Anal

ysi
sofAl
exanderPope'
s"TheRapeoft
heLock"
:Cr
it
ical
Appr
eci
ati
on

"
Whatdi
reof
fencef
rom am'
rouscausesspr
ings,

Whatmi
ght
ycont
est
sri
sef
rom t
ri
vi
alt
hings.
"

Al
exanderPope(
1688-1744)

TheRapeoft
heLock

Theoccasionofthepoem AlexanderPope'sTheRapeoftheLockwast hequar rel

betweentwo
ari
stocr
ati
cRomanCat holicf
ami l
i
es.Lordpetre,
inamomentofy out
hfulfr
olichadcutof fa
l
ockofhairfrom MissArabel
la
sFermor
sheadwhi chcausedaviol
entquarrel.Thegentl
esati
re
waswr i
tt
entoreconcil
equarrel
ingfamil
ies.

ThusTheRapeoftheLockwasdedi
cat
edtoMi ssArabel
l
eFermorsbelongi
ngtoa
di
sti
ngui
shedCat
holi
cfamil
y.I
twasdedi
catedtoherasitwastoreconci
leherf
ami l
ywiththat
ofLor
dPetrewhohadcutoffal
ockhai
rfr
om thelady
sheadwhichcausedav i
olentquar
rel.

Comi ngt othet i

tl
ethewordRapei nthet i
tl
emeansv i
olenceonwomen.I nthepoem nowoman
i
st hevictim ofrapebuti
tisthelockofawomannamedBel indathati
srapedbyaf ashionabl
e
Baron.So, thet i
tl
ebri
ngsoutthetri
v i
ali
tyofthesubject-matterandishenceappropri
ate.Again
theti
tleoft hepoem bearslit
erar
yremi ni
scent.Thetit
leisremi ni
scentofShakespeareRoman
mat r
on, Lucrecewheretherapeoft heRomanmat ronLucr ecebyEmper orTarquesarousesa
mostshamef ulandpai
nfulevent
.Italsosatir
ical
l
yreferstot herapeofHelenofSpartabyPar i
s,
theTrojanpr ince.

Thepoem alsorefl
ectsthepictur
eofthecontemporar
ysoci ety
.TheRapeoft heLockmi r
rors
eight
eenthcent
uryelegantsociet
yandl i
fei
nLondonwi thalli
t
sthefashions,fol
lies,f
ri
voli
ti
es
andv i
ces.Thepoem isawi t
tysocial
documentwhichmi rror
sfalsei
deology.Moralit
yintr
igue
debaucherycor
rupti
onsocialscandalsmostl
ysexualpleasureandfashionoftheladiesthe
tawdri
nessofthemor al
ityofthebeau-demonisr
evealedthroughthepoem.
Popei nthemannerofepi cpoet s,Homer,VirgilandMi l
ton,setsf or
thhismockepi cwi tha
proposi ti
onannounci ngthesubj ectandininv ocationtothemuset ohelphim singhowa
dreadf ulconsequencear i
sesf rom aloveaf f
airandaf i
ercequarr elr
esul
tsfr
om av erytri
vi
al
i
ncident .Howev er,PopesTheRapeoft heLocki samockher oicpoem whichi mitatesthe
elabor ateform andceremoni ousst y
leoftheepi cgenr eanditappl i
estoacommonpl aceor
tri
vialsubjectmat t
er.PopesTheRapeoft heLocki st
heper f
ectofmock- heroicpoem.The
char acteri
sti
csofamockher oicpoem -thediscr epancythetri
vialit
yofthesubjectmat t
er,the
Invocat i
ont othemuse, epicsimi l
es,thesonor ousandgr andspeeches, useofepi cmachi nery,
j
our neyt otheunder worl
dt heofamberav oy ageonboar darepr esenther
e.

Thepr oposition,t
heI nvocat iont othemuse, epi cmachi ner yofsyl
phsandgnomes, thejour ney
descr i
pti
onofBel indastoileti ngrandmanner ,theher oi
cbat tl
ebet weent hesexesmaket he
poem anepi c.Fir
stofall Thet erm epicmachi nerymeant heagencyoft hefairybeingcal led
SylphsGnomesDei ti
esandDemonsandangel smadet oacti napoem.Themachi neryaspope
saidsignif
iest hepartthatt hef ai
rybeingpl ayedi nt heepicsanddr amasbyi nterveningi n
humanaf f
airsandassi stingt hemor alpor t
ages.Popeusesi ttoadmi rabl
ehumor ouspur poses
i
nhi smock- her oi
c.Inconf or mi t
ywi t
hclassi calepicswher ethegodsandot hersuper natural
beingar eseeni nter
veningi nhumanaf fairsandt akingsidesandendi ng.Assisti
ngandf ight i
ng
forthisprotgs.Popei nt r
oducest hesy lphmachi neryf orenhancingt hecomi ceffect .Agai n,i
t
i
sRosi crucian.RosicrucianDoct r
ineisthenamegi ventosecr etbrotherhoodsupposedt ohav e
beenf oundedbyChr isti
anRosankr ents.Thedoct rineoft heRosicrucianwasami xt ureof
rel
igionandmagi c.Inthepoem Sy l
phs,gnomes, nymphs, sal
amander sar ement i
onedasbei ng
obtainedfrom t heRosicruci ansour ce.

Popeinvokestot
hemuseintheepi
cconv
ent
ionwhi
chset
sfor
tht
het
hemeofhi
smock-
epi
c.
TheInvocati
onpr
epar
esusfora