The rape of the lock poem. The Rape Of The Lock As A Mock Epic Poem Essay Example 2022-12-11
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Alexander Pope's "The Rape of the Lock" is a satirical poem that uses the metaphor of a woman's haircut to mock the trivialities and vanities of high society in 18th century England.
The poem tells the story of a young woman named Belinda, who is admired by the Baron for her beauty and charm. One day, the Baron sneaks into Belinda's bedroom and cuts off a lock of her hair, which was a common way for a man to show his affection for a woman at the time. This act, however, is seen as a violation and a theft of Belinda's beauty and identity.
Pope uses this story to mock the frivolous and superficial nature of the upper class, who place a great emphasis on appearance and social status. He compares the cutting of Belinda's lock to a rape, highlighting the lack of respect and consent in the Baron's actions.
Pope also uses the poem to comment on gender roles and the power dynamics between men and women. Belinda is portrayed as a victim, powerless to stop the Baron from taking what he wants. This reflects the societal expectations of women at the time, who were expected to be passive and submissive to men.
Throughout the poem, Pope uses humor and irony to poke fun at the vanity and extravagance of the upper class. He satirizes the rituals and customs of high society, such as the use of cosmetics and the importance of fashion.
In conclusion, "The Rape of the Lock" is a satirical poem that uses the metaphor of a woman's haircut to mock the superficiality and extravagance of high society. It also comments on gender roles and the power dynamics between men and women, highlighting the lack of respect and consent in the Baron's actions.
The Rape of the Lock Canto I Summary & Analysis
The Machinery, Madam, is a term invented by the Critics, to signify that part which the I know how disagreeable it is to make use of hard words before a lady; but 'tis so much the concern of a poet to have his works understood and particularly by your sex, that you must give me leave to explain two or three difficult terms. It belongs to the literary type, called burlesque or parody. This mock epic is a superior filigree effort exposed to the inconsequential uproar in the teacup that should never be deprived of the position of a creative artist Gul, p. The people at the party enjoy a game of cards, which has been defined by the poet as a battle. Academic Resources Center Inc.
For this, ere Phoebus rose, he had implored Propitious heaven, and every power adored, But chiefly Love—to Love an altar built, Of twelve vast French romances, neatly gilt. The Baron now his Diamonds pours apace; Th' embroider'd King who shows but half his face, And his refulgent Queen, with pow'rs combin'd Of broken troops an easy conquest find. But trust the Muse? Belinda still her downy pillow prest, Her guardian Sylph prolong'd the balmy rest: 'Twas He had summon'd to her silent bed The morning-dream that hover'd o'er her head; A Youth more glitt'ring than a Birth-night Beau, That ev'n in slumber caus'd her cheek to glow Seem'd to her ear his winning lips to lay, And thus in whispers said, or seem'd to say. Learn More Literature is a representation of the times in which it is printed. In particular, he scorns the mannerism and arrogance of 18th-century women.
The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope Plot Summary
Some nymphs there are, too conscious of their face, For life predestin'd to the Gnomes' embrace. This poem was printed distinctively to determine a solemn disagreement amid the two most important Catholic families. Fairest of mortals, thou distinguish'd care Of thousand bright Inhabitants of Air! Now Jove suspends his golden scales in air, Weighs the Men's wits against the Lady's hair; The doubtful beam long nods from side to side; At length the wits mount up, the hairs subside. This can be considered very true for the Augustan Period. Here in a grotto, shelter'd close from air, And screen'd in shades from day's detested glare, She sighs for ever on her pensive bed, Pain at her side, and Megrim at her head. What guards the purity of melting Maids, In courtly balls, and midnight masquerades, Safe from the treach'rous friend, the daring spark, The glance by day, the whisper in the dark, When kind occasion prompts their warm desires, When music softens, and when dancing fires? Some guide the course of wand'ring orbs on high, Or roll the planets thro' the boundless sky.
The Rape Of The Lock As A Mock Epic Poem Essay Example
This erring mortals Levity may call; Oh blind to truth! All of the explanations of these in the poem give rise to the world of gods who showed animosity as frequently as compassion. A mournful glance Sir Fopling upwards cast, "Those eyes are made so killing"? The Rape of the Lock and other Poems. Unnumber'd throngs on every side are seen, Of bodies chang'd to various forms by Spleen. The Rape of the Lock, and Boileau's work has been seen in its turn as Pope's model. Finding her dejected in the arms of the woman Thalestris, Umbriel pours the contents over them both. Whatever spirit, careless of his charge, His post neglects, or leaves the fair at large, Shall feel sharp vengeance soon o'ertake his sins, Be stopp'd in vials, or transfix'd with pins; Or plung'd in lakes of bitter washes lie, Or wedg'd whole ages in a bodkin's eye: Gums and Pomatums shall his flight restrain, While clogg'd he beats his silken wings in vain; Or Alum styptics with contracting pow'r Shrink his thin essence like a rivel'd flow'r: Or, as Ixion fix'd, the wretch shall feel The giddy motion of the whirling Mill, In fumes of burning Chocolate shall glow, And tremble at the sea that froths below! The Club's black Tyrant first her victim dy'd, Spite of his haughty mien, and barb'rous pride: What boots the regal circle on his head, His giant limbs, in state unwieldy spread; That long behind he trails his pompous robe, And, of all monarchs, only grasps the globe? The Lock, obtain'd with guilt, and kept with pain, In ev'ry place is sought, but sought in vain: With such a prize no mortal must be blest, So heav'n decrees! The Rape of the Lock is a mock-heroic couplet presented by Alexander Pope, first put to print in 1712 in two cantos, and then published again in 1714 in a lengthened 5-canto version.
