Hello readers, This blog is in response to the task ' The Rape of the lock ' assigned by Vaidehi ma'am. It answers the various assigned questions.
The Rape of the lock is a Mock-heroic epic genre. It is a written by Alexander pope. The original version , published anonymously in lintot's Miscellany in 1712, consisted of two cantos and 334 lines. In 1714, Pope revised and substantially enlarged it to make five cantos. So, The final version was published in 1714 and it was expended to five cantos.
The poem is based on an amorous prank played by lord petre, the son and heir of a prominent Roman catholic family, upon Arabella Fermor of the equally prominent Fermor family. The poem is mock- epic that Satirizes the upper class in London at the time. The story focuses on the central character Belinda, whose lock of hair is cut off at a social gathering by Baron. In this poem, Pope uses Belinda and Baron to mock two of his acquaintances, Arabella Fermor and lord Petre.
What pope does in The Rape of the lock is to accept the conventions, but to intensify the Mock-Heroic by extending the incongruity between theme and style. Pope's material is trivial in contrast to the grandeur of the subject matter of epics. The implied contrast to the Trojan War, occasioned by the 'rape' of Helen, which is the background of Homer's Iliad, makes it quite clear that the poet's intention is Satiric. Beside the 'rape' of Helen, which was of such momentous consequence as to disturb the peace of the Greek and Trojan world for several years, we have the trivial domestic incident of the 'rape' of a lock of hair. This ludicrousness of a petty theme exalted by an elevated treatment is the essence of the mock-epic.
Alexander Pope ( 1688-1744 ):
Alexander pope was born in London on 21 may, 1688. His father , also named Alexander, was a Roman catholic, a successful linen merchant in London. His mother, Edith Turner from Yorkshire, was also a catholic. This Roman catholic background is the most significant fact of pope's life. He is a poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the 18th century. Pope is a best known for his satirical and discursive poetry including
The Dunciad ( 1728 )
The Rape of the lock (1712-1714)
An Essay on criticism ( 1711 )
An Essay on man( 1733-34 )
Here we discuss his most famous work Mock-epic 'The Rape of the lock'.
Q.1 According to you , who is the protagonist of the poem Clarissa or Belinda? Why? Give your answer with logical reasons.
A protagonist is the leading figure in poetry, Narrative, Novel or any other story. In most of the books, protagonist is usually " Theperfect person" with looks and habits so perfect that the reader develops a progressive vision towards him or her. To the writer or poet, the protagonist can built an amazing plot. While thinking about protagonist of the poem. We must have to sight of both of their role and character traits in the poem. So here first of all I will look at both of their role and then I will give an explanation of protagonist.
Belinda :-
Belinda is a wealthy and beautiful young woman who travels to Hampton court. She is a central character of the poem. Pope has presented Belinda as a complex character. Her remarkable Beauty attracts the attention of the Baron, who snips off a Lock of her hair in his infatuation. Pope has presented her in different roles and under different shades, some are satirical other ironical. We can discuss her character under the following heads:
The Heroine of the poem:-
Belinda is the heroine of the story. It is her character around whom the story of the whole poems is woven. We see her sleeping till noon and her awaking by her lap dog "Shock". We are present at her toilet and watch the progress of the sacred rites of pride. Then we see her proceedings from the Thames River to the Hampton Court. Then her smiling looks upon the well dressed youths that crowds her. In short, she is the main character and heroine of the poem.
Belinda as Miss Arabella Fermor:-
Belinda is the Miss Arabella Fermor of real life. She was an acknowledged beauty of her time, when pope wrote this poem. Her different portraits show two locks of hair that rests on her shoulder. These two locks are the same that we found in Belinda's character and this poem is all about the rapping of these two locks by lord petre.
An object of Mockery and Adoration:-
Belinda is both object of ridicule and beauty which compel admiration. As a representative of the aristocratic class, she is mocked at. But, as a beautiful and Charming Lady, she deserves our admiration. On the other hand she is praised as a woman of beauty and charm. She is almost presented as goddess of beauty and youth.
Representative of her class:-
Belinda is represents lady Fermor of real life, whom lord Petre made angry by cutting her lock. Lord Petre in the poem is represented by the Baron. Both the families of Fermor and Peter's were inimical to each other but they were friendly to pope. Pope would not have been able in bringing them close to each other if he had not presented them satirically. Therefore, as an individual, pope praised them but in the full -fledged version he mocked at them. Belinda and lord Petre appeared to him as typically representative of their class and he satires them.
Central character of the poem:-
From the opening lines, it immediately becomes clear that Belinda is the central character. She is the heroine of this Mock-epic. Here in the fourth line, she is given a place which is higher than any others; she is both the end and means of the poem. She is accorded the status of the goddess of charm and beauty. Her character represents degradation of aristocratic class. This makes her character larger than other character of the poem. Some other points of her character are as under,
Her Romantic Nature
Her Habits
A creation of wit, Beauty and poetry
Clarissa:-
Clarissa is one of the attending women at the party described in the poem. She is party to the conspiracy of cutting off the lock of hair and lends a pair of scissors to the Baron to do this. Later, she utters a speech on the fleeting nature of beauty and the importance of good sense once a women's looks have faded.
In the beginning of canto 5, Clarissa delivers a speech in which she questions why a society that so adores beauty in women does not also place a value on "good sense" and "good humour". Women are frequently called angles, she argues, but without reference to the moral qualities of these creatures.
