Alexander Pope s The Rape Of The Lock - 1340 Words

In the world of literature and poetry, it’s typically not hard to find something written about a hero, or something heroic, like an epic. Epics are long poems, typically told orally in ancient times, about the adventures of a hero or heroine and their deeds. The Iliad should immediately come to the mind of any student proficient in western literature. Nonetheless, the themes and archetypes of these works known as epics are so well-known, that they are even parodied, take completely out of context, and pasted on the wall for laughs. One of the most recognized parodies of this kind would be Alexander Pope’s The Rape of the Lock. The Rape of the Lock is a story about taking a minor incident and satirizing it by making it into a huge and important epic of divine proportions. One might think of the phrase â€Å"a tempest in a teapot†, which perfectly describes this poem. In the poem, the main character, a girl named Belinda, has her hair unwillingly cut by a baron, an d the struggle to regain her lost hair even pulls in mythical creatures like sylphs to describe this â€Å"epic† poem. Pope was actually asked to write something like this in order to reconcile two Catholic families, as the hair-cutting fiasco was based off a real event that caused bad blood between the two aforementioned families. The man who requested the poem, John Caryll, hoped that if the two families could laugh about the whole thing, they would put the whole thing behind them and end their estrangement (Rippy, n.p.).Show MoreRelatedConnotations of Marriage and Social Morals in Alexander Pope ´s Poem The Rape of the Lock1344 Words   |  6 Pagesmores in Alexander’s Pope poem â€Å"The Rape of the Lock† In the early eighteenth century England witnessed the peak of the tumultuous changes that is presently known as the Age of Enlightenment. Trapped deep within the chaotic changes of politics, religion, art and social mores, Alexander Pope proved a master at exploiting these changes circumstances in order to become an admired poet. (page 558, Wilson) Visible affected by the superficiality of the humankind, Alexander Pope made fun of the realRead MoreJohn Milton s Paradise Lost And Alexander Pope s The Rape Of The Lock1220 Words   |  5 Pagesmonologues, there is a long journey or quest, the hero earns some sort of prize for accomplishing his goals, and the use of epic similes is apparent. Several of these epic conventions are seen throughout John Milton’s Paradise Lost and Alexander Pope’s The Rape of the Lock. Paradise Lost is predominantly centered on the supernatural. It focuses on the story of Adam and Eve and how they lost their â€Å"paradise.† There are a couple arguments on who the real hero in Paradise Lost is. Some support SatanRead More Milton Vs Pope Essay593 Words   |  3 Pagesof this. Alexander Pope uses this to his benefit when he depicts the crime in The Rape of the Lock. By alluding to Miltonamp;#8217;s work, Pope is able to comically refer to the cutting of a lock of hair as a tragic and epic event. In doing this, he paradoxically assumes that the crime is not one of personal fault, but one fated to happen by God, just as in Paradise Lost. amp;#8220;What dire offence from amorous causes springs, / What mighty contests rise from trivial things,; (Pope, ll. 1-2)Read MoreA Modest Rape : The Eighteenth Century And The Power Of Satire1715 Words   |  7 PagesLinda Rector May 14, 2015 ENG 215 Final Research Paper A Modest Rape: The Eighteenth Century and the Power of Satire During the restoration in the eighteenth century, wit and reason came to the forefront of literary works. Keen intellect and sharp observation exposed moral corruption of the neoclassic British society through the use of satiric literature. Although they placed importance on the ideals of order, knowledge, and rational, there was an underlying obsession with maintaining a faà §ade ofRead MoreMy Last Duchess By Robert Browning And The Rape Of The Lock2224 Words   |  9 Pages â€Å"My Last Duchess† by Robert Browning and â€Å" The Rape of the lock† by Alexander Pope are two poems that convey a theme of love and objectification towards women.For instance, both poems are similar in their use imagery and metaphors to grasp their audience attention. For example, in â€Å"My last duchess† the author shows the wife in the poem as an item controlled by her husband and uses his love for her as an excuse to abuse his power. Her life is ruled by him and she would h ave to deal with his insaneRead MoreRape Of The Lock And Paradise Lost1308 Words   |  6 PagesRape of the lock vs Paradise lost The Rape of the Lock employs many of the traditional epic conventions used in Paradise Lost, but instead of recounting a story of a hero whose actions are of great importance or of national significance, The Rape of the Lock tells one of a timid character that makes an adventure out of the attainment of a fair damsel’s lock of hair. It uses the conventions of an epic poem on a miniature scale and the meaning of the subject is very much trivial. Since epics areRead More The Downfalls of Materialism in Alexander Popes The Rape of the Lock2857 Words   |  12 PagesThe Downfalls of Materialism in Alexander Popes The Rape of the Lock Commodities have been a part of human culture from the start of the first civilizations. They can be crudely constructed or richly made works of art; they are still objects, however. Some people treasure their possessions more than anything in the world. These objects can become the driving force behind a persons life and desires. When someones prized possession is stolen, it may seem as though a disaster has taken placeRead MoreEssay The Mock-Epic and The Rape Of The Lock1067 Words   |  5 PagesThe Mock-Epic and The Rape Of The Lock The argument can be made that the purpose of the Rape of the Lock is to attack the vanity of women. Pope states this directly in his dedication to Arabella – â€Å"to laugh at their sex’s little unguarded Follies,† and the author’s use of the mock-epic seems to reinforce this purpose through its comparison of the epic odyssey to trivial events. In this comparison there can also be found a description of the relationship between the sexes not as a mutualRead More 18th Century Literature Essay648 Words   |  3 Pagespresent. Much of this period focused on public and general themes, until the Pre- Romantic era when literary works began to focus upon personal expression. 18th century literature can be broken down into three main parts: the Restoration, the Age of Pope, and Pre-Romantics. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The literature of the Restoration period covers a time span from Charless recovery of the throne to the years until the expulsion of James II in 1688 or until the death of John Dryden in 1700. TheRead MoreThe Representation of Women in Snow White, Sonnet 130 and the Rape of the Lock704 Words   |  3 Pagesdescriptions of women; â€Å"Snow White†, â€Å"Sonnet 130† by William Shakespeare and â€Å"The Rape of the Lock† by Alexander Pope. This will draw attention to the way that women are often portrayed as we see the common ingredients in their descriptions, as well as any potential differences between them. In both â€Å"Snow White† and â€Å"The Rape of the Lock† women are portrayed as vain and obsessed with their beauty. The speaker in â€Å"The Rape of the Lock† condemns the girl described, Belinda, for her obsession with appearances