*''The Rape of the Lock as Social Satire /How does The Rape of the Lock by

Alexander Pope reflect the society of its time?*

Ans: *Satire*
Satire is a technique employed by writers to expose and criticize foolishness and
corruption of an individual or a society by using humor, irony, exaggeration or
ridicule. In addition, he hopes that those he criticizes will improve their characters
by overcoming their weaknesses.
*Social satire* focuses on aspects of society itself, including current events.A
writer in a satire uses fictional characters, which stand for real people, to expose
and condemn their stupidity.
As Shakespeare is the poet of man, Pope is a poet of society.The Rape of the
Lock is a social document because it mirrors contemporary society and contains
a social satire, too. Pope paints about England in 18th century.The whole
panorama of The Rape of the Lock revolves around the false standard of 18th
century.Pope satirizes the young girls and boys, aristocratic women and men,
their free time activities, nature of husbands and wives, the professional judges
and politicians of the day. Pope clearly depicts the absurdities and the silliness of
the fashionable circle of the 18th century England.The world of Belinda is a trivial
world. The whole life of Belinda is confined to sleeping, make-up, enjoyment and
alluring the lords. There are no transcendental elements in her life. This life is
marked by ill-nature, affection, mischievousness, coquetry, yielding and
submissive nature, fierce and unruly nature, infidelity, cheapness, meanness,
trivialities and frivolities etc. Belinda represents all the fashion struck women,
busy in such stupidities.Baron not only represents Peter but also typifies the
aristocratic gallants of the age.In order to make his satire sharper and all the more
effective, Pope introduces the aerialmachinery, which facilitates the satire.He
satirizes women who are interested in fashionable life and its pursuits and who go
on exercising their evil influence even after their death.Pope also satirizes of the
husbands and wives of the day. Husbands always suspect their wives. Wives are
also not virtuous at all. They love their lap-dogs more than their husbands. And
the death of husbands is not more shocking than the death of a lap dog or the
breakage of a china vessel.So through the medium of satire, Pope paints a picture
of 18th century English society. His satire is didactic and impersonal. It is not
inflicted against any person or individual, rather against the society and that, too,
owing to some moral faults. He is dissatisfied with the society around which he
wants to reform.To sum up, the poem is a reflection of this artificial and hollow
life, painted with a humorous and delicate satire.Popes satire is intellectual and
full of wit and epigram.
*Explain the epic conventions of Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock?*
*_Epic_*
A typical epic is a long, narrative poem, usually broken into "books" or "cantos."
First, the narrator invokes a muse for inspiration. The plot will then focus on a
hero or heroine, following his or her amazing exploits. The hero character is also
somebody of elevated status. He or she is not a "common man." Finally, a typical
epic will include supernatural figures, some kind of voyage (often at sea), and a
descent into the underworld.The epic highlights the character's bravery and
courage and, often, the many struggles that this character is forced to overcome.
The most famous epics are Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, and Virgil's Aeneid.
*_Mock epic_*
A parody of the epic genre, called a mock epic. It utilizes epic conventions to
present an insignificant subject. In other words, it contains all of the
characteristics that you would expect to find in an epic, but it is far less serious
since it focuses on a silly or trivial matter. it works by 'mocking' the traditional
epic.
The main features of Mock epic include:
a) A sarcastic (mocking) tone.
b) The heightened or elevated style and form of the serious epic poem.
c) highlights a trivial subject.
d) The use of invocation, battles, and epic similies.
Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock is a brilliant example of the mock
epic.Pope's The Rape of the Lock includes all of the above elements. It is a lengthy
poem of nearly 600 lines that is divided into 5 cantos. It was composed in the
verse form of the heroic couplet, mediated by the iambic pentameter.The
language is elevated in style with many figures of speech spread throughout.The
heroine of the poem is Belinda, and the narrator invokes his muse moments
before introducing her. Readers know that she is a hero type and is preparing
herself for battle because we read about her "arming" herself with "puffs,"
"powders," and "patches." Her heroic battle might not be a life and death battle
with swords, but the description of her card game against the Baron is no less epic
in its description.As for Belinda's sea voyage, she travels on the Thames river.