So, Both have different views towards life. Belinda believes in outer beauty or materialism while Clarissa believes in inner beauty or moral side of character. So, in the comparison of Belinda, Clarissa is a very clear and focused girl, who knows the traits of life very well. Though she gets only a small part of conversation or the play, she delivers the way of looking and ultimately truth regarding inner and outer beauty. But it is a bit confusing to consider one as a protagonist. As Belinda holds the central position in the play she is the heroine or the protagonist of the play, but if we think about maturity in a protagonist, Clarissa perfectly fits in it
Q .2 what is beauty? Write your views about it.
"Beauty is not in the face,
Beauty is a light in the heart."
I comply with the topic, "personality is more important than looks". Both of these adjectives fall under two different domains. There is something called
Inner Beauty and
Outer Beauty
Personality is something that we call inner beauty which refres to the mindset and character of a person and looks is something that we call outer beauty which simply refres to the physical appearance of a person. In my opinion, looks can never be a factor based on which an individual should be judged. There are many ways of jugdening beautiful people.
If we look at the poem The Rape of the Lock we can see this contract of beauty. Belinda present as a outer beauty and Clarissa present as a inner beauty.
What do you think makes a person beautiful?
For girls:-
Perfect curves
Fair skin
Blue eyes
Long and dark eyelashes
Glossy lips
Fit body
Good height
Good dress sense
For Boys:-
Money
Fair or dusky skin
Nicely trimmed beard
A good hairstyle
Dark brown eyes with thick eyebrows
Muscular arms
Good dress sense
Everybody sees these qualities in girls and boys. Which makes a person beautiful. But
Kindness
Honesty
Good heart
Empty and
Humbleness
Makes person beautiful too but people don't really love them. And even if they do, they will do so only after noticing the qualities mentioned in above part of the answer.
Take an example.
Who would you choose to date? Or go on a lunch/dinner? Or even simply spend some time?
This.
Or this.
The truth is,
At the end of the day, all we care about is looks. No one falls in love with your personality at first sight.
As a conclusion, I must say that a person should focus on and work on his personality. He should make sure that his behaviour and attitude are not hurting anyone and people consider him a wise and gentle person. Whatever beautyfulness and smartness you try to manoeuvre, but at the end of the day, if you don't get moral pleasure and peace of mind, that you have done right to all those you met throughout the day, you won't be considered a beautiful person. And this moral pleasure comes from nowhere other than people's blessings.
So, it doesn't matter at all whether you are good looking or not, you have to be well- behaved and possess inner beauty and you will be praised everywhere.
"Everything has beauty but not everyone sees it."
Q .3 find out a reserch paper on "The Rape of the Lock". Give the details of the paper and write down in brief what it says about the poem by Alexander pope.
Reserch paper on The Rape of the Lock:-
Depiction of contemporary life in The Rape of the Lock by Dr. George kolanchery :-
In this Reserch paper writer emphasis on major aspects of the poem.
The Rape of the Lock- a Mirror of the Age
The Frivolities (foolish behaviour) of womenfolk
Hellowness of the Gentlemen of the Day
Alexander pope has been the most representative poet of the eighteenth century. His most representative poem 'The Rape of the lock' very faithfully mirror at least a certain section of English society in the eighteenth century. The artificial tone of the age, the foolish behaviour of women fashionable beauty.
It is the ethos of this age has been caught in 'The Rape of the lock'. J. R. Lowell remarks 'The Rape of the Lock was a mirror in the drawing room but it gave a faithful image of society, yet still as human in its own way as the heroes of Homer I theirs'. The fashions, Frivolities, the vanities and the follies of the upper class of society are faithfully presented by Alexander pope.
The Rape of the Lock very faithfully mirror the Frivolities of the womenfolk of that time. Belinda represents the typical fashionable ladies of that time. There is not the slightest glimpses of seriousness or sincerity, goodness in any of her words and actions.
She is a beautiful lady; she has a host of admirers; she is a coquette. She controls the mood of the people around her- Belinda smiled and all the world was gay.
Pope's satirical tone is shown at his best when he shows the outward charms and the inward frivolity of fashionable ladies.
"Their hearts are toy shops . They reverse the relative importance of things ; the little with them is great and the great Little."
The gentleman are as frivolous as the ladies. Lord petre and his fellows are the representatives of the fashionable society of the time. They all are ideal, empty- minded folk, and seem to have nothing else to do except love making or flirting if their ladies. The battle between the ladies and the gentlemen shows emptiness and futility of their lives. In The Rape of the Lock, ladies and gentlemen alike meet in the Hampton Court "to taste the pleasure of a court.
So, we can say that this was the kind of life led by the fashionable people of the upper classes in the age of pope and pope has described it in gorgeous colour on the one hand and with scathing satire on the other. These is nothing deep or serious on the lives and activities of the fashionable people - all is vanity and emptiness and this pope has revealed with brilliance and art.
Thus, the paper is about the dipiction of contemporary life in The Rape of the Lock.
Q.4 write your views about the significance of hair. Is it symbolic?
Belinda's lock of hair comes to symbolize the absurdity of the importance afforded to female beauty in society.
To begin with, the hier in The Rape of the lock symbolizes Belinda's beauty and youth, which is why she feels humiliated when the lock is cut off. From the immemorial, long hair was the sign of women's beauty which they were immensely proud off. Rape is a serious matter and we have a question that how Rape and lock suppose to be connected with perticular work.
Whole story is around the cut of hair of Belinda. Baron cut off the lock of Belinda's hair shows that he wished to deprive Belinda of her beauty , or at least to take away some of her pride in her beauty.
Moreover, hair symbolizes Belinda's social status; firstly , it signifies her belonging to the upper social class. So , we can say that poem is all about Hair locks. There is also a second meaning of the concept of beauty. It also present a upper class and arristicratic class. In this poem we learn about beauty and society. For a batter understanding about poem you can watch this video,
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