Connotations of marriage and social mores in Alexander’s Pope poem “The Rape of the Lock” In the early eighteenth century England witnessed the peak of the tumultuous changes that is presently known as the Age of Enlightenment. Trapped deep within the chaotic changes of politics, religion, art and social mores, Alexander Pope proved a master at exploiting these changes circumstances in order to become an admired poet. (page 558, Wilson) Visible affected by the superficiality of the humankind, Alexander Pope made fun of the real life situations, and commented on the vanity and trivialness of high society during his time. According to Butt John, “Pope suggests that society has no concept of priority, in that they treat the trivial with the same amount of severity as the serious.” (Butt) One of the most brilliant courtship poems wrote by Pope to satirise the social mores and the triviality of his “époque” is “The Rape of the Lock”. The poem presents a real life situation when a young lord stole one of the locks of the one with who he wanted to establish a more intimate relationship. The poem folds neatly on the real life situation and successfully grasps on Pope’s message that people are focusing on insignificant things and they are unable to find their true identities. Say what strange Motive, Goddess! cou'd compel A well-bred Lord t'assault a gentle Belle? Oh say what stranger Cause, yet unexplor'd, Cou'd make a gentle Belle reject a Lord? (l.7-10, Pope) “The rape of the lock” is a satiric poem which treats a trivial subject, with the sophisticated language and heroic style of the classical epic. Pope addresses a variety of ideas ... ... middle of paper ... ...ship, courtship or marriage. Cited works: Butt, John (Ed). The Poems of Alexander Pope. A one-volume edition of the Twickenham text with selected annotations. London. Methuen & Co Ltd. 1963. First published in University Paperbacks 1965, Reprinted with corrections 1968. Reprinted 1977; Damrosch Leopold. The Imaginative World of Alexander Pope; Leopold, University of California Press, 1987; Gillis John R. For Better, for Worse: British Marriages 1600 to the Present. 1985; Pope, Alexander. Cunningham. The Rape of the Lock. Oxford University Press. 1971; Weinbrot, Howard D. Eighteenth-Century Satire: Essays on Text and Context from Dryden to Peter. 2007; Wilson, Ellen Judy, Reill, Peter Hanns. Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment. 2004; Wipprecht ,Claudia. The Representation of Women in Early 18th Century England. 2007.
The Rape of the Lock in an overview seems to paint a picture of human vanity and the rituals of courtship. The poem appears to have a light almost trivial subject- the unwanted cutting of a woman's hair, however the fashionable/upper class world sees this as serious. In more of a detailed reading the poem also portrays the relationship between men and women, in particular with how they are more concerned with social status, physical beauty and material values as opposed to their morality and character.
Everett, Nicholas From The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-century Poetry in English. Ed. Ian Hamiltong. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994. Copyright 1994 by Oxford University Press.
Pope moved Twickenham in 1717 there he received visitors just about everyone, attacked his literary contemporaries although notable exceptions were Swift and Gay, with whom he had close friendships and continued to publish poetry. He died May 21, 1744 at Twickenham Village. He wrote a poem called the Essay of a Man in 1733-1734) Pope examined the human condition against Miltonic, cosmic background. Although Pope's perspective is well above our everyday life, and he does not hide his wide knowledge, the dramatic work suggest than humankind is a part of nature and the diversity of living forms each beast, each insect, happy in its own.
Very different from traditional writings of the past was the new flourish of troubadour poetry. Troubadour poetry, derived of courtly romances, focused on the idea of unrequited love. “A young man of the knightly class loved a lady”, most often, “the lady was married to the young man’s lord”. The courtly lover would compose highly lyrical and erotic poems in honor of his lady, and the troubadour was filled with rapture even at the slightest kindness that the lady might offer him.3 This new literary artifice provides us clues to the cultural changes that took place in medieval Europe during this time.
To begin, in The Rape of the Lock, Alexander Pope uses satire to invoke a capricious, melancholy mood to illustrate the absurdity of fighting over the cutting of one's hair. Hidden inside this poem is a crafty criticism of the society that helps create the crisis over the stolen lock. A Society in which appearances ere more important to a person’s sense of identity, and treats the insignificant with utmost importance.
