The rape of the lock poem. The Rape of the Lock: Full Book Analysis 2022-10-21
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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 by Alexander Pope Plot Summary
The Tortoise here and Elephant unite, Transformed to combs, the speckled, and the white. The same, his ancient personage to deck, Her great great grandsire wore about his neck, In three seal-rings; which after, melted down, Form'd a vast buckle for his widow's gown: Her infant grandame's whistle next it grew, The bells she jingled, and the whistle blew; Then in a bodkin grac'd her mother's hairs, Which long she wore, and now Belinda wears. Not Berenice's Locks first rose so bright, The heav'ns bespangling with dishevell'd light. For this your locks in paper durance bound, For this with tort'ring irons wreath'd around? Now meet thy fate, incens'd Belinda cry'd, And drew a deadly bodkin from her side. But by this Lock, this sacred Lock I swear, Which never more shall join its parted hair; Which never more its honours shall renew, Clipp'd from the lovely head where late it grew That while my nostrils draw the vital air, This hand, which won it, shall for ever wear. Learn More Conclusion The poem that has been taken into consideration is known to all as The Rape of the Lock that has been written in the eighteenth century by Alexander Pope.
There kept my charms conceal'd from mortal eye, Like roses, that in deserts bloom and die. Thus when dispers'd a routed army runs, Of Asia's troops, and Afric's sable sons, With like confusion different nations fly, Of various habit, and of various dye, The pierc'd battalions dis-united fall, In heaps on heaps; one fate o'erwhelms them all. The heroic couplet consists of rhymed pairs of iambic pentameter lines lines of ten syllables each, alternating stressed and unstressed syllables. For when the Fair in all their pride expire, To their first Elements their Souls retire: The Sprites of fiery Termagants in Flame Mount up, and take a Salamander's name. The poem mocks the men it portrays by showing them as unworthy of a form that suited a more heroic culture. Chang'd to a bird, and sent to flit in air, She dearly pays for Nisus' injur'd hair! Here, he encounters a number of unpleasant things, including the East wind which was thought to cause migraines, the figures of Ill Nature and Affectation, all kinds of horrible phantoms and contorted bodies women turned into objects, men who are pregnant , and the Queen of Spleen herself, a kind of magical being who touches women with melancholy and hysterics. Pope implies that the society of his time has no idea of priority, in that they handle the insignificant with an equal amount of importance as the significant.
So when bold Homer makes the Gods engage, And heav'nly breasts with human passions rage; 'Gainst Pallas, Mars; Latona, Hermes arms; And all Olympus rings with loud alarms: Jove's thunder roars, heav'n trembles all around, Blue Neptune storms, the bellowing deeps resound: Earth shakes her nodding tow'rs, the ground gives way. But this bold Lord with manly strength endu'd, She with one finger and a thumb subdu'd: Just where the breath of life his nostrils drew, A charge of Snuff the wily virgin threw; The Gnomes direct, to ev'ry atom just, The pungent grains of titillating dust. Ah cease, rash youth! Unnumber'd throngs on every side are seen, Of bodies chang'd to various forms by Spleen. In a single piece of his work, he has presented to us the finest appearance to the societal and ethical manners and literary experience of age. Pope distributes his sentences, with their resolutely parallel grammar, across the lines and half-lines of the poem in a way that enhances the judicious quality of his ideas.
The Rape of the Lock revolves around Belinda, whose guardian sylph warns her of disaster but she ignores it and gets ready to go for a party. A mournful glance Sir Fopling upwards cast, "Those eyes are made so killing"? There broken vows and death-bed alms are found, And lovers' hearts with ends of riband bound, The courtier's promises, and sick man's pray'rs, The smiles of harlots, and the tears of heirs, Cages for gnats, and chains to yoke a flea, Dry'd butterflies, and tomes of casuistry. Oh had I rather un-admir'd remain'd In some lone isle, or distant Northern land; Where the gilt Chariot never marks the way, Where none learn Ombre, none e'er taste Bohea! There are many such instances in the poem where Pope employed the classic conventions. It was rich, particularly, in bad epics itself. 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. Pope is not only renowned as a grand comic writer but furthermore as a resourceful artist.
Ozell's translation of the first two cantos of the 17th-century The Trophy Bucket: An heroi-comical poem. Ye know the spheres and various tasks assign'd By laws eternal to th' a? Just in that instant, anxious Ariel sought The close recesses of the Virgin's thought; As on the nosegay in her breast reclin'd, He watch'd th' Ideas rising in her mind, Sudden he view'd, in spite of all her art, An earthly Lover lurking at her heart. This in turn makes it tricky to judge their actions. Belinda rushes at the Baron and blows snuff into his nose, with the help of the gnomes, fulfilling his earlier comment that the lock could only be taken from him if air stopped filling his nostrils. Behold, four Kings in majesty rever'd, With hoary whiskers and a forky beard; And four fair Queens whose hands sustain a flow'r, Th' expressive emblem of their softer pow'r; Four Knaves in garbs succinct, a trusty band, Caps on their heads, and halberts in their hand; And particolour'd troops, a shining train, Draw forth to combat on the velvet plain.
The Rape Of The Lock As A Mock Epic Poem Essay Example
Instead of gods and goddesses interfering in the happenings taking place in the human lifestyle, sylphs and elves arbitrate, with tasks suitable to their natures The Rape of the Lock Alexander Pope, p. The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope. Safe past the Gnome thro' this fantastic band, A branch of healing Spleenwort in his hand. 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. His warlike Amazon her host invades, Th' imperial consort of the crown of Spades.
Oil paintings by two artists rise a little above this judgment. Resolv'd to win, he meditates the way, By force to ravish, or by fraud betray; For when success a Lover's toil attends, Few ask, if fraud or force attain'd his ends. For, that sad moment, when the Sylphs withdrew And Ariel weeping from Belinda flew, Umbriel, a dusky, melancholy sprite, As ever sully'd the fair face of light, Down to the central earth, his proper scene, Repair'd to search the gloomy Cave of Spleen. The graver Prude sinks downward to a Gnome, In search of mischief still on Earth to roam. There Hero's wits are kept in pond'rous vases, And beau's in snuff-boxes and tweezer-cases.
The grounds of the squabble was the slashing off of a lock of curls by Lord Petre from the leader of Arabella Fermor. Swift to the Lock a thousand Sprites repair, A thousand wings, by turns, blow back the hair; And thrice they twitch'd the diamond in her ear; Thrice she look'd back, and thrice the foe drew near. Works Cited Alexander Pope Biography. Hither the heroes and the nymphs resort, To taste awhile the pleasures of a Court; In various talk th' instructive hours they past, Who gave the ball, or paid the visit last; One speaks the glory of the British Queen, And one describes a charming Indian screen; A third interprets motions, looks, and eyes; At ev'ry word a reputation dies. She goes to her own suitor, Sir Plume, and demands he confront the Baron, which he does to no avail, with the Baron declaring that he will not give up the lock while his nostrils still breathe air i. Love in these labyrinths his slaves detains, And mighty hearts are held in slender chains.
