Alexander Popes Mock-Epic The Rape of the Lock

Pride is the main theme of The Rape of the Lock and is closely connected to the follies of beau monde that esteem semblances Pope satirizes the irrational materialism of bourgeois values that objectify the human beings by giving primacy to surface over substance. Pope reveals that the central concerns of womanhood at least for women of Belindas class, are social ones. Womans joy in gilded Chariots indicates an obsession with pomp and superficial splendour, while love for Ombre, suggests frivolity. The erotic charge of this social world prompts another central concern the protection of chastity. These women, who value above all the prospect of marrying to advantage, promote themselves and manipulate their suitors. Pope makes it clear that these women are not conducting themselves on the basis of abstract moral principles, but are governed by an elaborate social mechanismof which Slyphs cut a fitting caricature. Through the use of the sylphs Pope managed to point out satirically womans excessive fondness for rank and pomp. And if they could have their way, they would maintain it even after their death.

Popes style is heroic but the invocation, the proposition of the subject, the descriptions, the moralizing sides, the speeches and the battle are practically the only structural features modeled on the epic. The mock-epic or mock-heroic is a form of satire that adapts the sophisticated heroic style of classical epic poem to trivial subject. Mock-heroic exhibits belittlement and aggrandizement. The genre originated in the classical times with an anonymous parody of Homers Iliad and was honed to a fine art in the late 17th and early 18th century Neoclassical period. One epic element of the poem is the involvement of capricious divinities in the lives of mortals. All of the following classical conventions appear in Popes poem the ambiguous dream-warning that goes unheeded prayers that answered only in parts, or with the different outcome than anticipated mischievous plotting by deities to exacerbate situations on earth. A second mock-heroic element is the descriptions of games and altercations in terms of warfare. First the card game, then the cutting of the lock, and finally the scuffle at the end, are all described with the high drama attending serious battles. Pope displays his creative genius in the dexterity with which he makes every element of the scene correspond to the recognizable epic convention. He turns everyday objectsa petticoat, a curl, a pair of scissors, and a hairpininto armor and weapons, and the allegory reflects on their real social significance in new and interesting ways. In the poem every element of contemporary scene conjures up some image from epic tradition or the classical world view. The great battles of epics become bouts of gambling and flirtatious tiffs. Greek and Roman Gods are converted into a relatively undifferentiated army of basically ineffectual sprites. The Baron, of course, is the most significant to those who worship at the altar of Belindas beauty. The ritual sacrifices that he performs in the pre-drawn hours are another mock-heroic element, mimicking the epic tradition of sacrificing to the gods before an important battle of journey. Clearly the poets purpose is neither to ridicule the heroic genre nor to provide a humorous parallel to all principal ingredients of the epic, but to diminish the affair of the lock of the hair. Pope relates into medieval theory of humor where the excess of one determines ones nature. By comparing Belindas radiance to solar radiance, he makes fun of her vanity and her pretensions.

Pope introduces the machinery of the poemthe supernatural powers that watch over Belinda are meant to mimic the gods of the Greek and the Roman traditions. Great scope for description was given by the fact that the Rosicrucian identified their sylphs, gnomes, nymphs, and salamanders at once with the pagan deities and with the Gothic fairies of the Middle Ages. While Pope found in the Rosicrucian doctrine many hints which he could develop, however, the supernatural agents of The Rape of the Lock are essentially his own creation. The creation of the sylphs allowed Popes imagination as much wider scope than before. The epic poets task of arousing admiration was particularly associated with the supernatural machinery of the poem. Pope increased the length of the poem from two cantos to five and added further allusions to the epic as the visit of the Cave of Spleen (parodying the epic visit to the underworld), the game of Ombre (parodying the heroic games), the adorning of Belinda (which parallels the arming of Achilles), and the extensive machinery of the Aerial and the sylphs. Ariel is the head of the spirits guarding Belinda. Ariel has a premonition that some calamity is in wait for Belinda. Thus to protect her, Ariel assigns different functions to the spirits under his control.In spite of all the careful vigilance of the spirits, the lock is raped. The spirits fail to do anything. The episode of Umberiel visiting the cave of Spleen gives an opportunity to the poet to satirize the evil nature and affectation of the leaders and gentleman of his society. It also serves the action of the poem, for Belinda becomes alternatively angry and sad as Umbriel empties the bag of passions and the vial of sorrows over her head. There is no finer gem than this in all the lighter treasures of English fancy. In the ultimate analysis Popes machinery remains a sure proof of his artistic excellence.