The Dunciad contains many geographical references to places in and around London. Here is a guide to some of the more important locations mentioned in the poem.
Bedlam
"Hence from the straw where Bedlam's prophet nods, / He hears loud oracles, and talks with Gods;" (III, 7-8)
Bedlam was the slang name for the Bethlehem Royal Hospital, a psychiatric institution in London known for its horrific mistreatment of those admitted inside. The use of the word "bedlam" to mean chaos came from this association.
Drury Lane
"‘God save King Colley!’ Drury-lane replies." (I, 322)
Drury-Lane was known as the location of the Drury-Theatre starting in the 1600s, but it was also known as a street of ill-repute, containing public houses and brothels before that. This street was referenced in other works as well, like William Hogarth's A Harlot's Progress, which lends itself to Pope's characterization of the world under Dulness.
Fleet Ditch
"To where Fleet Ditch, with disemboguing streams, / Rolls the large tribute of dead dogs to Thames;" (II, 271-272)
Fleet Ditch is a subterranean river in London that was known for being a sight for factory run-off and pollution and functioned as a city sewer. It was a spot that helped to spread and amplify the plague in London in the mid-1600s. It eventually became the location of many prisons and poorly constructed housing, as well as a spot for the Fleet Market, where individuals often sold cheap pamphlets and printed material.
"The Fleet," Debtors Prison
"Thro’ Lud’s famed gates, along the well-known Fleet, / Rolls the black troop, and overshades the street," (II, 359-360)
This famous prison was constructed in 1197 on Fleet Ditch and closed in 1844. Debtors were kept there unless they could pay their way out and often begged for money out of small grates in the prison walls. This prison was particularly famous for its mistreatment of inmates during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Grub Street
"Gaming and Grub-street skulk behind the King." (I, 310)
Grub Street was a poor neighborhood known for its collection of literary hopefuls. These writers, booksellers, and printers often sold cheap pamphlets, magazines, and ballads on the street. More successful and well-reviewed literary figures usually stuck to the printing neighborhoods around St. Paul's Churchyard and Whitehall, but important figures like Samuel Johnson worked in Grub Street as well in their lives.
Hockley in the Hole
"This mess, toss’d up of Hockley-hole and White’s;" (I, 22)
Hockley in the Hole was an area for entertainment often reserved for the poor, and what was on show was anything but high art. Activities here included bear-baiting and bull-baiting, where bears and bulls were tortured or forced to go head to head with other animals for public amusement. It was the ultimate show of the "dulness" that Pope feared, and it recalled the chaotic culture of the Colosseum in the late Roman Empire, right before its fall.
Whitehall "See under Ripley rise a new Whitehall," (III, 327) Whitehall was the street upon which English power has been housed for almost all of England's history. Parliament, York Palace, and the seat of the Commonwealth all existed or continue to exist here. Whitehall was also another center of printing power, especially because of the linkage between the crown and print censorship and rights. The presence of Whitehall in this poem also shows that Dulness has infiltrated even the highest, and supposedly most elite, places of power within the country, signaling its inevitable downfall. St. Mary Le Strand"Amid that area wide they took their stand, / Where the tall Maypole once o’erlook’d the Strand," (II, 27-28) St. Mary Le Strand was a Church that, as the poem said, had once been home to a Maypole. It was destroyed and rebuilt many times, but its location during Pope's time was in a deeply impoverished and crime-ridden area. It was rebuilt in this location starting in 1714 but only completed in 1723, just a few short years before Pope published this poem. This Church is a Catholic church, an interesting note given Pope was a Catholic in a time in England when this could be dangerous and limiting. The Pope had said that he felt the neighborhood was not a proper place for a holy building.
Ludgate Prison
"Thro’ Lud’s famed gates, along the well-known Fleet, / Rolls the black troop, and overshades the street," (II, 359-360)
Ludgate Prison was the western-most prison and the western-most gate in the London Wall at the time of Pope's writing. Built in the 1300s, it was destroyed less than 20 years after Pope's death in 1744. While Ludgate, like Fleet prison, had a history of mistreatment, it was reformed during certain periods, unlike many of the other prisons that surrounded it. Ludgate was also largely a debtor's prison and walled in an area known as Ludgate Circus, summoning up a chaotic image that serves Pope's poem well.
Needham's
"To Needham's quick the voice triumphant rode, / But pious Needham dropt the name of God;" (I, 323-324)
Needham's was one of the most famous brothels in England during Pope's time. Run by Elizabeth Needham, it serviced the most elite and fashionable members of society. Despite this, rumors and moral reformers proved injurious and Elizabeth, or Eliza for short, died as a result of wounds suffered after being pilloried. Her establishment signifies the corruption of the wealthiest and most highly educated members of England's society, hence her inclusion in Pope's work.
Smithfield
"The Mighty Mother, and her son who brings / The Smithfield Muses to the ear of Kings," (I, 1-2) Smithfield refers to the Bartholomew Fair held at Smithfield every year between 1133 and 1855 around the 24th of August. It was also referred to as the Lord Mayor's Day because the Mayor would mark the opening of the fair at Ludgate Prison. While it started out as a cloth fair, it was closed in 1855 as a result of encouraging debauchery, disorder, and indecency. This is the fair that Pope uses as his setting for the dawn of total intellectual chaos and darkness in England.
Tyburn
"Hence hymning Tyburn’s elegiac lines" (I, 41)
Tyburn, located west along the river, was known as the main location for executions and hangings to take place in London. This was often the place where traitors to the crown and religious martyrs were executed. During Pope's time, Tyburn was also called 'God's Tribunal,' and water from the Tyburn Springs would be pumped down to Fleet Street, Ludgate Prison, and Fleet Ditch, helping to tie Pope's setting and his story together like a series of veins.
