The Rape of the Lock Essay example -- The Rape of the Lock Alexander P

The scotch of the Lockpopes portrayal of Belinda and her society in The Rape of the Lock This Lock, the muse shall consecrate to Fame,And midst the Stars inscribe Belindas Name In The Rape of the Lock Alexander pope (1688-1744) employs a mock-epic style to satirise the beau-monde (fashionable human being, society of the elite) of eighteenth century England. The immenseness of the song, however, reveals more than a straightforward satirical attack. Alongside the criticism we flowerpot detect Popes fascination with, and perhaps admiration for, Belinda and the society in which she movements. Pope himself was not part of the beau-monde. He knew the families on which the poetry is based precisely his own parents, though probably comfortably off, were not so privileged or of the class one would piddle to be in to move in Belindas circle. He associated with learned men and poets, and there can have been bitty common ground between the company he kept at Wills Coffee House and those who frequented Hampton Court. The incident at the centre of the poem is the Barons theft of a lock of hair and the ensuing estrangement of devil families. The opening lines of the poem introduce the reader to the satirical stance he is taking towards the society portrayed in the poem.What dire Offence from amrous Causes springs,What aright Contests rise from piddling Things, I.1-2Pope suggests that they are taking a superficial incident too seriously, displaying an exaggerated sense of their own importance. Throughout the poem Pope continues to make this point through his use of the mock-epic style, which itself takes a trivial incident too seriously, and uses disproportionately grand language to describe an pitiful subject. Belinda is belittled earl... ...y men of the age. An affinity between them is revealed by Popes empathy, fine judgements, and carefully aimed criticisms, and Pope must have been at least a little fascinated by the beau-monde to apply his talents to this poem which, in an ironic way, celebrates Belinda and her world and, as Pope himself suggests in the final couplet of the poem, has preserved them for posterity.This Lock, the theorise shall consecrate to Fame,And midst the Stars inscribe Belindas Name V.149-50ReferencesButt, John (Ed). The Poems of Alexander Pope. A one-volume magnetic variation of the Twickenham text with selected annotations. London. Methuen & Co Ltd. 1963. First published in University Paperbacks 1965, Reprinted with corrections 1968. Reprinted 1977BibliographyCunningham. The Rape of the Lock. Oxford University Press. 1971Gordon. A Preface to Pope. Longman. 1976