Finally, Pope's mock epic does indeed include a supernatural presence and a
descent into the underworld. Sylphs are present throughout and Umbriel
descends to the Cave of Spleen.By using epic conventions in such a setting, Pope
pokes fun at the high society of his day, exposing its ridiculousness by juxtaposing
it with epic literature. In a trivial drawing room episode, Pope made it an epic
theme and he succeeded to treat the social customs of the age with an assumed
epic seriousness.
*Discuss Pope as a satirist with reference to The Rape of the Lock*
Ans: Alexander Pope is one of the premiere satirists in the English language, and
The Rape of the Lock is his crowning achievement. Here, Pope writes about an
incredibly trivial event as though it's a war involving gods and epic heroes. Pope
wrote many satires against individuals, which were deadly, sharp and bitter
marked by malice. Popes satire is thin, it confines itself to the person and has no
relation to the world. In the Rape of the Lock, the whole panorama is limited to
the 18th century aristocratic life. It was meant to be read by a selected number of
people related or close with the two families.Pope saw the possibility of
expanding it into a mock-heroic poem. In it, there is invocation to Muses, battles ,
supernatural machinery, journey on water, underworld journey, long speeches,
feasts, Homeric similes and grand style but all for a simple family dispute instead
of a national struggle. The grand treatment of a low subject produces hilarious
laughter and makes the story more ridiculous. Throughout the poem, Pope
adopts classical epic devices to develop an ironic and mocking contrast between
its structure and its content. It is a perfect mock-epic as a satire form by the hands
of this brilliant poet.
The Rape of the Lock
*Characters*
*Belinda*
The character of Belinda is the heroine of The Rape of the Lock.Pope bases her
character on the historical Arabella Fermor, the daughter of an aristocratic
Catholic family. Robert, Lord Petre, a family friend, snipped a lock of her hair
without permission, thereby causing a rift between their two families.In this
poem we find Belinda is doing everything she possibly can to insure that her
beauty is illuminated. Her use of the Bibles show that she is using prayer to pray
that what she does will "work" in order to enhance her beauty.Belinda is not
alone though. She has servants around her whom help her to get ready. This
shows her wealth.Therefore, the toilet scene is used to show the vanity
associated with women. The end of the cantos functions very well in detailing the
lengths one will go to in order to insure that they are beautiful.The universe of
Belinda is a mirror world. The entire life of Belinda is restricted to dozing, make-
up, delight and charming the masters.
*The Baron*
This is the pseudonym for the historical Robert, Lord Petre, the young gentleman
in Popes social circle who offended Arabella Fermor and her family by cutting off
a lock of her hair.
*Caryl*
The historical basis for the Caryl character is John Caryll. Caryll is John Caryll, a
friend of Popes who witnessed the incident between Arabella Fermor and Lord
Petre. He commissioned Pope to turn the incident into a jest in the hope that it
would encourage reconciliation between the two families.
*Ariel*
Ariel is Belindas guardian Sylph, who oversees an army of invisible protective
deities. Once a coquettish woman during his human life, he is now an air spirit
who protects virginal women with the aid of an army of Sylphs. Pope takes the
sprites name from the character in Shakespeares The Tempest.
*Umbriel*
Umbriel is a mischievous Gnome, who travels to the Cave of Spleen and returns
with a bag of sighs and a vial of tears which he uses to intensify Belindas despair
at the loss of her hair.
*Brillante*
The sylph who is assigned to guard Belindas earrings.
*Momentilla*
The sylph who is assigned to guard Belindas watch.
