Through the use of meter, rhyme, diction, form, allusion, and archetypes, Alexander Pope establishes Eloisa’s struggle between confinement and freedom in ‘Eloisa to Abelard.’
The use of meter and rhyme within ‘Eloisa to Abelard’ heightens illustrate Eloisa’s desire to be free whilst trapped within the convent. Pope employs iambic pentameter within rhyming couplets, creating a rigid structure, which is at odds with Eloisa’s roaming, and often times desperate, thoughts. Because the poem’s rigid meter and rhyme scheme does not reflect Eloisa’s state of mind, it is symbolic of her imprisonment in the convent. Throughout this passage, Eloisa is plagued by ‘grief’ and ‘tears’ due to her longing for Abelard, yet ‘to read and weep is all [she] now can do.’ Even though Eloisa is depressed, she cannot alleviate her situation. The meter and rhyme serve to illustrate her predicament: Eloisa’s mind is free to think about Abelard; however, she is still confined within the convent and must stay there. Similarly, Eloisa is free to write and think whatever she desires in this poem, but is limited by the iambic pentameter and rhyming couplets. This restriction demonstrated through Pope’s use of meter and rhyme relates to the poem’s theme of confinement, which illustrates that even though the body may be limited, the human mind is still free to think whatever it chooses.
Through Pope’s use of diction, the struggle between Eloisa’s mind and body is illustrated, highlighting her confinement. While begging Abelard to write to her, Eloisa expresses her desire to ‘eccho [her] sighs to [Abelard’s].’ Similar to her previous desires, Eloisa wants her ‘sighs’ to reflect Abelard’s ‘sighs.’ Sighs are an involuntary reaction of the body. Just like Eloisa cannot control her wandering mind within the convent, Eloisa also cannot control her body’s physical response to her grief. Through her body language, the extent of Eloisa’s grief can be understood. Where Eloisa’s words are not adequate to describe her sadness, she tells Abelard that she wants to share her sighs with him, demonstrating that Eloisa is confined by her mind’s ability to speak, but her body is able to fully describe her emotions nonverbally, contributing to the sense that Eloisa is confined, not only by the convent, but by her mind, as well. Similarly, Eloisa’s involuntary bodily reactions appear again in the poem; this time in the form of crying. She remarks, that her ‘tears are still [hers] and later she claims that ‘to read and weep is all [her eyes] now can do.’ Like sighs, crying is an involuntary reaction to grief. Therefore, her tears express her pain when she must remain silent about Abelard due to her religious duty. Eloisa’s crying is an example of the body betraying the mind and conveying what she desires. This disconnect between the body and mind suggests that the body cannot hide its true desires, unlike the mind, which can conjure lies and pretend to feel differently. Eloisa’s struggle between her body and mind once again displays that Eloisa is confined within her mind. Her mind dictates to her what is socially and morally correct, like remaining silent about her love for Abelard while in the convent, but her body is able to convey what she is truly feeling through its sighs and tears. In another example, Eloisa explains how letters ‘exclude the blush and pour out all the heart.’ Eloisa claims that letters are free from the struggle between the body and the mind because it is not visible within the written word. Blushing is another form of the body showing emotion, usually in times of embarrassment, that is in involuntary. Because the author of the letter is not visible to the reader, the author’s body cannot betray their mind and show their true feelings. Therefore, Eloisa is once again restricted by her body and mind, which are at odds and prevent her from showing her true emotion. Writing allows Eloisa to share her thoughts without being punished by the aforementioned disconnect, so while writing the letter to Abelard, Eloisa is able to experience some freedom.
In final couplets, Eloisa explains the importance of letters through form, allusion, archetypes, and personification; the importance of letters once again demonstrates Eloisa’s struggle between confinement and freedom. Eloisa claims, ‘Heav’n first taught letters for some wretch’s aid, some banish’d lover, or some captive maid.’ ‘Eloisa to Abelard’ itself is one of the letters of which Eloisa speaks. Pope utilizes an epistolary form based upon Ovid’s Heroides, in which mythological women, like Sappho, Araidne, and Dido, write letters to the lovers who have forsaken them. By utilizing this format, Eloisa’s story alludes to these mythological women, giving her legendary status and making her story timeless, like those recounted in Heroides. Because Eloisa and all the narrators of Heroides’s problems are based upon their sex and lost love, they are restricted by their gender, contributing to the overall theme of confinement throughout the poem.
Eloisa continues her explanation of letter-writing with mention of ‘some banish’d lover, or some captive maid,’ which refers to Abelard and Eloisa, respectively. By inserting the couple into the history of letter-writing, Eloisa gives their tale a literary aspect. The ‘banish’d lover’ and the ‘captive maid’ transform the pair into archetypes, making their love story universal. However, these archetypes also restrict the pair. To fulfil their archetypes, Eloisa and Abelard must perform their parts as a ‘banish’d lover’ and ‘captive maid,’ meaning that they cannot reunite and are destined to stay in the religious life.