portrayal of aristocratic society in THE RAPE OF THE LOCK BY ALEXANDER POPE

Portrayal of aristocratic society by characters like Belinda, Baron and Clarissa and how the poet has mocking the society.

1. PORTRAYAL OF ARISTOCRATIC SOCIETY IN ‘THE RAPE OF THE LOCK’ ’

2. ‘The Rape of the Lock’ is mock-epic poem written by Alexander Pope. He was born in 1688 and died in 1744. He was one of the eminent writer, poet, translator, satirist, and philosopher of 18 th century. He wrote and published his work not just for entertainment but also to bring change in the society. He was famous for his use of heroic couplet. This poem is written in narrative style, poem following rhyming scheme and along with that mocking and satirising the manner of aristocratic society. It was first published anonymously in the year 1712 along with another writer’s work and had two cantos. Second version was published under Alexander pope’s name and third and the final version having five cantos and Clarissa’s speech was published in 1714 and 1717 respectively. INTRODUCTION

3. In this poem, a Baron cuts lock of hair of belle named Belinda and this trivial incident sparks a bitterness between the two aristocrat families. The poem talks about the tale that happened to a lady named Arabella Fermor. This mock-epic heroic poem has elements like supernatural being - sylphs and gnome, exaggeration of small incident like card game named ombre compared to Trojan war. During the 18th century, idea of social class was a distinguished feature, and the wealthy group of society dominated the society. This century also saw rise of middle-class people. The life of these classes had stark difference. The upper-class people enjoyed their luxurious lifestyle while the lower-class people had to spend their whole life suffering and striving to get basic things. BACKGROUNG

4. The poem begins with protagonist waking up in afternoon with her elaborated morning routine and her lap dog named shock. This shows the contrasting life of people of that time, how carefree the upper-class people are. The sylphs are helping her get ready to go to Hampton court, place where political affairs and trivial activities happen. Belinda represents the rich upper-class woman who have nothing to do except getting ready and attending balls to find men to get married. These women enjoyed getting attention and flirt with attractive males. In the poem, when a baron cuts her hair, she gets angry as if her beauty has been taken from her. PORTRAYAL OF SOCIETY

5. Another person called B aron, (Lord Petre) who cuts the lock of Belinda’s hair portrays the male section of the society. Even they are obsessed with beauty. Baron finds her pretty and prays to love, a supernatural being in the poem. So, he would be successful in obtaining the lock. Clarissa, Belinda’s friend is shown as wise woman but earlier in the poem, it is mentioned that she was the one who gave scissors to baron. One interpretation of that she could be jealous of Belinda’s beauty. Instead of giving scissors she could have made him understand why he should not do it. This trivial incident happened because she gave him the scissors. PORTRAYAL OF SOCIETY

6. The rape of the lock is a humorous satire on aristocratic society, by mocking and satirizing, the poet ridicules the society. It can be called as social satire. This satire is not against any specific individual but against people in general for whom beauty is everything. One instance from the poem is that the Bible was kept midst her beauty products indicating they hold similar value for her. Pope has also satirized the system of justice; judges hurriedly sign the sentence so that they could have their dinner in time. Now if we look at this poem from the 21st century lens, we can see this work is relevant even today as people are hollow and go for outer beauty MOCKING THE SOCIETY

7. THANK YOU NAME: DIVYA KUMARI ROLL NO.: 2208180019 SEMESTER: IV SUBJECT: BRITISH POETRY AND DRAMA (17 TH – 18 TH CENTURY) COURSE: B.A. ENGLISH HONOURS