The Dunciad

Colley Cibber, the King of the Dunces, is the protagonist of The Dunciad in name only. In an epic poem, he would follow the Hero’s Journey, passing through many trials and gaining wisdom along the way. The Dunciad is a mock-epic, though, and Cibber does almost nothing in the poem. He considers changing his career and almost burns his writings in Book 1; he is crowned by Dulness and watches the games thrown in his honor in Book 2; he quite literally sleeps through all of Book 3; and he is only mentioned briefly in passing in Book 4.

The other Dunces are likewise praised and prized for what they lack far more than what they contribute. The narrator names dozens of specific Dunces in the poem and implies the identities of many others. Each of these Dunces was someone who had wronged Alexander Pope or his friends in some way, directly or indirectly. Cibber, named Poet Laureate in 1730, had long been one of Pope’s enemies and had made multiple negative comments about him over the years. Other Dunces were included for their crimes against literature. Some of the named Dunces and their offences are listed below.

Elkanah Settle was poet to the City of London and known mostly for writing occasional poems for pay.

Daniel Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe, had a long and illustrious career as a writer, pamphleteer, spy, and political hitman for hire. He often wrote using one of his hundreds of pen names, seemed to have few scruples about writing for any side of an issue, and was known to have been placed in a pillory before being sent to prison for his pamphleteering.

Laurence Eusden was Poet Laureate before Colley Cibber. In the note for Line 104 of Book 1, it is written that “Mr. Cook, in his Battle of Poets, saith of him, Eusden, a laurel’d bard, by fortune raid’d, / By very few was read, by fewer prais’d” (1: R31)

John Dennis was a noted critic and playwright of the day who had been an enemy of Pope’s since virtually the very beginning of the poet’s career.

Bernard Lintot was a bookseller who published Pope’s translation of Homer’s Iliad, as well as the works of several of Pope’s friends, before the two had a falling out regarding payment for Pope’s translation of the Odyssey.

Edmund Curll was a bookseller who published pirated copies of the original Dunciad, numerous pamphlets attacking Pope, and some of Pope’s personal letters that he had purchased. It is no surprise that Pope features him so heavily in Book 2.

Eliza Haywood was an eminent literary figure of the day whom Pope seemingly despised for writing salacious material.

Richard Blackmore was a writer of very long epic poems.

John Oldmixon was a critic who had written negatively about Pope and his friends and may also have plagiarized other authors.

Jonathan Smedley “was author and publisher of many scurrilous pieces […] against Dr. Swift and Mr. Pope” (2: R54).

William Arnal was a political hack.

John Henley was an eccentric preacher who gave regular public speeches.

Alexander Pope, author of The Dunciad, is also sometimes a character in the work. His name usually appears in the notes, which are presented as having been written by someone else. Much of the rationale behind including individual Dunces involves defending Pope or one of his friends against unjust attacks. Pope was a Catholic with physical deformities due to childhood illness, and many criticisms of his work also included veiled or blatant personal insults. Some of these insults and criticisms are quoted directly in the notes.