Thus, both Alexander Pope and Rousseau agree that man and nature are linked. While Rousseau holds that man is created by Nature, Pope says that man is a part of nature. In Book I Rousseau claims that he is a unique person created by Nature. Is the great chain that draws all to agree, –Īnd, drawn, supports – upheld by God or thee?” (Epistle I) On Nature Look’d thro’? or can a part contain the whole? See worlds on worlds compose one universe, “He, who thro’ vast immensity can pierce, But he also says, that the complex existence of man has a meaning, and a man with his ability to reason, has the power to understand the nature of the world and also understand that all things are somehow interlinked and connected… Pope begins the Essay on Man wondering about the worthlessness of life. In fact, despite its romantic autobiographical nature, Rousseau adds a note that the book is meant to provide a standard of comparison for people to understand themselves.Īlexander Pope in his “Essay on Man” analyses through reflection, the nature of nature, the nature of man, and God. By reflecting deeply on his own life experiences and allowing those reflections to expand upon the world in general Rousseau makes his book, “Confessions” one of the most remarkable explorations of the self. He also reveals his relationships with women. He talks about embarrassing experiences of his life, and his entry into the world of adult sexuality. The ideas of Rousseau embedded in the book ‘Confessions’ are profound and holds analyses of his feelings in his early days.

While Rousseau declares that the main intent of his book is self-exploration, Pope begins with the declaration that man is in the world according to a plan. John! leave all meaner things / …./ Let us (since life can little more supply / Than just to look about us, and to die)/ Expatriate free o’er all this scene of man /A mighty maze! but not without a plan ” (1-3). Pope begins by including the reader in his analytic thinking on the nature of man and life: “Awake, my St. Rousseau says: “I propose to set before my fellow-mortals a man in all the truth of nature and this man shall be myself”.

Rousseaus confessions