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Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?" is a quotation from Alexander Pope's "Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot" of January 1735. It alludes to "breaking on the wheel", a form of torture in which victims had their long bones broken by an iron bar while tied to a Catherine wheel.
Sep 14, 2021 · to use unnecessary force in destroying something fragile—alludes to a wheel used as an instrument of torture—first occurs in An Epistle from Mr. Pope, to Dr. Arbuthnot (1734), by the English poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744), who perhaps coined this phrase.
Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel? A rhetorical question referring to an excessive amount of force that has been applied to achieve something minor, unimportant, or insignificant. The line is a quotation from Alexander Pope's poem "Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot."
Alexander Pope in Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot (1735) wrote the rhetorical question, “Who breaks the butterfly on the wheel?” In other words, who would use such force on a delicate creature like a butterfly? Pope’s image of breaking a butterfly on the wheel struck a powerful chord, hence the expression.
break a butterfly on a wheel. use unnecessary force in destroying something fragile or insignificant. In former times, breaking someone upon the wheel was a form of punishment or torture which involved fastening criminals to a wheel so that their bones would be broken or dislocated.
Butterfly on a Wheel (US: Shattered, Europe: Desperate Hours) is a 2007 thriller film directed by Mike Barker, co-produced and written by William Morrissey. A British-Canadian joint production, it stars Pierce Brosnan, Gerard Butler, and Maria Bello.
Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel? A rhetorical question referring to an excessive amount of force that has been applied to achieve something minor, unimportant, or insignificant. The line is a quotation from Alexander Pope's poem "Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot."
