Alexander
Pope was one of the commanding literary figures of the enlightenment period. He
was a poet, and well known for his satirical and discursive poetry. He was the
one who translated homer works and was famous for The Rape of the Lock and An
Essay on Criticism.
'The Rape of the Lock' is a mock-heroic epic first published in
1712 written on the request of his friend John Caryll who explained that his
friend Peter had cut off a lock of the hair of Arabella Fermor.
In Pope's own words, “The stealing of Miss Belle Fermor’s hair was taken too seriously, and caused an estrangement between the two families, though they had lived so long in great friendship before. A common acquaintance and well-wisher to both desired me to write a poem to make a jest of it, and laugh them together again. It was with this view that I wrote the Rape of the Lock.”
The enlightenment period was full of knowledge, reason, and exaltation of wit emerged top in the scenario of both Horatian and Juvenalian satires, which vividly depicts that contemporary period, which was full of moral corruption, vanities, follies, and trivialities on the other side.
John Dryden, a playwright of the 17th century added. “The true end
of satire is the amendment of vice by correction,” and that is what Pope set
out to do in his “Rape of the Lock.”
Under the umbrella, Pope depicts his society especially targets
the upper class in The Rape of the Lock. Satires through different rhetorical
figures used aimed at pointing out the drawbacks and chastising the hypocritic
society. To eradicate the flaws of society, Pope and Swift work hard by using
different ways.
Satires used by Pope can be truly called social satires in one way
or another because it satirizes the society as a whole. Belinda represents the
vanity of women and vanity while on the other hand Baron aristocratic gentlemen
of the period.
In The Rape of the Lock, Pope employs Horation style delicately
chiding society in a sly but polished voice by holding up a mirror to the
follies and vanities of the upper class. Pope successfully attempts to
highlight the degraded society of Britain delicately and lyrically.
The poem is actually about feminine frivolity because Pope showed
many errors of women especially aristocratic females in the first.
As we see he portrays the lifestyle of Belinda that she wakes up
very late nearly noon.
“Now Lap-dogs give themselves the rousing shake,
And sleepless Lovers, just at Twelve, awake:”
He makes fun of aristocratic females of the period that they were
fond of glided chariots and ombre. These are the vanities of the females that
will remain with them after death.
He writes;
“Think not, when Woman's transient Breath is fled,
That all her Vanities at once are dead."
Pope shows that females are interested in love letters, whatever
they received. Here, again he makes fun by exposing the shortcomings of ladies
for recreation and marked balls.
“With varying Vanities, from ev'ry Part,
They shift the moving Toyshop of their Heart"
He says that women are materialistic and inconsistent in their
love but expecting a lot from her friend. This sentence's verification is
confirmed by this line. “Thy eyes first opened on a Billet doux"
Interestingly, Pope satirizes women from any angle. He further
comments in a very delicate way that upper-class females pay more attention to superficial beauty instead of outer beauty. Many beauty and facial powders
and other things are on Belinda's toilet table.
“Here Files of Pins extend their shining Rows,
Puffs, Powders, Patches, Bibles, Billet-doux.”
Pope satirizes Belinda from the religious perspective as well.
The poet has satirized the system of judges that they, at 4
o'clock, hurried to sign the sentence so that they could have their dinner in
time.
“Meanwhile, declining from the noon of day,
The sun obliquely shoots his burning ray,
The hungry judges soon the sentence sign,
And wretches hand that jurymen may dine;”
The Rape of the Lock is a humorous satire on the upper class of
England, with its cultural and traditional scandals, corruption, follies,
especially focusing the fashionable men and women. Pope depicts his
contemporary society and follies with light ridicule. He wants to correct the
wrong prevailing customs of society and introduces us to a world of frivolity.
Both Swift and Pope want to eradicate the social evils to reform it in a new
way. Their purpose was didactic.
Here it will be enough important to compare the enlightenment
period, its features with The Rape of the Lock. How was the British society and
which social evils are found in Pope's epic poem?
Some major characteristics of Enlightenment period literature are
under below with comparison:
1. The writers of the 18th century followed the classical and
Greek literature and models of poetry, same here in The Rape of the Lock
classical elements are obvious.
2. The purpose of poetry was to be didactic and teach something to
reform society. Alexander Pope also highlights the social evils and his
foremost mission is to purify society.
3. When the society is upset or against nature, society collapses
and could face the severe consequence of the catastrophe. Human society should
be ordered, balanced, and fair. These things are taken up in The Rape of the
Lock as well.
4. One of the most prevailed styles of eighteenth-century poetry
was to use satire through the different rhetorical figures to correct the wrong
customs of society. Pope used satires as well but with a humorous effect.
That's why we called it a mock-heroic epic.
5. The Rape of the Lock exactly
following the traditional styles of the Augustan period. The division of the
poem is into different major sections or cantos shows the assimilation.
6. Use of supernatural machinery
is the characteristic of both classical and Enlightenment periods. Pope also
employs gods, demons, angels, and muses as a source of inspiration. These are
used in Greek literature as well.