Marsden, Jean. I. The Re-Imagined Text: Shakespeare, Adaptation, and Eighteenth-Century Literary Theory. Lexington, Kentucky: University of Kentucky Press, 1995.
The voice of the text presents a view on sexuality and sexual desire through Claudio's brief but nevertheless sharp remark when he is conveyed to prison:
Stillinger, Jack, Deidre Lynch, Stephen Greenblatt, and M H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Volume D. New York, N.Y: W.W. Norton & Co, 2006. Print.
Pope, Alexander. "The Rape Of The Lock". In The Norton Anthology Of English Literature: The Major Authors . Ed. M.H. Abrams et al. 5th Ed. New York: Norton, 1987. 1108-1128
In order to see how Gray’s Ode on the Death of a Favorite Cat uses mirrors the style of the mock epic, we must pinpoint features and conventions of epic literature. One common feature of the epic is that there is commonly a huge amount of focus on an object of desire. In the case of a mock epic, the object in question is given a disproportionate amount of importance. In Alexander Pope’s mock epic The Rape of the Lock, the main object of desire is Belinda’s lock of hair. As the lock is an object that the Sylphs surrounding her are tasked to guard, is it treated is something sacred, and becomes a symbol of Belinda’s chastity. In the case of Ode on the Death of a Favorite Cat, the goldfishes are treated as the object of desire. The fishes take on “angel forms” and don hues of purple and gold – regal colors that give the fishes a disparate sense of importance and entice the cat towards the fishbowl. This flattering...
The poets integrated ?metaphysical conceits? as focal parts of these poems. Along with these, they used effective language as a basis for their convincing arguments, they included subjects of periodical importance (e.g. ?courtship? and ?religion?), and use very clever structures that are manipulated in order to make the poem read in the desired way. The very clear indication of the theme in question was strongly aided by the way in which the personas portrayed the emotions they felt and the way they showed their attitudes towards the subject. Considering all these factors, the poets made critical arguments to the mistresses in order to alter their views, thus changing their minds, on denying the poets the sex that they desired so strongly.
In terms of quality of writing itself, Johnson’s Intellectuals makes for entertaining historical dream. The British author’s intent is to put to test several of the ‘intellectuals’ who exerted cultural and social influence during the Enlightenment period forward to our own time. Johnson writes,
Throughout the course of history, there have come many eras of change and revolution in thought and practise, but none have been as momentous and influential in shaping the modern world as the period of Enlightenment that spread across Europe between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. With the rise of “enlightened” thought came the influx of new writers that brought forth new and stimulating ideas that caused quite a stir in conservative areas of the world. Widely acclaimed writers or philosophes, such as Voltaire, touched upon concerning and hypocritical social norms in satirical pieces in an effort to provide the public with honest commentary of how they saw the world. Next, there was Adam Smith, a writer who in many ways became the
Typically, an epic poem details an adventure of a hero or warrior. In Rape of the Lock, Pope utilizes Belinda as his heroic figure, which creates a stark contrast between her and classic epic hero, such as Beowulf. Instead of getting ready for battle, Belinda beautifies herself in order to look appealing to men. Upon looking at herself, Belinda immediately notices her beauty, “A heav'nly Image in the Glass appears/To that she bends, to that her Eyes she rears” (Canto I, line 125). Pope writes a mock epic because it allows him to take an insignificant scene – in this case, Belinda putting on her face – and raises its significance using the poetic form. Belinda’s beautification lacks significance, but the subtext shows the importance of beauty and materialism to her. The toilette scene also shows the frivolity of bourgeois society, of which Belinda belongs to, and its emphasis on materialism.
In the end, a story that appears to poke fun at the carefree lives of upper class women actually gives great appreciation to the subtle powers women hold over men. It could be argued that one of the most important powers of women is that of controlling men with their trivial problems and needs. Perhaps Pope was demonstrating women's skill in controlling men by simply playing the part of the vain shallow debutant. Whatever his intentions were it is clear that Alexander Pope did not in fact find the women of his time to be completely powerless, instead they were the driving forces of the household and of society.