52. The Rape of the Lock-1 (17)

1. Give the Summary of Canto-2

A:- "The Rape of the Lock" begins with a passage outlining the subject of the poem and invoking the aid of the muse. Then the sun (“Sol”) appears to initiate the leisurely morning routines of a wealthy household. Lapdogs shake themselves awake, bells begin to ring, and although it is already noon, Belinda still sleeps. She has been dreaming, and we learn that the dream has been sent by “her guardian Sylph,” Ariel. The dream is of a handsome youth who tells her that she is protected by “unnumber’d Spirits”—an army of supernatural beings who once lived on earth as human women. The youth explains that they are the invisible guardians of women’s chastity, although the credit is usually mistakenly given to “Honour” rather than to their divine stewardship. Of these Spirits, one particular group—the Sylphs, who dwell in the air—serve as Belinda’s personal guardians; they are devoted, lover-like, to any woman that “rejects mankind,” and they understand and reward the vanities of an elegant and frivolous lady like Belinda. Ariel, the chief of all Belinda’s puckish protectors, warns her in this dream that “some dread event” is going to befall her that day, though he can tell her nothing more specific than that she should “beware of Man!” Then Belinda awakes, to the licking tongue of her lapdog, Shock. Upon the delivery of a billet-doux, or love-letter, she forgets all about the dream. She then proceeds to her dressing table and goes through an elaborate ritual of dressing, in which her own image in the mirror is described as a “heavenly image,” a “goddess.” The Sylphs, unseen, assist their charge as she prepares herself for the day’s activities.

2. Comment on the style of the poem.

A:- The opening of the poem establishes its mock-heroic style. Pope introduces the conventional epic subjects of love and war and includes an invocation to the muse and a dedication to the man (the historical John Caryll) who commissioned the poem. Yet the tone already indicates that the high seriousness of these traditional topics has suffered a diminishment. The second line confirms in explicit terms what the first line already suggests: the “am’rous causes” the poem describes are not comparable to the grand love of Greek heroes but rather represent a trivialised version of that emotion. The “contests” Pope alludes to will prove to be “mighty” only in an ironic sense. They are card-games and flirtatious tussles, not the great battles of epic tradition. Belinda is not, like Helen of Troy, “the face that launched a thousand ships”, but rather a face that—although also beautiful—prompts a lot of foppish nonsense. The first two verse-paragraphs emphasize the comic inappropriateness of the epic style (and corresponding mind-set) to the subject at hand. Pope achieves this discrepancy at the level of the line and half-line; the reader is meant to dwell on the incompatibility between the two sides of his parallel formulations. Thus, in this world, it is “little men” who in “tasks so bold... engage”; and “soft bosoms” are the dwelling-place for “mighty rage.” In this startling juxtaposition of the petty and the grand, the former is real while the latter is ironic. In mock-epic, the high heroic style works not to dignify the subject but rather to expose and ridicule it. Therefore, the basic irony of the style supports the substance of the poem’s satire, which attacks the misguided values of a society that takes small matters for serious ones while failing to attend to issues of genuine importance.

With Belinda’s dream, Pope introduces the “machinery” of the poem—the supernatural powers that influence the action from behind the scenes. Here, the sprites that watch over Belinda are meant to mimic the gods of the Greek and Roman traditions, who are sometimes benevolent and sometimes malicious, but always intimately involved in earthly events. The scheme also makes use of other ancient hierarchies and systems of order. Ariel explains that women’s spirits, when they die, return “to their first Elements.” Each female personality type (these types correspond to the four humours) is converted into a particular kind of sprite. These gnomes, sylphs, salamanders, and nymphs, in turn, are associated with the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water. The airy sylphs are those who in their lifetimes were “light Coquettes”; they have a particular concern for Belinda because she is of this type, and this will be the aspect of feminine nature with which the poem is most concerned.

3. Comment on 

"Coquette" and "Sylphs".

