Paper No:102 Literature of the Neo-classical Period

This blog is part of an assignment for Sem 1 Paper No.102 Literature of the Neo-classical Period assigned by Dilip Barad sir, Department of English, MKBU.

 Personal Information :-

Name: Khushi Rajeshbhai Rathod

Batch: M.A.(2023 - 2025)

Roll No: 18 

Enrollment No: 5108230039

Semester: 1st 

E-mail: khushirathod1863@gmail.com

Assignment Details :-

Paper No:102

Paper Code:22393

Paper Name: Literature of the Neo-classical Period

Topic: The Rape of the Lock as a social satire

Submitted to:Smt.S.B.Gardi, Department of English,MKBU

Que :- The Rape of the Lock as a social satire.

Ans.

Table of Contents :-

• Introduction
• About the Alexander Pope
• Information about the Poem 'The Rape of the Lock'
• What is Satire?
• Satire in 18th Century 
• The Rape of the Lock as a social satire :-

1. Satire on Males and Females
2. Satire in 18th Century England society
3. Satire on Materialistic Relationship

• Conclusion
• Reference

🌸 Introduction :-

The Rape of the Lock is not only a mock epic poem that explores 18th century England society but also a social satire. Alexander Pope made it clear that initially he did not write the poem for this specific purpose. Nonetheless, directly or indirectly it is an absurd misrepresentation of aristocratic class; it is an imitation of the routine life of people who belonged to feudalism. Aristotle mentions two types of poetry in his book “Poetics”: tragedy and comedy. In his eyes, tragedy is better than comedy; however, we cannot underestimate the powers of a comedy, the primary purpose of which is to satirise the society to make reformations.

🌸 Alexander Pope :-

Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature,Pope is best known for his satirical and discursive poetry including The Rape of the Lock, The Dunciad, and An Essay on Criticism, and for his translations of Homer.

Pope is often quoted in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, some of his verses having entered common parlance (e.g. "damning with faint praise" or "to err is human; to forgive, divine").

🌸 The Rape of the Lock :-

Written by :- Alexander Pope

Poem :- mock- heroic narrative Poem

Published :-May 1712

∆ Characters :-

1) Belinda :- The character of Belinda is the heroine of The Rape of the Lock. Pope bases her character on the historical Arabella Fermor, the daughter of an aristocratic Catholic family. Robert, Lord Petre, a family friend, snipped a lock of her hair without permission, thereby causing a rift between their two families. The Pope depicts this incident in the poem.

2) The Baron :-The Baron is an admirer of Belinda’s, and he enacts the “rape of the lock” by cutting off one of the curls of hair that hung down her neck. He is based on the historical Robert, Lord Petre.

3) Caryll :- Though Caryll is not so much a character in the poem (he is mentioned only in line 3), he is the dedicatee of the poem. “Caryll” is John Caryll, a friend of Pope’s who witnessed the incident between Arabella Fermor and Lord Petre. He commissioned the Pope to turn the incident into a jest in the hope that it would encourage reconciliation between the two families.

4) Clarissa :- Clarissa is one of the women in attendance at the Hampton Court party. She is complicit in the severing of Belinda’s hair, lending her sewing scissors to the Baron. She later delivers a moralizing sermon on the ephemeral nature of beauty and the importance of good sense once a woman’s looks have faded.

5) Umbriel :- Umbriel is a mischievous Gnome, who travels to the Cave of Spleen and returns with a bag of sighs and a vial of tears which he uses to intensify Belinda’s despair at the loss of her hair.

6) Thalestris :- Thalestris is Belinda’s friend. She tries to convince Belinda to avenge the Baron’s affront to her honor and is the most vicious aggressor in the battle over the lock. Appropriately, Pope takes her name from an Amazonian Queen of Greek mythology

∆ What is Satire?

Aristotle says that when a poet imitates nature, he presents it either good or worse; from worse he means that a poet shows mirror to the society by revealing their absurd behaviors and follies. It means that the Greeks knew about the satire; however, the word “satire” was unknown to them. It has been derived from the Latin word “satira” which means “medley”. A writer uses this technique to show people their shortcomings so that they can make improvements. It is very wrong to understand satire merely as a synonym for humor. Humor may have many purposes; laughing, excitement, interest of audience etc; satire on the other hand is purely for the purpose of reformations. 

