Dulness

E644529

Dulness is the allegorical goddess of stupidity and intellectual decay who presides over the forces of mediocrity in Alexander Pope’s mock-epic poem "The Dunciad."

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Dulness canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf allegorical figure ⓘ
goddess ⓘ
literary character ⓘ
personification ⓘ
appearsIn The Dunciad ⓘ
appearsInGenre mock-epic poem ⓘ
associatedWith Grub Street writers ⓘ
commercialized literature ⓘ
hack writers ⓘ
belongsToWorkType English satirical poetry ⓘ
commands the dunces ⓘ
createdBy Alexander Pope ⓘ
firstAppearance The Dunciad ⓘ
firstPublicationYear 1728 ⓘ
hasTheme conflict between wit and dullness ⓘ
decline of literary standards ⓘ
victory of ignorance over reason ⓘ
influences booksellers within the poem ⓘ
patrons of bad literature ⓘ
poets within the poem ⓘ
printers within the poem ⓘ
languageOfWork English ⓘ
literaryDevice allegory ⓘ
literaryPeriod Augustan literature ⓘ
narrativeFunction embodiment of the poem’s satirical target ⓘ
nationalityOfWorkContext British literature ⓘ
opposes critical judgment ⓘ
learning ⓘ
wit ⓘ
portrayedAs queen of the dunces ⓘ
sovereign of stupidity ⓘ
presidesOver intellectual decay ⓘ
mediocrity ⓘ
stupidity ⓘ
reignsOver a kingdom of dunces ⓘ
relatedConcept censorship of thought ⓘ
dunce ⓘ
duncery ⓘ
pedantry ⓘ
roleInWork central antagonist of The Dunciad ⓘ
symbolizes anti-intellectualism ⓘ
cultural decline ⓘ
ignorance ⓘ
mental lethargy ⓘ
triumph of bad taste ⓘ
workContext satire on contemporary literary culture ⓘ
satire on political corruption ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

The Dunciad → centralFigure → Dulness ⓘ