Social Satire in Pope’s “The Rape of the Lock” Alexander Pope’s distinct use of satire and mockery make this parody of Ulysses’ “The Iliad”, more socially dramatic and induces much rhetoric. Pope’s “The Rape of the Lock” shows many interesting characteristics and can easily be understood in the terms of early English literature. Through close supervision and examination of “The Iliad”, one can see the similarities and some of different plot twists in which Pope intended. Pope’s “The Rape of the Lock” has biblical teachings throughout in Helps the reader to realize that it is it satirical. Alexander Pope’s “The Rape of the Lock” is very similar to “The Iliad” and can be distinguished as a classical, yet more modern poem with pranks and plot twists (Schaefer, p91). Pope leaves his audience to recall and compare the similarities and differences between old English and original Greek literature as a timeline and guide on how he presumed his writing efforts of “The Rape of the Lock” (Frost, p349). The fact left unknown, is exactly when Pope begin writing “The Rape of the Lock,” and what time he decided to mimic “The Iliad” (Frost, p346). With Pope’s work one may conclude that he knew bringing in biblical passages would indeed provoke the Christian readers to read deeper and ponder upon the verses and biblical inferences made (Gandolfo, p36). Something else the audience is baffled by, is whether he had too much material and crammed it all together making it more confusing and distracting for the reader (Frost, p347). Alexander Pope’s work is considered by many, a parody of the underworld and a journey in which a hero encounters a member of the dead (Baines, p71). Pope does not use the best grammar and punctuation; his sentences are a... ... middle of paper ... ...arvelous job of portraying his characters in a way that is in line with the other elements of this poem and achieves emphasis on vague portions of this poem and to show underlying irony. Works Cited Baines, Paul. “Part II; Work.” Complete Critical Guide to Alexander Pope (2000): 47-149 Literary Reference Center. Web. 8 Feb. 2014. Frost, William. “The Rape of The Lock And Pope’s Homer.” Modern Language Quarterly 8.3 (1947): 342. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 Feb. 2014. Gandolfo, Anita. “Pope’s THE RAPE OF THE LOCK.”, Explicator, 38.1 (1979): 35. Literary Reference Center. Web. 8 Feb. 2014. Jermyn, Scott. “Pope’s RAPE OF THE LOCK.”Explicator 47.2 (1989):16. Academic Search Complete. Web 7 Feb. 2014. Schaefer, Tatjana. “Sir Plume In Pope’s The Rape of the Lock: A Parody of Homer’s Ulysses.” Anq 25.2 (2012): 91-95, Academic Search Complete. Web. 7 Feb. 2014.
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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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“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 ...
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