The success of his Essay on Criticism (published in 1711) brought Pope a wider circle of friends, notably Richard Steele and Joseph Addison, who were then collaborating on the journal The Spectator. To this journal Pope contributed the most original of his pastorals, “The Messiah” (1712). He was clearly influenced by The Spectator’s policy of correcting public morals by witty admonishment, and in this vein he wrote the first version of his mock-epic, The Rape of the Lock (two canto version, 1712; five canto version, 1714), to reconcile two Catholic families. It was John Caryll who brought the family quarrel to the attention of Pope. Lord Petre had stolen a lock of Miss Arabella Fermor’s hair, which caused an animosity between the Petres and the Fermors, who had lived in great friendship before. Caryll had been staying with Lord Petre at Ingatestone in Essex, which was the assumed setting of the ‘rape’.1 “Caryll suggested that Pope should ‘write a poem to make a jest of it, and laugh them together again’.”2 Pope treated the dispute between the families as though it were comparable to the mighty quarrel between Greeks and Trojans, which had been Homer’s theme. Telling the story with all the pomp and circumstance of epic made not only the participants in the quarrel but also the society they lived in seem ridiculous.
“The Rape owes its richness and resonance to its overstructure of powerful, dangerous motifs.”3 With this opinion, Warren rejects the romantic view of the Rape as a ‘filigree artifice’ of the play with the fires of sex and religion, and he substantiates his argument with the notion that religion in Pope’s mock-epic is replaced by the Baron’s and Belinda’s “altars to Pride and Love”.
[...]
1 Cf. eg. Cunningham, J. S.: Pope: The Rape of the Lock. London: Edward Arnold Ltd., 1970 (1st ed. 1961), p. 9f. Hereafter cited as: Cunningham, J. S.: Pope: The Rape of the Lock.
2 Notes to The Rape of the Lock in: Pope, Alexander: The Rape of the Lock. In: Alexander Pope. A selection of his finest poems (Oxford Poetry Library). Ed. Pat Rogers. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994, p. 185. Hereafter cited as: Pope, Alexander: The Rape of the Lock.
3 Warren, Austin: “The Rape of the Lock as Burlesque.” (Extract) In: Critics on Pope. Readings in Literary Criticism (series). Ed. Judith O’Neill. London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd., 1973, p. 81.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
- Introduction
- Pope and the genre of mock-epic
- The Rape of the Lock — A versified mockery of folly and pride
- The plot
- The sylph machinery
- The aim of The Rape of the Lock
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte
Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock, written in 1712, is a mock-epic poem that satirizes the superficiality and vanity of English Augustan society. It tells the story of Belinda, a beautiful young woman whose lock of hair is stolen by the Baron. The poem uses the conventions of classical epic poetry to mock the triviality of the subject matter, highlighting the absurdity of the beau monde's preoccupation with appearances and social status.
- Pride and vanity
- The follies of the beau monde
- The power of beauty and its influence on society
- The contrast between heroic and non-heroic
- The nature of love and its role in human relationships
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel
The poem opens with a description of Belinda's morning routine, which is presented as a sacred ritual of pride and vanity. She is attended by sylphs, spirits of the air, who are charged with protecting her chastity. The Baron, a skilled player of the game of love, seeks to win Belinda's affections, using both trickery and force. The action shifts to Hampton Court, where Belinda and her friends engage in a game of ombre, a card game that is symbolic of the pursuit of love and social status. During the game, the Baron, aided by the Queen of Spleen, manages to cut off Belinda's lock of hair. The poem then explores the consequences of this "rape" on Belinda's psyche, as she descends into a state of melancholy and rage. The final canto sees Belinda's friends attempt to reclaim the lock, but the battle ends in chaos and the lock is lost forever. The poem concludes with Belinda's lock being transformed into a star, signifying the enduring power of beauty and the transience of earthly possessions.
Schlüsselwörter
Die Schlüsselwörter und Schwerpunktthemen des Textes umfassen die Mock-Heroic, die englische Literatur des 18. Jahrhunderts, Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock, die Gesellschaft des Augustanischen Zeitalters, die Rolle der Frau in der Gesellschaft, die Satire, die Oberflächlichkeit, die Eitelkeit, das Aussehen, die Liebe, die Beziehungen, die Macht der Schönheit, die Symbolik, die Spiritualität und die Metaphysik.
- Citar trabajo
- Daniela Esser (Autor), 2001, Alexander Pope's "The Rape of the Lock", Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/6571
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