“The Rape of the Lock” as Heroic-Comical Poem

            Alexander Pope, in his poem, “The Rape of the Lock”, uses the mock-heroic technique to raise and ridicule his subjects in order to create a satire to the society for its emphasis on ordinary matters. Pope’s description of the “Rape of the Lock” as a heroic-comical poem makes the subject look ridiculous by placing it in a framework entirely inappropriate to its importance. The mock-epic is a poetic form which borrows the structure from epic but on a reduced form and it has subject which is trivial. Acknowledged as one of the foremost British authors and satirists of the eighteenth century, Pope builds his reputation on the strong foundations of a sharp satirical tone and a love of bringing classical Greek and Roman literature to the modern works.

Heroic or epic poems, according to Maynard Meck, are poems like the “Odyssey”, the “Aeneid”, and “Paradise Lost” dealing with man in his exalted aspects. Their aspects are weighty, their personages are dignified and their style is elevated. In heroic epic, gods and demons take active part in human affairs and guide the destiny of their chosen participants. This work is the one which takes the form of a classic Greek or Roman epic like Homer’s “Odyssey”, but with a satirical note which consequently invite ‘mock’. Satire is one of the literary forms which use exaggeration and ridicule to mirror out the reflection of the society. The oxforddictionaries.com defines satire as, “The use of humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.”

In the poem, “Rape of the Lock”, Pole presents the satire from classical epic ‘Homer’ but he is really telling a story that is incredibly trivial. In this poem, Pope encapsulates subversion of the epic genre. Lines 11-12 juxtapose grand emotions with unheroic character-types, specifically “little men” and women.

In tasks so bold can little men engage

And in soft bosom dwells such mighty rage

The technique of pairing epic characteristics with lowly human characters helps this poem to be a heroic-comical poem.

            The main character here is Belinda, a beautiful woman called the ‘Fairest of the mortals’ by Pope in the first canto, which might sound a little bit like Helen of Troy. Since this epic is weaved on the basis of Homer, Belinda gets some supernatural help comes from someone named Ariel, her guardian Sylph-basically as ‘air spirit’ that Pope use as a satirical equivalent of a major god and goddess who mediates in the hero’s life-like Athena. Likewise, the dream seen by Belinda provides the mythic structure of the poem. Through Belinda’s dream, Pope introduces the supernatural forces that affect the action of the poem same like the gods and goddesses of the Iliad would influence the progress of Trojan War. Just like Athena protects Diomeder and Aprodite supports Paris during the Trojan War, in this poem as well, Ariel too have power to protect Belinda. In the Canto I, Belinda forgets Ariel’s warning of possible dangers upon receiving a billet-doux (a love letter). Although, Ariel seems to protect Belinda’s virtue, it cannot protect her from the danger of love, he becomes failure to distract her even from a billet-doux. In Belinda’s dream, Ariel indicates all women have patron spirits: depending on their personality type. Ariel explains that when women die, their spirits return “from earthly vehicles” to “their first elements” (50, 58). Each personality type scolds, undecided women, prudes, coquettes become a Salamander, Nymph, Gnome or Sylph respectively. These four personality types are linked with the four humors and four elements.

            In first Canto, Pope explores the role of Coquette. Here, Belinda herself is a coquette and it is this aspect of feminity with which Pope is most concerned about. Furthermore, Pope says that woman priorities are limited to personal pleasures and social aspirations. Having been “light Coquettes” as human women, the Sylphs are most closely affiliated with Belinda. Pope, during the description of sylph in dream sequence, enumerates coquettish vanities. As human, these women valued their “beauteous mold” and enjoyed frivolous diversions, which they continue to take pleasure in as spirits (48).  The “Joy in gilded chariots” explains desire for superficial grandeur and external signifiers of wealth (55). Likewise, their “love of Ombre”, a popular card game featuring elements of bridge and poker suggests a desire for fashionable entertainment. Through these inferences Pope depicts a society which gives priority to external appearances rather than moral principles. This focus of appearance extends to attitudes towards honour and virtue. Society dictates that women remain chaste while enticing suitable husbands. Yes, it is true that if a woman seemed to compromise herself, society would censure her s though she had lost her virtue. This very concern about the female sexuality represents the underlying anxiety in “The Rape of the Lock”: the theft of the lock creates the appearance of lost virtue. At this point, Pope seems to depict Belinda not as a coquette but as a powerful figure, same like the male heroes of epic poetry. Here, Pope presents the Belinda’s morning routine as a hero’s ritualized preparation before battle. Her toilette commences as a religious rite in praise of a goddess. Belinda’s reflection in the mirror becomes the image of the goddess while her maid is the “inferior priestess; worshipping at the altar” (127).

            These “sacred rites” perform a secondary purpose: once the sacraments are performed, the goddess should protect Belinda during her day’s adventures (128). Upon completing of the morning’s ceremony, Belinda begins to array herself, a scene which Pope figures within the epic paradigm as the ritualized arming of the hero. The combs, pins, “Puffs, Powders, Patches” becomes the weapons and armor of this hero as the “awful Beauty (puts) on all its arms” (138, 139). The depiction of Belinda as an epic hero establishes the mock-heroic motifs that occur throughout the poem.

            Likewise, Pope presents the theft of a lock of hair as the abduction of Helen of Troy and launching the Trojan War, which is the basis for a lot of other epic. With this Pope is lampooning this event by comparing it to something huge, like the start of the Trojan War. He also uses the epic style of invocations, lamentations, exclamations and similes and in some cases adds parody to imitation by following the framework of actual speeches in Homer’s Iliad. Although the poem is humorous at times, Pope keeps a sense that beauty is fragile, and that the loss of a lock of hair touches Belinda deeply. He says:

            But since, alas! Frail Beauty must decay,

            Curl’d or uncurl’d, since Locks will turn to grey;

            Since painted, or not painted, all shall fade,

            And she, who scorns a Man, must die a Maid,

            What then remains, but well our Pow’r to use,

            And keep good Humour still whate’er we lose?

            As his introductory letter makes clear, women in that period were essentially supposed to be decorative rather than rational, and the loss of beauty was a serious matter. That’s why a violent fight at the party starts. But at the end, Pope delivers something of a twist. He explains that,

            But trust the Muse, she saw it upward rise,

            Tho’ mark’d by none but quick Poetic Eyes.

It says that the stolen lock of Belinda’s hair is supposed to have ascended to the heavens, the final resting place for all great and beautiful things. Meanwhile, Pope even inserts himself into the proceeding- ‘Poetic Eyes’. Pope at the end says that the lock shall live forever among the stars. This ending also introduces a bit of sympathy to Belinda’s loss because it’s like she gets this consolation prize for losing her temporary beauty, and that consolation prize is pretty grand- that her name will live forever among the stars.