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Essay on the rape of the lock
The rape of the lock as a mock epic poem
Literary feature in the rape of the lock
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In classic literature it is considered a sin to think too highly of yourself, having too much pride or vanity would lead to feelings of dislike by people of your class. The reason you would be disliked is because your peers will get annoyed with you. In “The Rape of the Lock,” by Alexander Pope, he takes that distaste and annoyance toward people to a whole new level. In this now classic new twist on epic poetry, it’s timeless characters can be anyone from any time period.
Pope’s version of epic poem is a very welcome twist to an old classic. He took the original traits of the poem and revamped it to become his own.
The Rape of the Lock is a poem in which things, not people, are the heroes. The diminution of the human, made ridiculous through stylistic aggrandizement, is integral to the poem's mock-heroic effect. Yet if these things "operate almost without human agency" so that people "become objects”(Crehan,2)
The reason this poem is so different and grabbed the attention of so many is because it took the plain old hero fighting battles to save a kingdom to having the hero being the outside force, the Sylphs, controlling the humans to do their biding and to teach everyone a lesson. Some aspects though are still kept the same like any other epic poem, the couplets and the beat of the rhyme scheme. It is much shorter then the epic poem “Beowulf,” but it still is written in the same way. Pope’s poem consists of five couplets in the new version that he published in 1717 when he added Carlissia’s good humor speech. (1136)
Vanity in the eightieth century was something seen a lot in women of the upper class, who believed that they were the most beautiful creatures that anyone would ever lay their eyes on. In this tale, that ...
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...f dead without her hair. I believe the Sylphs have gotten what they wanted.
I believe that along with vanity the theme of this poem is that the beauty on the outside is not everything. It is the beauty within that really matters. I believe this is true because once the Baron saw inside her heart, he was able to find the strength to make her, his. He could see that deep down she wanted to be loved on the inside, she wanted someone to take her.
Bibliography
Alchin, L.K. Courtly Love. 16 November 2008. 27 Octuber 2010 .
Chrehan, A.S. "The Rape of the Lock and the Economy of "Trival Things"." Eighteenth-Century Studies 31.1 (1997): 2.
Pope, Alexander. "The Rape of the Lock." Noggle, Lawerence Lipking and James. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Vol. A. New York: WW Norton & Company, 2006. 1136-1155.
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
The Beowulf and Dante 's Inferno are both epic poems which are still widely read, and in both works, the protagonist experiences a journey. In most ways, however, these two poems and these two journeys are nothing alike. These to text are based on a hero’s journey but they have a couple of things that aren’t the same. A hero’s journey describes the typical adventure of the archetype known as The Hero, the person who goes out and achieves great deeds on behalf of the group, tribe, or civilization. Both Poems are very alike but there is things in their journey that set them apart.
The very title of this mock- epic gives the audience a clue, the word "rape" and all its implications bring to mind a heinous crime of violation.
Frith's article entitled Sex, smallpox and seraglios: a monument to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu was written in order to show the way life was for a woman in the eighteenth century. Her article illustrates what the role of men and women were during the 18th century. Furthermore, it shows what happened to women when they broke through these societal restrictions. There were three underlying points in Frith's article, she mainly focused on; the restrictions that women had in society, the extreme importance of beauty in western society and the societal differences between western society and eastern society regarding women. Frith is also trying to show that our world has not changed that much in the years since Montagu was alive, and that in the West women are still placed below men in many job situations and beauty is still extremely highly regarded. In the East, the world has changed even less in some ways, where many of the customs from the 18th century are still very predominantly practiced.
Goblin Market” was considered to be a fairy tale however the poem had various erotic exploration of sexual fantasy, commentary on capitalism and the Victorian market economy. It is also interpreted about temptation, yearnings and atonement. On the other hand, “The Rape of the Lock” commented on human vanity and the custom of romance as Pope inspected the abused position of women. He’d pointed out that society recognized the upper class in a serious manner however they are in a frivolous manner. He’d used the poem to mock the noble and their lifestyles. “Goblin Market” and “The Rape of the Lock” related to each other as both poems have a significance of victimhood and hair being cut off.
Greenblatt, Stephen, and M. H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 9th ed. Vol. A. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. Print
The unchanged splendor of their toilettes and the opulence of their flesh signified the social status and the monetary power of their fathers, husbands, or lovers, who amassed wealth but did not exhibit it.”
Translations of the epic Beowulf vary in a plethora of different ways. Most authors will over-glorify the poem to the point where it becomes unrealistic and sprawling. This is why I prefer Heaney’s translation; His translation is down-to-earth and keeps the reader wanting to turn the page. He also does not glorify Beowulf overzealously, which brings a sense of normality and flaw to his character, something needed in every single character. He also brings the necessary flaws to other characters, such as Gren...
“There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles,” George Eliot. Beauty has caused men to move mountain, and jump through countless hoops. It is a quality that is subjective and affects the beholder differently. In Poe’s Ligea and Hawthorne’s The Birthmark, Ligea, Rowena, and Georgina all had different orders of beauty that similarly affects how their husbands saw them. In these two pieces of literature there was an exaltation of beauty as an abstraction that hid the depth of the women and led to deceit and the sense of superiority in their husbands.
Sontag introduces her essay to the audience by establishing a focal point around the fact that women viewed today are derivative from the religious perspective of how women were viewed in history. During the ancient times, Greeks and Christians practiced their own methods of analyzing and critiquing women and their beauty. The Greeks believed that the lack of ‘inner” beauty could be compensated with “outer” beauty. They distinguished the two beauties in a way that suggested that both were interconnected to one another within an individual. The preference and priority was given to the ‘outer’ beauty, while the ‘inner’ beauty would be kept at bay. Christianity, on the other hand, gave moral significance to beauty; in defining beauty, or words of physical character to be associated with woman and feminine. Gradually, Sontag introduces the distinguishable beauty between men and women. She does this by recapitulating how in a Christian religion, a woman’s body was parted into many sections to be judged and scrutinized, while men are visua...
Pope, Alexander. "The Rape of the Lock". The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. M.H. Abrams et al. 6th ed. Vol. 1. New York: Norton, 1993.
Evaluate and respond to the presentations of women in the Romantic period. Feel free to discuss presentations of women, by women (such as Austen’s Persuasion) as well as presentations of women by men (such as the “she” in Byron’s “She Walks in Beauty”). Consider the following questions: are these presentations problematic? What do they tell us about the values and briefs of the Romantic Period? Do any of these presentations subvert (complicate, or call into questions) the time’s notions of femininity?
Aristotle and Alexander Pope have a heavy influence on the poetic community when it comes to comprehension, elements to look for, and writing style and structure. Aristotle is a clear storyteller with a favor towards tragedy with pain and inevitable human suffering. Pope believes that humans should learn by connecting with nature and find what is essential in life. Aristotle has chaotic and vast majority of styles, whole Pope is more clear and concrete, but no matter how they choose their poems there is a sense of concern in each scholar. This concern lies in the community, how they should learn to express emotion, and what qualities in literature are the most important to teach first. This comprehension also relates to your audience being both intellectual observant scholars and entertainment poetics readers because the message needs to be clear enough for both groups, but interesting enough to have people keep writing your stories. Aristotle and Alexander have both had a large influence on the poetic community that has changed the landscape for years to come, and will continue to inspire future
The movie added a twist to give excitement to the viewers, to make Beowulf a man of flaws. The poem had him seem as a hero, a man who did no wrong. No matter what story is told, Beowulf will always remain a
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.