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The Rape of the Lock

is a mock-heroic narrative poem written by Alexander Pope.In 'The Rape of the Lock' Alexander Pope (1688-1744) satirises in a mock-epic style the'beau-monde' (fashionable world, society of the elite) of eighteenth century England.Popehimself was not part of the 'beau-monde' because all his family was catholic.But he himself had a lot of frends from those circles. Pope wrote

The Rape of the Lock

inheroic couplets.:“What dire offence from am'rous causes springsWhat mighty contests rise from trivial things““ I sing–This verse to CARYL, Muse! Is due:This, ev'n Belinda may vouchsafe to view “

The source of this work

was a real incident which happened in his circles.. The Poem wasinitially written as an occasional poem concerning a feud between two land-owning, Catholicfamilies, the Petres and the Fermors. The young Lord Petre had cut a lock of hair from thehead of Arabella Fermor, a fashionable young society lady, and both she and her family hadtaken offence. Pope had been told of the incident by his Catholic friend, John Caryll, whoasked if he could write a poem to make a jest /parody of the division between the two familiesand “laugh them together again.”

Characters of the poem

Belinda

Beautiful young lady with wondrous hair, two locks of which hang gracefullyin curls.

The Baron

Young admirer of Belinda who plots to cut off one of her locks.

Ariel

Belinda's guardian sylph (supernatural creature).

Clarissa

Young lady who gives the Baron scissors.

Umbriel

Sprite who enters the cave of the Queen of Spleen to seek help for Belinda.

Queen of Spleen

Underworld goddess who gives Umbriel gifts for Belinda.

Thalestris

Friend of Belinda. Thalestris urges Sir Plume to defend Belinda's honor.

Sir Plume

Beau of Thalestris. He scolds the Baron.

Sylphs, Fairies, Genies, Demons, Phantoms and Other Supernatural Creatures

Summary of a Plot

In the original two-canto poem Belinda, wakes up one morning and joins friends on a river trip up the Thames to play cards and drink coffee at Hampton. In the afternoon, the Baronsnips one of Belinda's favorite locks of hair with scissors provided by one of the ladies -Clarissa. The situation wich occures after the Baron cut off the lock is devastating Belindaand scandalizing the company. Her angry demands for the return of her lock failed, since thislock of hair floats away as a new star at the night skies. In the later 5 canto poem Popeintroduced the whole troop of Sylphs, Fairies, Genies, Demons, Phantoms and Other Supernatural Creatures and their superior Arial who were to protect the Belinda

Canto 1

The Rape of the Lock begins with a passage describing morning routines of a wealthyhousehold., where Belinda is still asleep. She has been dreaming. The dream is of a handsome

youth who tells her that she is protected by "unnumber'd Spirits"--an army of supernatural beings who once lived on earth as human women. The youth explains that they are theinvisible guardians of women's chastity. The sylph Ariel, the chief of all Belinda's protectors,warns her in this dream that "some dread event" is going to befall her that day, and she should"beware of Man!" Then Belinda awakes.She forgets all about the dream when a love letter isdelivered to her. She then at the dressing table prepares herself for the day's activities.Here we can see the extend of Belinda's vanity which Pope composed into passagedescribing her morning toilette.

....“And now, unveil'd, the

Toilet

stands display'd,EachSilver Vase in mystic Order laid.First, rob'd in White, the Nymph intent adores WithHead uncover'd, the

cosmetic

Pow'rs.A heav'nly Image in the Glass appears, To that shebends, to that her Eyes she rears;Th' inferior Priestess, at her Altar's side,Trembling,begins the sacred Rites of Pride......“

This passage can be also interpreted as a kind of a cosmetic mass. Everything lies prepared, ready to serve Belinda.

Canto 2

Belinda sets out with her friends by boat on the river Thames for Hampton Court Palace. Sheis the most beautiful of all the company. Her most charming feature are the two curles of hair on her neck. One of the young gentlemen on the boat, the Baron, particularly admiresBelinda's curles and wants steal them for himself. He is praying to all Gods on his knees towin the locks. He was granted a half of his pray – one lock. There Ariel sends Belinda anextensive troop of 50 sylfs bodyguards. In this canto we can see a real image of the wealthysociety and the values typical for the reach women : beauty and vanity wich they are proud of.

Canto 3

The boat arrives at Hampton Court Palace, and the ladies and gentlemen and Belinda sitsdown with two of the men to a game of cards. They play ombre, a three-handed game of tricks and trumps, somewhat like bridge, and it is described in terms of a heroic battle:...

