the age and criticizes The Corruption of Mercenary Literature, writing for pay being a practice that was fairly new at the time. The Dunciad takes advantage of The Intermarriage of Poetry and Politics in 18th-Century England, using London as a base for his sewage-and-waste-filled mock-heroic satire. He lambasts prominent writers and politicians through allusion and parody, one heroic couplet at a time, thus avoiding accusations of defamation.

This guide references the 1743 edition of The Dunciad that can be found on Wikisource.org, which was taken from Alexander Pope: A Bibliography Volume 1, Part 1 (1922) and Alexander Pope: A Bibliography Volume 1, Part 2 (1927) by Reginald Harvey Griffith. Citations are quoted using the book number and line number(s) (e.g., I: 285-86) or note number (e.g., I: R. 72); citations from introductory or end materials are quoted using the section title (e.g., Appendix I).

Plot Summary

The Dunciad in Four Books is comprised of several letters, advertisements, testimonials, and other introductory materials; revised versions of the original three books; the fourth book, or New Dunciad; and a number of appendices and other end materials. Most of the introductory materials are written in support of the author and the book and are either taken from other published sources or were specifically authored to be included with the text. Some of these are written by Pope’s friends, some are written by Pope himself under a pseudonym, and some are cherry-picked from the many critical writings that appeared in response to the original Dunciad.

The poem begins with Book 1. It is the Lord Mayor’s Day, and the Goddess Dulness arrives at the fair seeking to crown a new King of Dunces. Her previous king, playwright and London poet laureate Elkanah Settle, has died, and she has chosen actor, stage manager, and playwright Colley Cibber to replace him. At that moment, Cibber is in his study, thinking back on his life and works and despairing. He considers taking up a new occupation, and even goes so far as to build a pyre of his works to burn them, but Dulness swoops in at the last moment and puts out the flame. She whisks him away to her “sacred Dome” (1: 265), where she crowns him king and calls on all her minions and worshippers to aid and protect him.

Book 2 describes a series of games held to commemorate Cibber’s coronation. The first is a race where booksellers attempt to catch a poet that Dulness has conjured for them in order that they might publish him. The second game is similar but involves a “poetess” this time. Then there are games for poets to compete in, followed by a game for critics and political writers.

Book 3 takes the form of a dream that Cibber has while asleep in Dulness’s lap. He imagines that he has descended to the underworld, where the ghost of Elkanah Settle shows him the past, present, and future of the goddess’s attempts to bring Great Britain under her power.

The final book describes the ultimate realization of Dulness’s plans. She holds court as her various supporters come before her to pledge themselves and share what they’re doing to bring about the Kingdom of the Dull. Emissaries appear from schools, universities, the aristocracy, and various fields and occupations, all devoted to Dulness. Plans are made to attack education, the sciences, the arts, the government, and religion, restoring “Universal Darkness” (4: 656).