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The Rape of the Lock

Alexander Pope

Paperback | Pages: 53 pages

Rating: 3.56 | 13086 Users | 269 Reviews

Define Appertaining To Books The Rape of the Lock

Title	:	The Rape of the Lock
Author	:	Alexander Pope
Book Format	:	Paperback
Book Edition	:	Anniversary Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 53 pages
Published	:	May 2nd 2006 by Wildside Press (first published 1717)
Categories	:	Poetry. Classics. Fiction. Literature. 18th Century. Academic. School

Representaion In Pursuance Of Books The Rape of the Lock

"At ev'ry Word a Reputation dies"

"The Battle of the Beaux and Belles" by Aubrey Beardsley

One of the wittiest poems ever written, and one of my very favorites from my college English literature studies. "The Rape* of the Lock" (first published in 1712) makes good-natured fun of a real-life situation: a 21 year old Baron, Lord Robert Petre, rudely snipped off of a lock of hair from Arabella Fermor, a lovely young lady of his acquaintance, without her consent. Arabella was incensed (the situation wasn't helped when Lord Petre went and married someone else the next year), and the fall-out was causing a feud between their two prominent families.


Alexander Pope's friend John Caryll suggest that Pope write a humorous poem about the event, in the hope that it would help everyone involved to lighten up. I'm not sure he succeeded there, but this poem did make a lot of other people extremely happy.

What dire Offence from am'rous Causes springs,
What mighty Contests rise from trivial Things,
I sing -- This Verse to Caryll, Muse! is due...

Pope wrote a mock epic version of the story, with Arabella (or Belle) renamed as Belinda.

Say what strange Motive, Goddess! could compel
A well-bred Lord to assault a gentle Belle?
Oh say what stranger Cause, yet unexplored,
Could make a gentle Belle reject a Lord?

The poem follows the elaborate epic literary traditions of classics like The Iliad and Paradise Lost, but subverts them: it has supernatural beings (Bella's rather ineffective fairies), the arming of the heroine for war (with clothing, jewelry, etc.), a descent into the underworld, and an epic battle (of the sexes) where the heroine slays men with her eyes. The juxtaposition between grand ideas and trivial concerns is delightful:

Whether the Nymph shall break Diana's Law,
Or some frail China Jar receive a Flaw,
Or stain her Honour, or her new Brocade,
Forget her Pray'rs, or miss a Masquerade,
Or lose her Heart, or Necklace, at a Ball...

This poem is a bit on the long side for modern readers, and some parts are more interesting and amusing than others, but it's worth taking the time to savor it and delve into its humor and subtler meanings.

*"Rape," by the way, didn't have quite the meaning in the 1700s that it does now. I remember my English professor talking about this, and Shmoop agrees:

Words are a lot like snowballs in that respect: as they roll through history, they gather layers and layers of meanings. In the 18th century, in Pope's day, "rape" also meant to carry away or take something from someone by force... "Rape" did have a sexual connotation, but in no way as strongly as it does now. By using it in the title as the verb to describe what happens to Belinda's hair, Pope is playing on both layers of meaning: seizing something by force and personal violation.

Reportedly Arabella Fermor was quite charmed with this poem until she realized (or, more likely, it was pointed out to her by friends) that there are some rather risqué double entendres in the poem. Oops.

Particularize Books Concering The Rape of the Lock

Original Title:	The Rape of the Lock
ISBN:	1557429162 (ISBN13: 9781557429162)
Edition Language:	English
Characters:	Umbriel, Queen of Spleen, Thalestris, Sir Plume, Ariel (Alexander Pope), Belinda (Alexander Pope), Clarissa (Alexander Pope), The Baron (Alexander Pope)

Rating Appertaining To Books The Rape of the Lock

Ratings: 3.56 From 13086 Users | 269 Reviews

Commentary Appertaining To Books The Rape of the Lock

One of the most accessible of eighteenth-century poets, Pope here manages to trump his own heavier philosophical writings with what at first appears to be a bit of fluff, but which reveals quite a bit about contemporary views of identity and culture.There's a lot to like here even on the surface, as our inept 'hero' tries to woo his lady fair and instead finds that, holy Battle of the Sexes, she is just not into him like that. Hilarity ensues.But below that surface reading, take a gander at how

It was okay, but a bit boring. Oh and also not at all what I thought it would be about! I guess I was concentrating more on the word 'rape' than 'lock'. My mistake.

Pope's poetic narrative on an audacious hair-clipping had me laughing out loud. The idea and its execution are impressive. Pope inflates his subject until it crackles with irony; from the title to the hyper-indulgent descriptions, the effect is on point. The Rape of the Lock (preposterously) boasts a machinery of supernatural agents, references/adjustments to Milton and the Greeks - there's even an archetypical "descent." Beyond operating on a thematic level, I must add, Pope's heroic couplet

I think I need to read this again. I didn't really get it. I yawned a lot.

We were ordered to read this thing in senior English. It was a bad choice. Perhaps our teacher thought we'd think it funny while appreciating how subtle our understanding had become by virtue of having read the classical sources which Pope imitates. Well, we could see how he was trying to be funny, but humor evolves with culture and no one laughed. Besides, the original intention of the poem was personal, referring to actual persons and events which might have meant something to his readership,

Alexander Pope's "The Rape of the Lock" was more light-hearted and entertaining than it was inspirational. A pop culture reference comes to mind with the comment from an American Idol judge who says to a talented singer, "you could sing the telephone book." I think that is exactly what Pope did. He is brilliant in his wordplay and elaborately cultivated metaphors, but I could care less about the topic of his satire. He espouses the injustice of women being seen and appreciated for their beauty

I know it's probably on me that this didn't work for me, but I just can't give it more than 1 star. Maybe if I wasn't forced into reading it for literature.