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Poetic devices in the poem Rape of the lock by Alexander pope
Poetic devices in the poem Rape of the lock by Alexander pope
Poetic devices in the poem Rape of the lock by Alexander pope
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Alexander Pope’s epic Rape of the Lock, is essentially a lampoon of traditional epic literature. It is teeming with comparisons between the main character Belinda’s actions, and Homer’s Achilles, Virgil’s Aeneid, and Greek mythology in general. Her character’s image is painted as vain and unconcerned with consequential matters, unlike that of Achilles’ character from Homer’s Iliad; however he was full of wrath and pride resembling that of Belinda’s traits. But, that is where most corresponding attributes end; the scales in which both play out as an epic are far from akin. Although her overall character seems to only be concerned with her charms, Pope consistently describes her in an almost hero like manner, and her quest has become to retrieve her most precious lock that she has lost. Throughout the poem her most trivial actions are glorified and exaggerated with comparisons to Greek heroes and wars, such as Achilles and the Trojan War, when in reality she is simply a vain woman who has lost a lock of her hair due to it’s unblemished beauty, and her quest for the seized lock is a matter that is completely frivolous and has no benefit in pursuing. Essentially that is what Pope is saying, that the high class woman of his time are petty, impractical, and vapid; he parodies Belinda’s actions with comparisons to the epic to drive that concept further.
In the first Canto of The Rape of the Lock, Ariel, her guardian Sylph, speaks to her in a dream, warning her of what is to come, while at the same time echoing Virgil’s Aeneid when the hero Aeneas is visiting the underworlds Elysian Fields:
Think not, when woman’s transient breath is fled,
That all her vanities at once are ...
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...e nature of events transpiring, she does not exalt herself; the maiden is compared to a hero, but can never be truly recognized as one.
Works Cited
Greenblatt, et al. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. New York: N.W.
Norton & Company. 2013. Print.
Cohen, Ralph. “The Reversal of Gender in "The Rape of the Lock." South Atlantic Bulletin, Vol. 37. No. 4 (Nov. 1972): Pages. 54-60. Web. 21 March 2014
Frost, William. The Rape of the Lock and Pope’s Homer. Modern Language Quarterly. Vol. 8. No. 3 (Sep47): Pages. 342-354. Web. 21 March 2014
Schaefer, Tatjana. “Sir Plume in Pope’s The Rape of the Lock: A Parody of Homer’s Ulysses.” A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes, and Reviews. Vol. 25. No. 2 (2012): Pages. 91–95. Web. 21 March 2014
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... Ironically, this has occurred because of the folly of the men, almost making up for the double standards exercised in the beginning…But not quite. Hero should not have had to depend on the men to regain her honor. Works Cited
Throughout modern history the ancient Greeks and their stories have influenced our culture and way of life. Many of the ancient Greek myths are those of caution that teach us moral lessons. For example, the myth of Odysseus and the sirens, told by Homer in The Odyssey, teaches us to resist the urge to indulge in temptations. Odysseus and his crew are travelling near the island of the sirens when Odysseus plugs the ears of his crewmates with beeswax and has them tie him to the mast so that he can listen to the sirens’ song and not crash their ship onto the rocks as they pass the island. Odysseus and his crew safely pass the island of the sirens without any casualties and continue on their journey home. Author Margaret Atwood and artist John William Waterhouse both display their brilliant ideas about the myth of Odysseus and the sirens using poetry and painting. Both Ulysses and the Sirens by John William Waterhouse and “Siren Song” by Margaret Atwood use the myth of the sirens to show that during their lives, people often encounter bad temptations that can lead to their demise and should pay no attention to such temptations.
In terms of gender ideals of medieval society, the main characters in the story are very conventional. To begin with the story meshed nicely with the social conventions that Gayle Rubin explains in Traffic of Women. Accor...
This essay explores the role of women in Homer's Odyssey, James Joyce's Ulysses (1922) and Derrick Walcott's Omeros (1990), epics written in very different historical periods. Common to all three epics are women as the transforming figure in a man's life, both in the capacity of a harlot and as wife.
To begin, in The Rape of the Lock, Alexander Pope uses satire to invoke a capricious, melancholy mood to illustrate the absurdity of fighting over the cutting of one's hair. Hidden inside this poem is a crafty criticism of the society that helps create the crisis over the stolen lock. A Society in which appearances ere more important to a person’s sense of identity, and treats the insignificant with utmost importance.
Murray, Judith Sargent. "On the Equality of the Sexes." Ed. Paul Lauter.The Heath Anthology of American Literature, third edition. Volume 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1992. 1058-1064.
In the 1930s, who would have perpetrated violent acts against women in the name of sexual gratification yet still hold expectations that women take care of them? By making men in general the placeholder for “you” in the poem, it creates a much stronger and universal statement about the sexual inequality women face. She relates to women who have had “a god for [a] guest” yet it seems ironic because she is criticising the way these women have been treated (10). It could be argued, instead, that it is not that she sees men as gods, but that it is the way they see themselves. Zeus was a god who ruled Olympus and felt entitled to any woman he wanted, immortal or otherwise.
Smith Susan L. “Neither Victim nor Villain.” Journal of Women’s History Vol. 8 No. 1
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Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock is not studied and admired only because of its style and form, but also for its base content and underlying themes. Pope's ability to manipulate text into mock-heroic form, constructing a flow of satirical description is what makes this poem one of such quality.
“The rape of the lock” is a satiric poem which treats a trivial subject, with the sophisticated language and heroic style of the classical epic. Pope addresses a variety of ideas ...
On the surface, The Rape of the Lock is a retelling of an episode that caused a feud between two families in the form of an epic. One might believe that in his version, Alexander Pope portrayed the women of the story as shallow, vain little girls, however on a deeper level the women are crucial to the story. Aside from not being as helpless as they appear, each woman possesses a different kind of power that contributes to their character greatly. Rather than being the conceited and shallow figures expected of the time period, the women in The Rape of the Lock posses more power than meets the eye.