“Rape of the Lock” is Alexander Pope’s mock-heroic narrative poem written in 1717.
In it, the author describes the life of aristocrats in London of the 18th century. At the same time, the poem may be regarded as a powerful social satire that aims to represent all weaknesses and negative traits of that society, such as emptiness, shallowness, laziness, jalousies, and vanity. This paper is dedicated to the author’s poetic techniques used to satirize his own society.
In general, Pope describes women and men as shallow and weak individuals interested in materialistic, voluptuous, and pleasure-seeking life, silly emotions, and trivial matters. The communication between ladies and gentlemen centers around sex scandals and dance parties (Pushner et al.). They do not have meaningful activities and waste time being preoccupied with dressing up, envy, masquerades, balls, coffee drinking, vulgar jokes, card-play, flirtation, cheap poetry, intrigues, and mundane pleasure. They are involved in multiple intercourses but do not marry. In the poem, Baron sees Belinda’s hair and becomes obsessed with an idea to cut a lock:
He saw, he wish’d, and to the prize aspir’d.
Resolv’d to win, he meditates the way,
By force to ravish, or by fraud betray (Pope)
In the royal palace, he is looking for various ways to do it and finally succeed (Pope). This storyline demonstrates people’s narrow-mindedness and boredom – a man has no other activities and topic for reflection to be focus on a woman’s hair. At the same time, as a moralist of his time, Pope aims to demonstrate the degradation of English society in comparison with previous years when it was almost impossible for a young woman to appear in the street alone and not to attract an offender,
In addition, due to aristocrats’ weaknesses, the most insignificant events and minor incidents, such as the cutting of a lock, become the reason for great disputes and conflicts. The shallowness of society and absurdity of its values are reflected in the following lines:
Then flashed the living lightning from her eyes,
And screams of horror rend th’ affrighted skies.
Not louder shrieks to pitying heaven are cast,
When husbands, or when lap-dogs, breathe their last… (Pope).
The author describes Belinda’s reaction to Baron’s act when he cut a lock. While for a modern individual, this incident is viewed as unpleasant but insignificant, for a 18th-century aristocrat, it is a tragedy. In addition, the deaths of a husband and a dog are compared as similar events in relation to their significance for a woman. Indeed, there are multiple examples of the author’s indirect comparison between things and virtues to demonstrate the insignificance of the latter for society:
Whether the nymph shall break Diana’s law,
Or some frail China jar receive a flaw;
Or stain her honour or her new brocade;
Forget her pray’rs, or miss a masquerade;
Or lose her heart, or necklace, at a ball (Pope).
Here, the author shows that for aristocrats, a China jar, a new brocade, a masquerade, and a necklace are not less important than prayers, heart, or honor.
Throughout the poem, Pope’s satire, irony, humor, and wit is expressed through the use of classical Roman and Greek epics’ style for the description of London’s reality to emphasize people’s flaws. In epics, the description of soldiers and weapons are traditionally presented, and in “Rape of the Lock,” Belinda prepares for a masquerade as for a battlefield with pins and combs as her weapons and armor:
Here files of pins extend their shining rows
Puffs, Powders, Patches, Bibles, Billet-doux
Now awful Beauty puts on all its arms (Pope).
Moreover, the shallowness of society is presented through the introduction of Sylphs. Although they are miraculous creatures, all their responsibilities are centered around silly and meaningless things, such as Belinda’s clothes, accessories, hair, and a dog. Moreover, Ariel’s panic related to Baron’s intention to cut Belinda’s lock is viewed as ridiculous as well.
In his poem, Pope satirizes aristocrats’ all activities, manners, and words describing the most trivial matters as epic ones emphasizing their senseless importance for aristocrats. For instance, a card-play during the masquerade is presented as a real battle that may be addressed by antique poets:
The rebel Knave, who dares his prince engage,
Proves the just victim of his royal rage.
Ev’n mighty Pam, that Kings and Queens o’erthrew
And mow’d down armies in the fights of Lu,
Sad chance of war! now destitute of aid,
Falls undistinguish’d by the victor spade! (Pope).
By this description, Pope aims to show the attitude of society to such a trivial activity that is not more than a game, and aristocrats’ existence does not depend on winning. In addition, scissors, which were given to Baron by Clarissa are described as “a two-edg’d weapon” to mock the non-importance of this moment as well (Pope). At the same time, Belinda’s stolen lock and her emotions are satirically compared to Helen of Troy’s abduction and its consequences to mock aristocrats’ values and behaviour. Due to this incident, multiple people are involved in nasty, frivolous, and meaningful disputes and conflicts.
Throughout the poem, Pope uses multiple poetic techniques to create its powerful meaning. In particular, he applies comparisons, hyperboles, metaphors, and exclamations to demonstrate the exaggerated importance of aristocrats’ words and actions (“The Rape of Lock” As “Social Satire”). He satirizes the non-importance of moral virtues, chastity, and dignity replaces by the search of pleasures. For 18-century society, reputation and appearance were more important than religion and honor. The author mocks at a non-significant thing, such as cutting Belinda’s lock, that is made a huge deal to demonstrate the shallowness if society concerned with trivialities, frivolities, and egoism. Pope aims to show how absurd the society, in which a woman’s stolen lock becomes a substantial problem, looks. The poem demonstrates that people who are interested only in amusement, clothes, and insignificant conflicts degrade.
To conclude, “Rape of the Lock” may be regarded as one of the most brilliant mock-heroic narrative poem of the 18th century. Combining satire with classical models of writing, it aims to demonstrate the emptiness, shallowness, laziness, jalousies, and vanity of English aristocrats preoccupied with materialistic, voluptuous, and pleasure-seeking life. By describing trivial events as epic ones, the author aims to demonstrate the absurdity of their importance for aristocrats. At the same time, the poem shoes how people’s lifestyle leads to their degradation, and a trivial event becomes highly significant. Instead, people should not focus on trivial and meaningless things, such as a lock’s loss, but search for genuinely important matters. Instead of being shocked, outraged, or depressed, they should learn to laugh at themselves and perceive unpleasant events positively.
Works Cited
Pope, Alexander. Rape of the Lock. 1717. Project Gutenberg.
Puchner, Martin, et al. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. 4th ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2018.
“The Rape of Lock” As “Social Satire.” English Literaria.