The Value Of Physical Beauty In William Shakespeare's 'The Rape Of The Lock'

The value of physical beauty in literature is often hyperbolized and used as a signifier for romance, ingenuity and moral goodness. The subversion of this trope however, gives forth a more nuanced conversation on the role of physical appearance in society and more specifically how it connects to intellect and destiny. The reinvention of the subversion of beauty to reveal its connection, or lack there of to intellect, and to a tragic fate, can be seen along four texts of different genres, generations and social contexts. The Tempest by William Shakespeare (1611) negates the idea that physical beauty is connected to high intellect and knowledge, The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope (1712) subverts a whole society that over-values physical appearance

In this mock-epic Pope is able to both satirize and humanize the flaws of the bourgeois society by cunningly observing and commenting on their rampant narcissism and obsession with public image. Pope’s derisive commentary that questions society’s trivial priorities seconds the nullification of beauty’s role seen in The Tempest. All throughout the poem, Pope illustrates the utter obsession with self-fashioning through the main character Belinda, a girl of extraordinary beauty but little substance. Beauty’s value in the text is laid out in several ways, one of them being the hyperbolized treatment of beautifying rituals. For instnace, in Belinda’s dressing table scene in Canto I silver vases are described as being “laid in mystic order” (Pope I,123) and the Nymphs seem to be praying to the “cosmetic pow’rs” (Pope I, 124). This use of grandiose, quasi-religious language to describe a young girl applying makeup sets up the value of beauty in this society and mocks it simultaneously by over-emphasizing and thus, exposing its ridiculousness. Furthermore, both the Nymphs and Belinda seem to be treating this morning ritual as “sacred Rites of Pride” (Pope I, 128) which not only further emphasizes the importance of these pampering activities, but also illustrates that in this particular society a woman’s sole source of pride seems to come from her outer beauty. Moreover, another example of the incredibly important role that physical appearance has in this society is the high regard for hair, often described as “sacred Hair” (Pope III, 153)— both the diction around “hair” and the capitalization of the word itself conveys its distorted importance for Belinda and those around her. Once Pope, clearly sets this society’s values he powerfully subverts it and reveals how truly shallow, vapid and lacking of intellect these characters are. In Canto