Eloisa to Abelard

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1717

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Background

Historical Context

The love affair of Heloïse d’Argenteuil and Peter Abelard is one of the most famous stories of star-crossed lovers since medieval times. Pope references many factual elements of the affair in creating his “letter” from Eloisa to Abelard. In 12th-century Paris, Peter Abelard was one of the most brilliant philosophers and theologians of his time. He became acquainted with Canon Fulbert, a member of the clergy at Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. Abelard saw Fulbert’s niece, Heloïse and quickly fell in love. Heloïse was a gifted a pupil, renowned as one of the most brilliant young women in France. Abelard managed to secure a position tutoring Heloïse in exchange for a room in Canon Fulbert’s home, where Heloïse lived. The intellectual match between Abelard and Heloïse played a strong role in the relationship. However, the relationship between Abelard, who was 38 years old at the time, and Heloïse, who was only 18, would have been viewed as a scandal in their community because of the strict religious rules of the time and culture, so they begin a clandestine relationship hidden from Heloïse’s family. Heloïse became pregnant with Abelard’s child, and in a bid to protect Heloïse from scorn and public humiliation in their strictly religious community, they quickly married, with her uncle, Canon Fulbert, officiating the secret ceremony. However, news of the scandalous marriage began to spread, damaging Abelard’s reputation.

Not long after their quick marriage, Abelard sent Heloïse to a convent. Heloïse’s uncle sent violent men to attack and castrate Abelard as punishment, perceiving this as Abelard abandoning Heloïse. Abelard left Paris following the attack, and Heloïse and Abelard decided that the only solution was for both of them to each go to a convent and a monastery. They put their child, Astrolabe, named after an instrument used by astronomers during the Medieval and Renaissance eras to measure the distance of stars, in the care of Abelard’s sister. They continued to exchange letters following their separation, but their differences of opinion caused them to separate permanently. Heloïse remained in the convent for the rest of her life. Abelard and Heloïse are entombed together in Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris.

Literary Context

As a poet during the Neo-Classical Age (1700-1740), Pope was deeply influenced by Classical writers such as Ovid, and his choice to use the heroic verse epistle, the form that Ovid made famous, reflects this Classical influence. The Ovidian heroic verse epistle traditionally featured letters written from the perspective of famous women to lovers who abandoned them. In Ovid’s Heroides, Ovid adopted famous mythical and literary female personas, such as Penelope, Odysseus’s wife who waited years for his return in The Odyssey, or Medea, Jason’s first wife in The Golden Fleece. Pope adapted the heroic verse epistle form to fit modern concerns and address the position of women during the early-18th century in England. Instead of depicting Eloisa as weak and pitiful, Pope’s Eloisa is a noble and tragic figure. Eloisa’s situation becomes even more affecting because Pope emphasizes Eloisa’s strong character: She insists on not subduing her passionate nature, but outside circumstances and societal constraints keep the lovers apart. In this way, Pope used the Classical tradition for inspiration but also alters it.

Similar to his satirical poem written several years earlier, “The Rape of the Lock,” Pope injects his commentaries on the relationships between men and women and different views about the purpose of love and marriage into “Eloisa to Abelard.” Following the publication of a translation of Heloïse and Abelard’s letters into English from French by Pope’s friend John Hughes in 1713, Pope began working on the poem. Pope’s poem was inspired by the original letters the lovers exchanged. Following the publication of Pope’s poem, many writers and poets began writing poems from both Eloisa’s and Abelard’s perspectives. The poem has been called a predecessor to the Romantic tradition of poetry, as Pope explores the power of emotion over reason through Eloisa’s dilemma.