A:- Indeed, Pope already begins to sketch this character of the “coquette” in this initial canto. He draws the portrait indirectly, through characteristics of the Sylphs rather than of Belinda herself. Their priorities reveal that the central concerns of womanhood, at least for women of Belinda’s class, are social ones. Woman’s “joy in gilded Chariots” indicates an obsession with pomp and superficial splendor, while “love of Ombre,” a fashionable card game, suggests frivolity. The erotic charge of this social world in turn prompts another central concern: the protection of chastity. These are women who value above all the prospect marrying to advantage, and they have learnt at an early age how to promote themselves and manipulate their suitors without compromising themselves. The Sylphs become an allegory for the mannered conventions that govern female social behavior. Principles like honor and chastity have become no more than another part of conventional interaction. Pope makes it clear that these women are not conducting themselves on the basis of abstract moral principles, but are governed by an elaborate social mechanism—of which the Sylphs cut a fitting caricature. And while Pope’s technique of employing supernatural machinery allows him to critique this situation, it also helps to keep the satire light and to exonerate individual women from too severe a judgment. If Belinda has all the typical female foibles, Pope wants us to recognize that it is partly because she has been educated and trained to act in this way. The society as a whole is as much to blame as she is. Nor are men exempt from this judgment. The competition among the young lords for the attention of beautiful ladies is depicted as a battle of vanity, as “wigs with wigs, with sword-knots sword-knots strive.” Pope’s phrases here expose an absurd attention to exhibitions of pride and ostentation. He emphasizes the inanity of discriminating so closely between things and people that are essentially the same in all important (and even most unimportant) respects.

4. Comment on the portrayal of Belinda.

A:- Pope’s portrayal of Belinda at her dressing table introduces mock-heroic motifs that will run through the poem. The scene of her toilette is rendered first as a religious sacrament, in which Belinda herself is the priestess and her image in the looking glass is the Goddess she serves. This parody of the religious rites before a battle gives way, then, to another kind of mock-epic scene, that of the ritualized arming of the hero. Combs, pins, and cosmetics take the place of weapons as “awful Beauty puts on all its arms.”

5. Give a small introduction to canto I of the poem.

A:- Alexander Pope's

‘The Rape of the Lock’ is an epic poem that perfectly brings out the picture of 18th-century contemporary society.

Canto 1 is a segment of the poem ‘The Rape of the Lock.’ The poem has five parts, known as ‘canto’. Pope banters the newly rich middle class who tried to fake the lifestyle of the aristocracy.

6. What is the historical context of the poem?

A:- Alexander Pope can be considered as one of the major sources of significant political, social, and economic changes. The Bloodless Glorious Revolution of 1688 turned down the Catholic era with Britain’s last Catholic monarch James II and was replaced by his protestant daughter Mary and her Dutch husband William of Orange. Pope mocks the anti-Catholic practices by the protestant believers all over in the poem ‘The Rape of the Lock.’ The 18th century brought industrialization and the spread of British colonial power across the world also affects the poem. Another saying is that A. Pope was narrated by his friend John Caryll whom he mentioned in canto I how Lord Petre, Arabella Fermor’s suitor had snipped off one of her hair locks. Pope also wrote a dedicatory letter to Ms Arabella Fermor saying that:

It will be vain to deny that I have some Regard for this piece since I Dedicate it to you. Yet you may bear me witness, it was intended only to divert a few young Ladies, who have good Sense and good Humour enough, to laugh not only at their Sex’s little unguarded Follies but at their own. But as it was communicated with the Air of a secret, it soon found its Way into the World…

He mocks Arabella Fermor that:

the ancient Poets are in one respect like many modern Ladies: Let an Action be never so trivial in it self, they always make it appear of the utmost importance.

This totally justifies the fact that the poem is a true mock-epic not only because it uses the greatness of an epic to mock the idiosyncrasy and insignificance of contemporary society, but also exaggerates the artificial glitters as domestic door talks, the new hub of life.

7. Comment on the themes of the poem.

A:- Pope’s poetry, especially ‘The Rape of the Lock‘ holds up a faithful mirror to the 18th century English ‘beau monde’.

It was Queen Anne’s regime that faced newborn urban industrialization and huge advances of science, technology, and merchant-economy created a new class: the ‘noveau riche’ middle class, who imitated the lifestyle of the aristocracy. ‘The Rape of the Lock‘ depicts the eighteenth-century practices and pastimes, the false standards of living in a very big panorama. The card games, parties, lap-dogs, pleasure-boating, snuff-taking, scandal-mongering, love-letter writing and collecting, idle gossip- everything, presented in the poem, are culled from the pages of the contemporary history.

Though the male folk was no less glued to this external resplendence, it was the fair sex who really stole the show. In their obsession with vagant dress, jewelry, and toiletry, in their desperate attempt in aping, and in surpassing one another’s fashion display, in their feigned nonchalance, in their preoccupation with worthless Bric-à-Brac, in their artificial gentleness veiling their aggressive sensuality and finally, in their inherent frivolity- the women of their time surpassed all feminine vanity of the preceding ages. Pope has left no dart in his stock unused, to banter this innately empty embellished society, especially its female folk.

