Esther M. Zimmer Lederberg
Alexander Pope


Alexander Pope did not speak kindly of women. Why? At that time, women were viewed as decidedly inferior to men (made that way by god himself)! Pope's views might be influnced by Pope being a homosexual. In addition, Pope might have felt inadequate as a Roman Catholic from an obscure family, as well as another major reason. Pope's growth was stunted by Pott's disease (a form of childhood tuberculosis that progresses with time to worsen the curvature of the spine).

In the above painting by Charles Jervas of Alexander Pope, a bust of Homer is at the left, a woman servant to the right reaching upwards to a shelf with a book. The female servant "straining to reach" signifies ALL women: not able to attain the heights (of education: reserved by god only to men).

Pope is diminutive in the large red armchair. Indeed, the overly large armchair might represent an engorged, excited vulva, with Pope crossing his legs protectively from the femininity of the female servant. Pope is in fear of independent, educated and accomplished women (Bluestockings), thus has great difficulty restraining his view that women are "defined" as inferior to men.

Pope's limitations were satirized: Pope was depicted as a hunchbacked ape. Pope was c. 4'6" high with a long nose (the nose representing his authority/penis of course). Bluestocking women were often depicted with large noses symbolizing male virility as female intellect. At the time misshapen or missing noses were associated with syphilis.

In Ivy crown symbolized a knowledgable critc of learning and labour, a laurel crown symbolized the triumph of a poet of genius, the presence of a serpent biting its own tail symbolized eternity.
  1. Alexander Pope as an Ape
  2. Alexander Pope (difficulty with women), by Charles Jervas
  3. Alexander Pope crowned in Ivy, by Kneller
  4. Alexander Pope crowned in Laurel, by Jonathan Richardson

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