Have you ever thought about the aim of literature and the way some works affect our attitude to God and His existence? These are only several issues discussed in the literature. In general, literature is presented by the diversity of writers and poets whose masterpieces provoke so many different opinions, contradictory points of view and critical articles. The works of literature written in verse are especially interesting and pleasant to read as poets use such beautiful language to present their ideas and vision of some objects. The present paper deals with the works of such famous authors as Alexander Pope and Charles Montesquieu and their works, which touch upon different aspects of human soul, nature and God. The works of both Pope and Montesquieu contain the ideas of humanity, existence of God and part of a man in the life of the society.
To start with it is necessary to give the brief discourse in Pope’s work An Essay on Man. In this work the author tries to show the readers three major issues. First of all, the poet suggests his own enduring visualization of humanity. He states that the universe is a link of the chain that connects God with the lowest form of our life. Secondly, the poet demonstrates and discusses the plan of God. According to this plan the existence of evil is obvious for people to understand the real value of good and God as it is. This is a paradox of the poem that is not completely clear by human motive. Thirdly, this poem is some kind of accusation of people of their prudishness and peccanancy. In An Essay on Man Pope try demonstrate the relation of humanity to the Universe and happiness, stating that everything is in the hands of God:
Man, like his Marker, faw that all was right;
To Virtue, in the paths of Pleasure trod,
And owned a father when he owned a God.
Love all the faith, and all the allegiance then;
For Nature know the right divine in Men (Pope 75)
Pope pays attention to the fact that the universe is created for the pleasure of a man and that is why we are connected to the string of universal organization. In other words one of the main ideas of the poem is to show that people are part of one whole and God is the only who rules the actions of people.
Now it is necessary to compare Pope’s An Essay on Man with another work that is Persian Letters written by Montesquieu. Both works has something in common, as they depicts some elements of social life and show the role of a man in this society. But unlike Pope with his godlike views, Montesquieu demonstrates more realistic scenes of social life. In his Persian Letters, the author provides the readers with the description of the Troglodyte society’s way of life that reminds that of the Harem. A great number of the letters in his novel have a descriptive character and depict French life. Very often the readers are involved in the routine aspects of French society, which sometimes seem very ridiculous. Moreover, by means of his letters Montesquieu demonstrates his view of absolutism. His point of view shows that this absolutism is critical and it is not the best form of governmental power and this society needs more honorable form of government. From this book it becomes clear that one of the main ideas is to demonstrate that life in such a merciless society make people forget about real values, moral excellence and goodness. “My Lord,- As we have lost the Count of L., we beg you to have the goodness to allow us to elect a president. Confusion reigns at all our meetings; and state affaires are not so thoroughly prepared…” ( Montesquieu and Davidson 131). While reading we can come across some elements which make mockery of some ideas of Christian dogma. It is the demonstration of the fact that people lose their respect for God and forget about His existence at all, considering that He is of less importance than earlier. One more common thing of Persian Letters and An Essay on Man is that both authors underline the necessity of God and pay attention to the fact that people are part of the Universe, created by God. Despite the changes and development of society it is necessary to remember about God and his existence in each of us. “I return then to live under your laws, and to chare your cares. Great God! What a world of things is necessary for one man’s happiness!”
( Montesquieu and Davidson 33). Of course, the works have the same idea that is the necessity of faith and existence of God, but both authors present it in different ways. Pope shows a respectful and humble attitude to God. In his poem people realize the real value of morality and goodness. Just the opposite way of presentation of this idea can be observed in Persian Letters. Here, Montesquieu demonstrates the moral decay of the society and people’s indifference to God. So, to my mind, the main difference between these works consists in the manner of presentation of the same idea.
So, both works are very interesting from several points of view that are in respect of the language and content and from the viewpoint of ideas and main aims, shown in them. Among the great variety of works, these ones are very good examples that prove the necessity of God and its influence upon people.
Works Cited
Montesquieu, Charles, Davidson John. Persian Letters. USA: Indo-European Publishing.com, 2010.
Pope, Alexander. An Essay on Man. New York: Oxford University Digitized, 2007.