8. Give a detailed analysis of lines 1-31.

A:- The poet, Alexander Pope cries about the terrible results of misunderstanding in love affairs and the impactful quarrels and invokes the Muse, the goddess of art and poetry, to shower blessings on his verse. He requests the goddess to make both Caryl and Belinda notice the poem, because, though the theme is trivial, it will surely bring fame. Pope wonders what might be the reason for the well-bred suitor to offend a lady and also a lady to reject a lord.

The sun rises higher and the rays fall into Belinda’s room through white curtains and opened her eyes which dazzled more than the bright sun. It’s midday and the lapdogs wake up and shake their bodies breaking her sleep. Belinda rings her handbell trice and then makes a sound on the floor with her slipper, but no one replied, so she pressed her soft pillow under her head and fell asleep again starts dreaming about a handsome young man dressed in a better way than a suitor who is going to attend a beautiful evening ball dance on a birthday of a king or queen.

The young was too attractive to make Belinda blush even in her dreams. The man in the dream slowly lays his lips on her ear and whispers that a fair lady like Belinda should be protected by the airy elves. He tells Belinda that if she had heard in her bosom from nurses or priests about angels and fairies that lived in the air, seen in shady places on moon-lit nights.

9. Comment on Lines 32-64.

A: The poemis talking about the fairies who put silver pennies into the slippers of the maids at night or dance on the green grass. If Belinda ever believed in the tales of angels who visit virtuous damsels with golden crowns and garlands of flowers, then she should know her importance and never bow down her thoughts by what is visible on earth.

There are some unrevealed talks which were hidden from grown-up men and told to children and maidens, that numerous spirits which fly around invisibly when one is in the box of theatre or is driving in the Hyde Park in London or enjoys a race are the light militia of the lower sky. In past, the fairies were enclosed in bodies of beautiful women, passed from physical bodies by a big change into airy beings.

It’s a misconception that all the vanities go away when a woman dies, she takes an interest in the vanities of the next generation. The delight in playing ombre, or cards doesn’t fade away after death. When a proud woman dies, she turns into the five elements of the earth. The violent women who represent fire are the salamanders. The women with soft hearts are nymphs and the serious-minded women are gnomes, spirits of the earth who always roam the earth to search for mischief.

10. Comment on 65-105 lines.

A:- These light-hearted flirts go up to a higher region of air after the death, in the name and forms of sylphs and play in the air. She (Belinda) should know that any lady who rejects all love offers from men is protected by the sylphs. They are beyond the rules of charging over human bodies and mold in any shape or sex they like. They protect the weak ladies at country balls and masked dances from male friends who desperately seduces the ladies, from young lovers, from the amorous gazes, from the tempting favorable opportunities that excite the ladies to have male companies.

The wise beings know that the sylphs take care of the ladies’ safety, though men take this safety to their own sense of self-respect. Some girls are very proud of their beauty and destined to live under the influence of gnomes all their life. The gnomes pump their pride and vain beauties. Their head is filled with thoughts of lords, who will court them with all their wealth, and address them ‘Your Grace’ in soft voices, how to maintain a captive modest face during the period and to be excited at the thought of young lovers.

Often the sylphs guide the women through puzzling problems of fashionable life and give them company among the bucket of pleasures that turns their heads and keep them straight with new foolery. No woman will give up on her chastity, being just an entertainment for the lover, if it is fired up in a ball dance party arranged by a rival lover. No woman can resist Florio’s charm if Damon isn’t there to squeeze her warm hands and attract her to himself. These young maids, with their various vanities, shift their eyes from one gallant to another just like a toy shop always on move. There’s always a wave of dodging one another by ‘wigs with wigs’, or the strive of sword -knots. The continuous interchange of one option to the better one is the tricks of the sylphs to protect the ladies. And in Belinda’s case, the sylph is Ariel.

11. Comment on Lines 106-148.

A:- The sylph, Ariel, tells Belinda that as the sylphs dwell in the high reign of air, he can see clearly that something wrong is going to happen in her life before the sunset. He doesn’t know what exactly will happen, how or where it will happen. He warns Belinda to put on her guard every time and asks to stay away from the Male sex. After his speech, Belinda suddenly wakes up by her dog and sees a love letter containing the lover’s confession that how he has been captivated by the spell of her beauty and forgets about the dream. Then the readers are led directly to her toilet.