∆ Satire in 18th Century :-

In English literature, the technique of satire was much improved by the end of the 17th century. Almost every poet of that era wrote at least one satirical poem. In fact, the trend increased day by day and literature based on this technique engaged more and more audiences. Clark Lecturer James Sutherland expresses his views on usage of satire in 18th century and says:-

"By the middle of the eighteenth century satire had become a literary habit".

In those days, a war between the witts was started. They attacked each other in writing. Resultantly, literature was published a lot and satire became common for everyone. Alexander Pope is also one of them who gained fame in those days and made his name in witty satires. 

🌺 The Rape Of The Lock As Social Satire :-

The Rape of the Lock can be called a social satire is given Below points:

• Satire on Males and Females 
• Satire in 18th Century England society
• Satire on Materialistic Relationship

Let's see the points to in details:-

1) Satire on Males and Females :-

In the poem, the poet creates a female character named Belinda. Although in the complete poem, he talks only about her yet he means to say every single female of that era who belonged to the aristocratic class. On the opposite, he creates a male character named Baron. He uses him to show the routine life of gentlemen. England has been known for the people with heroic deeds for many years, however, the lifestyle that the gentlemen adopt in this poem is entirely opposite of heroism. In the very beginning of the poem, the poet starts showing the laziness of the upper class.

Behind wakes up from sleep and sleeps again. It means that she has nothing to worry about. She prepares herself for a party just like a soldier prepares for a battle. Thus, it is a social satire on noble ladies of that century in The Rape of the Lock.

There is no denying the fact that women were busy impressing men and men were trying their best to make good impressions in front of the ladies. Women’s curiosity has been shown towards puffing, makeup, using cosmetics, drying hair, petting, etc. Whereas men on the other hand are shown as useless, idle, lazy, unwise, foolish, and hollow-minded who think flirting with ladies as their primary moto.

2) Satire on Vanity of 18th Century England Society :-

In The Rape of the Lock the poet explores the vanity of english aristocratic society; he exposes their excessive beliefs in their own abilities and attractiveness to others. On one hand, he talks about fashionable men whereas on the other hand he also mentions that ladies were not different from men in this regard. He creates war-like scenes in the poem to ridicule the society and to show them they make preparations for useless activities as they are going to war. He does not target a single person nor does he talks about any specific profession but as a whole; it is the beauty of The Rape of the Lock that it is a complete social satire due to which it has a universal appeal.

All the ladies of that era were fond of gilded chariots. The poet shows their vanities. They considered themselves superior to others in beauty. Although the poem has not been ever judged from psychological perspectives yet it is a matter of fact that the poet shows mental psyche of those people through social satire in his poem The Rape of the Lock. He writes:

“With varying Vanities, from ev'ry Part,

They shift the moving Toyshop of their Heart"

3) Satire on Materialistic Relationship :-

Relationships between men and women were not real at all. The poet sheds light on this issue too. Romeo and Juliet once lived there, however, the poet does not portray any such relationship between anyone. He shows that the people were busy in making affairs and they were pathetic to a real relationship.

The Rape of the Lock in actuality is the Rape Of Honour and a social satire that honor had no value in the eyes of those ladies. It seems that the poet was living in the 21st century. These days people are living in Living Relationships without marrying, however, that was started many years ago though it was not usual for everyone. The poet has shown this in his poem if we deeply study it with symbolic meaning.

The poet targets every relationship. People do not like the friendship of those people who are inferior to them. When Belinda’s lock was cut, her friends left her alone, the incident is a social satire on the emptiness in relationships between the people of that era.

🌸Conclusion :-

Thus, we can say that the poet does not directly uses any word against the standards of 18th-century England society; rather he used the technique of social satire in his poem The Rape of The Lock to spread awareness about the follies of their people. He covers almost everything in the poem. From every angle, The Rape of The Lock seems a poem that best defines the technique of Social Satire.

Reference :-

Ahmed, Anwaar. “The Rape of the Lock as A Social Satire.” ask literature, 24 January 2022, https://askliterature.com/poetry/the-rape-of-the-lock-as-a-social-satire/. Accessed 25 November 2023.

Butt, John Everett. “Alexander Pope | English Poet, Satirist & Essayist.” Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alexander-Pope-English-author. Accessed 25 November 2023.

Pope, Alexander. “Pope's Poems and Prose Characters.” GradeSaver, 17 November 2023, https://www.gradesaver.com/popes-poems-and-prose/study-guide/character-list. Accessed 25 November 2023.

“rape of the lock as a social satire Archives | English Literature.” English Literature Zone, https://englishliteraturezone.com/tag/rape-of-the-lock-as-a-social-satire/. Accessed 25 November 2023.

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