“ Four

Knaves

in Garbs succinct, a trusty Band, Caps on their heads, and Halberds intheir hand; And Particolour'd Troops, a shining Train, Draw forth to Combat on theVelvet Plain“

...... the cards are troops combating on the "velvet plain" of the card-table.Belinda, under the watchful care of the Sylphs is winnig througout the game. The next ritualamusement is the serving of coffee. The curling vapors of the steaming coffee remind theBaron of his intention to cut of Belinda's lock. Clarissa one of the members of the groupdraws out her scissors for his use and he tries three times to clip the lock from behind withoutBelinda seeing. The Sylphs protect the courls but at the end Baron wins when he cuts off thelock while Belinda's screams fill the air.

Canto 4

Belinda's "anxious cares" and "secret passions" after the loss of her lock are equal to theemotions of all who have ever known "rage, resentment and despair." After the disappointedSylphs withdraw, an earthy gnome called Umbriel fills Belindas chamber with the contain of two imaginary bags - vials one full of sighs, sobs and passions another one full of sorrow andself pitty. There to commiserate with Belinda is her friend Thalestris. (In Greek mythology,Thalestris is the name of one of the Amazons, a race of warrior women who excluded menfrom their society.) Thalestris then goes to Sir Plume, "her beau," to ask him to demand that

the Baron return the hair. Sir Plume makes a weak and slang-filled speech, to which the Barondisdainfully refuses to obey. Belinda mourns her fate, regrets not having heeded the dream-warning, and laments the lonely, pitiful state of her sole remaining curl.

Canto 5

The Baron remains impassive against all the ladies' tears and reproaches. Clarissa, whohanded the Baron the scissors questions why a society that so adores beauty in women doesnot also place a value on "good sense" and "good humour." Women are frequently calledangels, she argues, but without reference to the moral qualities of these creatures. Especiallysince beauty is necessarily so short-lived, we must have something more substantial and permanent to fall back on. This sensible, moralizing speech falls on deaf ears, however, andBelinda, Thalestris and the rest ignore her. Belinda and the Baron meet in combat and sheemerges victorious by peppering him with snuff and drawing her bodkin. Having achieved a position of advantage, she again demands that he return the lock. But the ringlet has been lostin the chaos, and cannot be found. The poet says that the lock has risen to the heavenlyspheres to become a star; stargazers may admire it now for all eternity. In this way, the poetreasons, it will attract more envy than it ever could on earth.

MORAL

The moral message in this epic work is given by Clarissa, who handed Baron the scissors andher speach Pope included in specifically for that purpose. It gives us Pope's message to the´fashionable world ´ which is represented by Belinda. Clarissa attacks Belinda's sense of worth as a woman by not accepting the Baron's trick with more grace.It is a plea for maturity and good sense, for virtue and care of the soul; all the things which thesatire has shown to be lacking.The moral, as told by Clarissa in Canto V, is a criticism of Pope's culture. Clarissa is asking :

“... Say, why are Beauties prais'd and honour'd most,?“ “ Why Angels call'd, and Angel-like ador'd?“ and she continues : “ .... How vain are all these Glories, all our Pains,Unless good Sense preserve what Beauty gains....“ .....“ But since, alas! frail Beauty mustdecay,Curl'd or uncurl'd, since Locks will turn to grey,Since paint'd, or not paint'd, all shallfade,....“

Clarissa takes into consideration the beauty of body in contrast to beauty of the soul. Her speach has sound of feminism when explaining what happens to all the beauty which decaysone day.Popes the rape of the lock parodies the serious and elevated style of the clasical epic poem-such as Homers Illiad + Odyssey. . In writing "The Rape of the Lock," Pope imitated thecharacteristics of Homer's epics,Descriptions of Soldiers Preparing for Battle: In

The Iliad

, Homer describes wapons andwar preparations the great Achilles, as well as other heroes. In

The Rape of the Lock

, Popedescribes Belinda preparing herself for the day with combs and pins–with "Puffs, Powders,Patches. Descriptions of Heroic Deeds: While Homer describes the battle of his heroesduring the Trojan War, Pope describes thebattle of Belinda and the Baron during a card gamecalled

Ombre

, which involves three players and a deck of 40 cards.Account of a Great Sea Voyage: In

The Odyssey

, Odysseus (also known as Ulysses) travelsthe seas between Troy and Greece, encountering many perils. In

The Aeneid

, Aeneas travels