By following the tradition of
Epics, his soldier Belinda is prepared for her defense with combs and pins.
In-depth epics can be described as the armor and weapons that soldiers use in
fighting. Here Pope uses the same way.
“Here files of pins extend
their shining rows / puffs, powders, patches, Bibles, billet-doux / now awful
Beauty puts on all its arms”
7. Most people agree that satire
is the criticism of life and exposure to human weaknesses, follies, absurdities,
and shortcomings. The satirist uses humor, wit, mockery, ridicule, and irony to
achieve his goal - his moral end.
John Dryden says that "The
true end of satire is the amendment of vices by correction,"
Pope uses satire to expose the
follies and defects of his contemporary society. The most vivid satire is the
comparison of Belinda's stolen hair to the abduction of Helen of Troy. The
people at that time mostly engrossed themselves in frivolities and
trivialities. Pope wants the people of England must be worried about important
and significant things not about meager things.
The Rape of the Lock's importance
grows because of its origin as well. This is the first mock-epic ever written
before; is a combination of classical models and satires.
The whole panorama of The Rape of
the Lock is restricted to the 18th-century aristocratic life. The strange
battle fought between the fashionable belles and the beau, the fall of
Dapperwit and Sir Fopling are demonstrative of the hollowness of the people of
this age:
"A beau and witling perished
in the throng
One died in metaphor, and one in
song."
Even the greatest of the great,
the Queen herself is satirized to produce a truly comical and witty effect.
"Here thou, a great Anna
whom three realms obey
Dost sometimes counsel take - and
sometimes tea."
The Rape of the Lock is a true
representation of the eighteenth century. It shows the genius of the Pope for
satirical skills in poetry. It beautifully highlights the social evils,
follies, and absurdities at a time with the utmost brevity, which makes Pope
the greatest and commanding literary figure of the enlightenment period. It is
unique because the Pope uses all the rhetorical well-known figures effectively.
It is obvious that the main
purpose is to regenerate the society, but Pope Targets upper the aristocratic
class especially females. The moral bankruptcy of the ladies is further exposed
when Thalestries points out the need for sacrificing everything, even purity,
for the sake of popularity.
"Virtue might be lost, but
not a good name:
honor forbid! at whose unrivaled
shrine ease
pleasure, virtue all our sex
resigns."
Pope exposes the hollowness and
emptiness of the ladies which of course, amuse us. Even their chatting cantered
around sex, dancing, and singing. "At every word a reputation dies."
The Rape of the Lock assimilates
the masterful qualities of a heroic epic, yet is applied satirically to a
seemingly petty egotistical elitist quarrel. At the time of Pope Epics were
very highly regarded especially John Milton's Paradise Lost because of its
subject matter and allegorical references. Pope also employing and copying the
methods to generate a huge impression and ultimately succeed but in a humorous
way. Despite the likeness to historical epic pieces, this work displays a light
and playful tone, which illuminates the idiosyncratic nature of the poem's
central conflict, the Baron stealing, or raping Belinda's illustrious lock of
hair.
The overall work of Pope shows
heavy dissatisfaction over his society. Both Pope and Swift try to illuminate
and highlight their contemporary society but in a different way. Of course, Pope's
struggle is effective to eradicate society and gives them a new positive
direction, which helps them a lot politically, socially, religiously, and
financially.
The poem is a bright example of
mock-epic which reflects the degraded society of England with humorous and
delicate satire.
It depicts the idle life of the
pleasure-seeking young men and women and introduces to us to world of fashion
and follies. The pleasures these classes of people are engaged in are -
flirting, card-laying, driving in Hyde Park, visiting theatres and writing love
letters.
Pope's satire is didactic and
aimed at reforming society. It is full of wit and intellect which inspires the
reader at the very beginning. Lowell is right in saying that "Pope stands
by himself in English verse as an intellectual observer and describer of
personal weaknesses."
According to Pope, we should not
pay attention to trivial things rather focuses on the main and serious issues
of life. He stresses that being able to laugh at once is a key ingredient in
having a successful life.
“But since, alas! frail beauty
must decay,
Curled or uncurled, since locks
will turn to grey,
Since painted“But since, alas!
frail beauty must decay,
Curled or uncurled, since locks
will turn to grey,
Since painted or unpainted, all
shall fade,
And she who scorns a man must die
a maid;
What then remains, but well our
power to use,
And keep good the humor still
whate’er we lose?
And trust me, dear! good humor
can prevail,
When airs, and flights, and
screams, and scolding fail”d or unpainted, all shall fade,
In short, the long discussion can
be summed up in these words.
'The Rape of the Lock' is a mock-heroic epic written by Alexander Pope in 1712. Pope exposes the follies and absurdities of that contemporary age in a humorous way, which leads the people of England to follow the right direction in every field of life in the future. It is a criticism of the vanities of females and the upper class of the eighteenth century who have no proper guidelines and mission in life to go ahead. This criticism is helpful for the people of England to choose the right path. It can be called that he was the true representative of the Enlightenment period.
