Human Vanity and Self-Deception

Where it surfaces

• To the Reader

  The preface mocks learned men who vainly attempt poetry despite lacking natural genius.

• The Author's Life

  The portrayal of Sir Samuel Luke as 'notorious, both in his person and politics' and the poem's exposure of hypocrisy suggest themes of self-deception.

• Canto I

  Hudibras's self-image as a valiant knight is undercut by his physical grotesqueness and cowardly preparations, revealing his vanity.

• Canto I

  Hudibras's inflated self-regard and the widow's mockery expose the vanity underlying romantic pretensions.

• Canto III

  Hudibras's self-doubt and rationalizations about his oath, as well as Sidrophel's feigned death, highlight characters' self-deception and vanity.

• An Heroical Epistle of Hudibras to Sidrophel

  Hudibras mocks Sidrophel's self-deception, believing his folly and ignorance are unnoticed, while the public openly scorns him.

• Canto I

  Hudibras deludes himself about his heroic deeds and the effectiveness of his wooing, while the widow exposes his self-serving lies.

• Canto III

  Hudibras's fear and self-deception are explored through his mistaken belief that Ralpho is a fiend, and his rationalization of legal action as a means to pursue the widow.

• An Heroical Epistle of Hudibras to His Lady

  Hudibras rationalizes his broken vow and moral failings through elaborate self-justification, claiming noble privilege and the supremacy of love over law.

• The Lady’s Answer to the Knight

  Hudibras's self-deception about his motives is exposed; the Lady reveals his love as greed for her wealth.

• Endnotes

  The note on Montaigne's cat and the discussion of self-deception in philosophical schools reflect the theme of human vanity.