In Rape of the Lock, Alexander Pope uses the epic form to satirize 18th century English society. The mock epic’s protagonist, Belinda, portrays a duality of women as both materialistic and chaste beings. This duality, dictated by society, shows contradictory values. Belinda’s duality illustrates itself best in the toilette scene at the end of Canto I. In this scene, she functions as an epic hero readying for battle, yet she merely gets ready for the day. Her toilette displays both cosmetic goods and religious symbols, showing equal importance to both her beauty and her religion. What does Belinda’s duality in the toilette scene symbolize about the function of women in both The Rape of the Lock and 18th century English society?
Typically, an epic poem details an adventure of a hero or warrior. In Rape of the Lock, Pope utilizes Belinda as his heroic figure, which creates a stark contrast between her and classic epic hero, such as Beowulf. Instead of getting ready for battle, Belinda beautifies herself in order to look appealing to men. Upon looking at herself, Belinda immediately notices her beauty, “A heav'nly Image in the Glass appears/To that she bends, to that her Eyes she rears” (Canto I, line 125). Pope writes a mock epic because it allows him to take an insignificant scene – in this case, Belinda putting on her face – and raises its significance using the poetic form. Belinda’s beautification lacks significance, but the subtext shows the importance of beauty and materialism to her. The toilette scene also shows the frivolity of bourgeois society, of which Belinda belongs to, and its emphasis on materialism.
Belinda’s shows her materialism through the many cosmetic items on her vanity. Her items include, “The Tortoise ...
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...s Belinda as both a saintly and licentious figure. He first describes her as being “rob’d in White” (I, 123), which creates an image of her as pure and chaste. He also describes her image as “heav’nly (I, 125) and later refers to her as a Goddess (I, 132). She also uses powders so that she appears as pale as possible. Pope’s language sets her up as a pious figure that appears pure and angelic, but undercuts that image by showing her attention to beauty. Belinda exhibits a spiritual shallowness that allows her to fall between the image of a Madonna and a whore. This furthers her duality, in that she wants to look beautiful but needs to adhere to certain levels of acceptable beauty. She cares enough about her appearance to adorn herself exquisitely, but also cares about looking as pure as possible. If she did not appear pure, then others would not view her as chaste.
Hatto, A. T., gen. ed. "Heroes and Heroines." Traditions of Heroic and Epic Poetry. Volume Two: Characteristics and Techniques. London: The Modern Humanities Research Association, 1989.
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.
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Although, the purpose of this text was to fit such description as the “epic poem”, ...
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In order to see how Gray’s Ode on the Death of a Favorite Cat uses mirrors the style of the mock epic, we must pinpoint features and conventions of epic literature. One common feature of the epic is that there is commonly a huge amount of focus on an object of desire. In the case of a mock epic, the object in question is given a disproportionate amount of importance. In Alexander Pope’s mock epic The Rape of the Lock, the main object of desire is Belinda’s lock of hair. As the lock is an object that the Sylphs surrounding her are tasked to guard, is it treated is something sacred, and becomes a symbol of Belinda’s chastity. In the case of Ode on the Death of a Favorite Cat, the goldfishes are treated as the object of desire. The fishes take on “angel forms” and don hues of purple and gold – regal colors that give the fishes a disparate sense of importance and entice the cat towards the fishbowl. This flattering...
“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 ...
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 end, a story that appears to poke fun at the carefree lives of upper class women actually gives great appreciation to the subtle powers women hold over men. It could be argued that one of the most important powers of women is that of controlling men with their trivial problems and needs. Perhaps Pope was demonstrating women's skill in controlling men by simply playing the part of the vain shallow debutant. Whatever his intentions were it is clear that Alexander Pope did not in fact find the women of his time to be completely powerless, instead they were the driving forces of the household and of society.