Literature of the Neo-classical Period

6 November, 2022

          Hello dear friends, here I am writing a blog on 'The Rape of the Lock' : A Social Satire.

              The Rape of the Lock 

            

∆ 'The Rape of the lock', A social satire : 

   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.

 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 the 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. The Pope successfully attempts to highlight the degraded society of Britain delicately and lyrically.

  In general, Belinda is a character in the poem "The Rape of the Lock" who represents the upper-class ladies of the day. In this role, she reflects the follies and frivolities of the era's female characters, and she does it well. Using the fictitious identity she has established for herself, Pope has satirized the frivolities of women. Some of the most caustic statements are those that appear when Belinda is portrayed to be awakening from her bed. In the morning, she sleeps till the small hours of the morning. Her lap dog licks her on the cheek, jolting her out of her slumber. The poet makes fun of the fact that women spend much too much time worrying about their beauty and self-decoration in his poem.

   The poem is actually about feminine frivolity because the 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 were fond of gilded chariots and ombres. 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 on fashionable men and women. The 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.

   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; it 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 Dapper Wit 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 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 Thalestris 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." 

   The 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 employs 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 the 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, the 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 us to the 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 the Pope, we should not pay attention to trivial things, rather focus 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.

    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. The 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.

Thank you...

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