ALEXANDER POPE: AN IMAGE OF A MAN AND A WRITER

The article examines the impact of specific interpretative techniques offered within contemporary Literary Theory on the works of Alexander Pope. The present study focuses on Feminist and Psychoanalytic literary criticism and their one-sided analysis of Pope as both a male and a cripple. The conclusions reached by such theoretical approaches do not appear to reflect the historical truth but offer, for the most part, a distorted image of the poet. By exploring the partial images of Pope depicted by selected scholars of eighteenth century literature, the article demonstrates the awkward and disjointed depiction of the poet developed in recent times.