Belinda's Duality in Pope's Rape of the Lock

According to Francois De La Rochefoucauld, “Virtue would go far if vanity did not keep it company.” In Rape of the Lock, Alexander Pope uses the epic form to satirize 18th century English high society. The protagonist, Belinda, represents women within her society through her focus on both beauty and piety. Rape of the Lock provides insight into the duality of beauty and chastity, and the struggle for women to encompass both ideals. These ideals, dictated by society, allowed women to fill their roles as a proper wife and mother. In order to achieve those roles, women adhered to appropriate ideals of beauty and virginity. Belinda fills the role of a traditional woman in 18th century society because she places equal value on beauty and religion. She prides herself on her appearance, yet also displays her religion. Her duality becomes evident in her toilette scene, where she readies herself for the day. Her toilette displays both materialistic goods and religious symbols, providing equal importance to both aspects of her identity. Pope uses Belinda as a symbol for women during the 18th century; she conforms to societal pressures by remaining both beautiful and chaste, a duality which creates a contradictory identity.

Belinda’s toilette scene displays importance because it introduces the duality of beauty and piety. Pope first accomplishes this by heightening the significance of her getting ready by making it into a religious event. Pope describes her vanity as an “altar” and the act of getting ready as “…the sacred Rites of Pride” (I, 127). By doing this, Pope highlights the significance of beauty within their society. Belinda goes through a ceremonial event just to leave the house because she needs to adhere to beauty ideals. Also, P...

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...oth values to equal importance, creating a conflicting identity. Pope illustrates this duality in her toilette scene, in which getting ready becomes juxtaposed with a religious ceremony. Pope also describes Belinda using words such as “white,” “pure,” and “heav’nly image,” furthering the idea that she is an angelic figure. Moreover, she displays her material and religious possessions equally, which physically shows her conflicting values. Belinda conforms to these societal ideals because she needs to in order to fulfill traditional feminine roles. She must exhibit beauty to attract men, but also chastity and purity to keep them. Belinda holds those values equally because society links them so closely that she cannot differentiate between the two. Her identity reflects the duality for women within society; she conforms to this duality because she knows no different.