Crispissa
The sylph who is assigned to guard Belindas favrite Lock
*Clarissa*
Clarissa is one of the women in attendance at the Hampton Court party. She lends
the Baron the pair of scissors with which he cuts Belindas hair. She later delivers
a moralizing lecture on the ephemeral nature of beauty and the importance of
good sense once a womans looks have faded.
*Thalestris*
Thalestris is Belindas friend. She tries to convince Belinda to avenge the Barons
affront to her honor and is the most vicious aggressor in the battle over the lock.
Appropriately, Pope takes her name from an Amazonian Queen of Greek
mythology.
*Sir Plume*
Thalestriss beau, who makes an ineffectual challenge to the Baron. He
represents the historical Sir George Browne, a member of Popes social circle.
*The theme of The Rape of the Lock*
*_Exhibition of human vanity_*
One of the main themes of The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope is the
representation of human vanity, especially the vanity exhibited by the upper
classes of society.He develops this theme by using the form of the mock epic.
In the poem, Pope narrates the story of a beautiful upper class woman (Belinda)
who has a lock of hair tragically stolen by Lord Petre. Throughout the poem, Pope
represents the vanity of upper class society by staging its primary activities,
including a game of cards and a coffee break, as if they were worthy of epic
literature.
By the central idea of this, Pope is clearly trying to point out the absurd pettiness
and vanity of upper class society
*_Laziness of the Upper Classes_*
The idleness and ignorance of the upper classes plays a major role throughout the
poem. Pope portraits his contemporary society and their lifestyle, who interested
only in trivial matters, such as flirting, gossip, and card games.The epic battle of
ombre, the card game, represents the young aristocrats only opportunity to gain
heroic recognition.
According to Pope, when women die, their spirits live on. What are the four
possible forms these spirits take?
In The Rape of the Lock, Alexander Pope describes four forms a woman's spirit
might go on to take after death. These four forms are based on the four elements.
One of these forms is a Gnome, or an earth spirit, and Pope says that women who
are prudish become Gnomes in their afterlife.
Flirty or coquettish women become air spirits, Sylphs.
Women who are unstable become water spirits or Undines.
Finally, women who are prone to rage become Salamandersfire spirits.
*The game of Ombre in The Rape of the Lock*
The game of Ombre is played in Canto III of The Rape of the Lock. Ombre,
meaning man (hombre in Spanish) is an ancestor to our modern game of Bridge
and was usually played with three people. Pope uses Ombre or card game to
make fun of the way privileged people of his era waste their time and how
seriously they take their ridiculous pursuits. In this particular scene, Belinda plays
against two men, and although she begins with strength, she is nearly beaten by
her rivals, only recovering at the last minute.In keeping with a mockery of the epic
form, Pope describes the card game as if it were a war or a battle between kings
and queens.
*Role of "Muse" refer to The Rape of the lock*
A Muse refers to one of seven sisters in Greek mythology, each of whom were
responsible for a particular branch of art or science.
At the beginning of the poem ,Pope invokes the muse as a symbol of epic poetry
and without revealing it he moves.
By the ending of the poem, using a quote , he talks about the fate of Belinda's
lock of hair and how it became a star that will be remembered forever. It his
thoughts, the Muse who inspired Pope to write this mock epic will transform it
into a star so that it will be remembered forever.
"What is the background behind Pope's "The Rape of the Lock"
The poem's subject is a quarrel between two wealthy families over a lock of hair.
In 1711, a young nobleman named Robert, Lord Petre, who was 21 at the time of
the incident, cut a lock of hair from one of the most celebrated young women in
London society, Arabella Fermor. In any case, rather than laughing off the
incident, the Fermor family decided that Lord Petre had given them an
unforgivable insult, and the relationship between the two families, which had
been good, collapsed. The quarrel, because the Fermor family took the matter so
seriously, began to be an embarrassment for both families, but neither family was
willing to back down. Pope was asked by John Caryll to write the poem in an
attempt to mend a rift between families in a light-hearted manner