, to give the poem its full title, was the last of the four ethic epistles Pope wrote, though he gave it second place when he collected his “Epistles to Several Persons” together in his
Works, Vol. II, published on 23 April 1735.
An Epistle To A Ladyhad first been published as a separate poem two and a half months earlier, on 8 February 1735, a year after
An Epistle To Cobham, to which it was intended as a companion piece. If
An Epistle To Cobhamfocuses primarily on the characters of men, although it includes two cutting satiric vignettes of women,
An Epistle To A Ladyfocuses exclusively on the characters of women. Although the target of the satire appears at first to be aristocratic and wealthy women, the venom that Pope expends upon…
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Citation: Gordon, Ian. "An Epistle to a Lady". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 January 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6702, accessed 06 October 2024.]