Pope is not only renowned as a grand comic writer but furthermore as a resourceful artist. The Rape of the Lock is Oration Satire, which is basically intended to bring up amusement more willingly than disrespect. See the poor remnants of these slighted hairs! Faints into airs, and languishes with pride, On the rich quilt sinks with becoming woe, Wrapt in a gown, for sickness, and for show. There Affectation, with a sickly mien, Shows in her cheek the roses of eighteen, Practis'd to lisp, and hang the head aside. According to Pope, the aristocratic society of his time is excessively bothered with petty things like hair, flirtation, and card playing.
Not youthful kings in battle seiz'd alive, Not scornful virgins who their charms survive, Not ardent lovers robb'd of all their bliss, Not ancient ladies when refus'd a kiss, Not tyrants fierce that unrepenting die, Not Cynthia when her manteau's pinn'd awry, E'er felt such rage, resentment, and despair, As thou, sad Virgin! Th' advent'rous Baron the bright locks admir'd; He saw, he wish'd, and to the prize aspir'd. Nay, Poll sat mute, and Shock was most unkind! The Sylphs behold it kindling as it flies, And pleas'd pursue its progress thro' the skies. Pope felt the full effects of anti-Catholic sentiment during his early life, as the Test Acts a series of laws designed to inhibit the prosperity of Catholic families at the time prevented his family from living within 10 miles of London and prevented him from attending a university. Made English from the original Italian of The Rape of the Lock in 1714, this time under his own name, Ozell's publisher The Rape of the Bucket in a 1715 "second edition". But Fate and Jove had stopp'd the Baron's ears. Say what strange motive, Goddess! Nevertheless with the previous value, regardless of its unsophisticated highlighting of the prosaic art of one man at the disbursement of immense accomplishments by others in prose literature, precisely replicates the information that Alexander Pope, equally in his wonderful expertise poetry and in his evenly crafted unrestricted personality, were thought by a vast number of exceptional literary contemporaries but for everyone else, to be the head imaginative mastermind of his time Alexander Pope Biography, p. If e'er one vision touch.
Read More: The title of The Rape of the Lock We can see the mock-heroic characteristics in the very title of the poem. Soft yielding minds to Water glide away, And sip, with Nymphs, their elemental Tea. But now secure the painted vessel glides, The sun-beams trembling on the floating tides: While melting music steals upon the sky, And soften'd sounds along the waters die; Smooth flow the waves, the Zephyrs gently play, Belinda smil'd, and all the world was gay. This day, black Omens threat the brightest Fair, That e'er deserv'd a watchful spirit's care; Some dire disaster, or by force, or slight; But what, or where, the fates have wrapt in night. Early Italian verse translations of the poem include Andrea Bonducci's Il Riccio Rapito Florence 1739 , followed by Scandinavian versions appeared near the start of the 19th century, beginning with the Swedish Våldet på Belindas låck Stockholm, 1797 by Johan Lorens Odhelius 1737—1816. It is never completely clear to what extent the characters are in control and to what extent they are subject to supernatural influence.
Introducing his 1825 translation of the whole of Tassoni's The Rape of the Bucket, Secchia Rapita indeed differs essentially from the Rape of the Lock, both in spirit, and execution. Oil paintings by two artists rise a little above this judgment. The nymph exulting fills with shouts the sky; The walls, the woods, and long canals reply. The people who were dealt with consisted of political people, vigorous merchants, and society, priests and gentlemen, men belonging to various professions and women focused on fashion. The great battles of epic become bouts of gambling and flirtatious tiffs. With varying vanities, from ev'ry part, They shift the moving Toyshop of their heart; Where wigs with wigs, with sword-knots sword-knots strive, Beaux banish beaux, and coaches coaches drive. By taking into consideration the concluding incidents as the substance of immense introduction, their irrelevance is made understandable.
Pope mocks a trivial wrangle by judging it against the heroic world of the gods The Rape of the Lock, p. For this, ere Phœbus rose, he had implor'd Propitious heav'n, and ev'ry pow'r ador'd, But chiefly Love? A mock-heroic epic is a poem that employs an elevated style and technique to portray an insignificant topic or issue for which this elevated style is not appropriate and fitting. Give her the hair"? Belinda soon sits down with two men to play a game of ombre. Some thought it mounted to the Lunar sphere, Since all things lost on earth are treasur'd there. Oh hadst thou, cruel! The verse form of The Rape of the Lock is the heroic couplet; Pope still reigns as the uncontested master of the form.
This happens three times, but in the end the Baron succeeds also cutting a Sylph in two although Pope reassures us, parodying a passage in A gnome named Umbriel now journeys to the Cave of Spleen and from the Queen receives a bag of "sighs, sobs, and passions, and the war of tongues" canto 4 line 84 and a vial filled "with fainting fears, soft sorrows, melting griefs, and flowing tears" line 85—86 and brings them to Belinda. Many people, moved by Belinda's grief, demand the lock back, but the Baron is unrepentant and refuses. In The Rape of the Lock , all of the women and men are the female leads and heroes, who replace banter with the opposed sex in salons as an alternative of going to war in opposition to righteous enemies on the fields of battle. Pope displays his innovativeness in the artistry with which he makes every component of the episode correlated to some identifiable epic tradition. The expansion of the British Empire meant exotic objects such as the coffee and china Pope mentions were suddenly within reach, and an absurd version of this trend also features in the poem.
