Heroic couplet characteristics on the "Essay on Man"
As its name implies, the heroic couplet is a form of verse that is traditionally considered to be noble and extravagant. Pope's unbelievably ambitious "Essay on Man" is no exception to this rule (he's literally trying to lay out what man is!). To start answering this question, then, I think it would be good to begin with the (enormous) philosophical scope of his project. This gives us a bit of an insight into what the "Essay on Man" is, and why Pope decided to use heroic couplets.