The way it’s unveiled resembles the rising of the curtain in a theatre. The silver pots were arranged in a manner of expertise. Belinda wears a white dress without a headdress, worships the deities that roam in the toilet. She adorns herself in the mirror by bending her body and raising her eyes. Her servant Betty who was called the inferior priestess stands beside her to help her in doing makeup, trembling in fear if something goes wrong in the ritual.

The caskets are opened one by one which contains different makeups collected from all over the land. Belinda, as an expert puts all the makeup on her face with great care. One casket contains gems from India, there other have perfumes from Arabia and another contains comb made of tortoise-shells and milky white combs are made of ivory. One of the caskets contains shinning pins, puffs, powders, patches, bible, and love letters. Belinda equips herself just like a warrior equips himself before the war.

She starts to look heavenly after her toilet ritual. Her smile becomes more attractive, charms more captivating. The blushes on her chicks oozed out all the wonders of her face and her eyelashes were the flash with the brightness of the lightning. The attending sylphs are busy correcting her hair, sleeves, braid, and gown. Though the sylphs contributed to her rituals, Betty takes all the credit away.

12. Comment on the literary devices

A:- The poem starts with mock-heroic elements. The engagement of inconstant deities in the lives of human beings is an epic element. The way of presenting the central problem of the poem is a mock-heroic element. The emotions and passions in the poem, the satiric tone with which Pope criticizes the 18 th century society is an example of a mock-heroic element. The usage of supernatural elements can be seen in the mock-heroic aspect.

Satire: Pope’s satire is very much lively and jovial. The device he uses to arouse comic laughter and to rectify the follies of the age was the unexpected juxtaposition of the serious and the petty. The readers recognised that the society took its foppery solemnly and its religion frivolously. 

Images and their significances: Pope compares Belinda’s glamour with the sun. There are images of silver and gold. Belinda’s lock symbolizes the importance given to a woman’s beauty in society. The card symbolizes the trivial nature of life at court. The Bodkin symbolizes the swords and spears of a warrior. ‘Atar’, ‘The Sacred Rites of Pride’ are instances of religious imagery.

The main device is Hyperbole, Pope uses this device to describe Belinda, her activities and to exaggerate the common places. In lines 13 and 14 readers can see hyperbole used to describe Belinda’s beauty.

 There are some other rhetorics used in the poem such as:

13. What is the main idea of A:- 'The Rape of the Lock?’

Though the poem ‘The Rape of the Lock‘ is about Baron’s wicked way of getting the object (love) i.e Belinda, by snipping off her gorgeous lock, the main idea of the poem is to present a clear image of the fake society of 18th century and to criticize the lifestyle, mentality of the people of that period. Bantering the artificiality, that became the center of attraction is the thing the poem is based on.

14. Why does the Baron cut Belinda’s hair?

A:- Belinda was a beautiful woman, too bright and joyous, and was famous for the two gorgeous curls that perfectly framed her fair face. Baron, the representative of the male chauvinist admired her beauty want to possess it in any way. He cuts Belinda’s locks with the help of Clarissa just to portray that he owns her. It’s just an 18th century way to follow the motto ‘be the man’.

15. What do you think rape means in Pope’s ‘The Rape of the Lock?’

A:-'Rape’, in its bookish meaning is a heinous crime of violating a person sexually against their say, mostly using force. The title word of the poem, ‘The Rape of the Lock‘ is a picture-word showing Baron snipping off Belinda’s locks. The word is used in a bit comical way to protest against the society that objectifies women.

16. Why is ‘The Rape of the Lock‘ a mock-epic?

A:- The poem ‘The Rape of the Lock‘ is an epic poem because of its length. The poem is divided into 5 cantos ( 1-5). Through this poem, Pope tears off the sophisticated mask of the 18th century folk denuding their ugly faces by presenting serious topics through giggles. So the poem is a perfect mock-epic to utter.

17. What does Pope declare to be the subject of ‘The Rape of the Lock?’

A:- Pope states boldly that the subject of the poem is how a dreadful situation arises from a love affair and ends with a shocking note and how it marches the fire between people that destroyed themselves. He also tries to show the duplicity of people, the wicked nature of them that comes out very often. He tries to make the readers laugh at their own follies.