The Presence of Pope in Eloisa to Abelard

A Combination of Drama and Realism

Abstract

In Alexander Pope’s Eloisa to Abelard Eloisa acts as the speaker, lamenting over the conflict between her feelings for her lost lover Abelard and her religious devotion to God. I argue that Eloisa is not an autonomous and fictional character created by Pope, but an extension of his real emotions created in order to draw sympathy. Pope makes Eloisa appear more realistic by stylizing the poem as a real letter with Eloisa as the writer, referring to the physical act of writing the letter. Pope also introduces the poem in his own voice, creating a distinction between himself and Eloisa. Eloisa draws sympathy for herself by expressing her griefs with strong emotions, but the grief, in actuality, belongs to Pope, as he reveals in the end of the poem. Pope’s presence in the poem is obscured until the end in order to make Eloisa appear as an authentic person rather than a fictional character. By creating the character of Eloisa and lamenting his sorrows through her voice, Pope ultimately draws the readers’ sympathy for himself.