Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1. Parody:
Hazlitt has called the poem ‘the perfection of the mock-epic’. It belongs to the
literary type, called burlesque or parody., on a large scale. In it, not a single poem,
but the whole type or style of literature is parodied; the language and thought,
proper to a serious theme are reproduced in describing something ridiculous or
trivial. The eighteenth Century with its passion for the ancients, was familiar with
the whole epic tradition and conventions. It was rich, particularly, in bad epics
itself. Pope makes the framework of his poem a parody of the epic tradition. The
most crucial parallel to epic is the scene which occurs just before the cutting of the
lock, when Ariel discovers the secret longing of the beautiful Belinda. He finds an
earthly lover lurking in Belinda’s heart:
“Sudden he viewd, in spite of all her art,
An earthly lover lurking at her heart.
Amazed to fate, and with sigh retired.”
The situation is apparently an echo of the moment in “paradise Lost” when, after
the fall of Adam and Eve, the angle retire, to heavenly abode feeling sorry for them.
Pope called “The Rape of the lock” a heroi-comical poem. It belongs to the class of
literature called “burlesque”. A burlesque is a parody on a large scale, in which not
a single poem but a whole type of style of literature is parodied, the language and
thought proper to a serious theme being reproduced in setting forth something
ridiculous or trivial.
The burlesque is partly a matter of treatment and partly a matter of language. By
treating an insignificant subject in the manner of an epic the poem parodies that
from poetry. Instead of grand passions and great fights between heroes in which the
immortals take part, we have as the theme of “The Rape of the lock” a petty
amorous quarrel assisted by the spirits of the air. The epic portrays an age round
the personality of a god or semi god, and its characters are heroes. “The rape of the
lock”, on the other hand, gives us a picture of fashionable society. The central figure
in that picture is a pretty society girl, and the other characters are a rash youth, a
foolish dandy and few frivolous women. Instead of deep and genius passions as
found in ancient epics, we come across a succession of mock passions in “The Rape
of the lock”.
2. The Title:
The mock-heroic character of the poem is perceived in the very title. Rape is a
serious moral offence which means the violation of a woman’s chastity by force. It
also refers to the seizure of a lady by some ruffians in grossly inhuman manner. In
any case, rape is a grave crime, affecting the social decency of a human being. Pope
has used this term in an amusing manner. The possession of the hair of Belinda by
the Baron is described by him in a mock vein. The title evokes nothing but the mock
heroic sensation and well indicates the mock-heroic character of Pope’s work.
5. Function of Machinery:
The epic always uses the supernatural element. In “The Iliad” there are gods and
goddesses; in “The Rape of the lock”, there are the sylphs and gnomes. These aerial
spirits are small and insignificant things, and are, therefore, exactly in keeping
with the triviality of the theme. They guard the person of the heroine and when
there is fight between the followers of Belinda and those of the Baron, they take
part in fight, like gods and goddesses in the Trojan War.
Written&Composed By:
Prof. A.R.Somroo
M.A.English&Education.
0661-610063
Khangarh.