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  Q.    Discuss the feature of the Mock Epic poem and how “The Rape Of The Lock” can be analyzed as a parodic exposure of the English eighteen century “ Beau-Monde ”. The Rape of the Lock  is mock-heroic epic poetry penned by Alexander Pope to satires petty egotistical elitist quarrel between two aristocratic families. Here    I    intend to explore “ The Rape of the Lock ” as an epic conforming to all the conventions of an epic such as invocations of Gods, descriptions of armour, battles, and extended similes. Pope here uses humour, wit, mockery, ridicule and irony to criticize the frivolous aspect of the feminine world through the medium of Belinda impersonating Arabella Fermor and caricaturing trivial concerns and un-heroic values of the Beau-Monde.      Epic literature belongs to the narrative genre of poetry. Epic is a long narrative poem recounting in elevated style the deeds of a legendary hero, especially one originating in ...

  EPIC: The epic is a narrative poem of supposed divine inspiration treating of a subject of great and momentous importance for mankind, the characters of the story are partly human and partly divine, and the language and style in which the incidents are related are full of elevation and dignity. If a long narrative poem should satisfy all the tests of epic poetry, but if the subject which is celebrated be of a trivial nature, like the cutting off a lock of a woman’s hair, which is the story that is related in Pope’s “The Rape of the Lock”, then such a poem is called a mock-epic. A mock-epic poem is supposed to be the inspiration of a Muse, and the language is stilted and grandiose, but the subject is of a very frivolous and commonplace nature. MOCK EPIC: Mock-epic or mock-heroic or heroic-comical terms are applied to literary works in which the epic or heroic tradition is ridiculed. Pope's poem satirises a minor incident by comparing it to the epic world of the gods. It was based ...

The theme of The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope is a mock-epic poem that satirizes the vanity and frivolity of upper-class English society in the early eighteenth century. The poem tells the story of a trivial quarrel between two aristocratic families over the theft of a lock of hair from a beautiful lady named Belinda by a gallant Baron. One of the main themes of the poem is vanity, which is shown by the excessive attention that the characters pay to their appearance, reputation, and possessions. Belinda, for example, spends hours in her dressing room, adorning herself with jewels, cosmetics, and perfumes, and consulting the goddess of love and beauty, Spleen. She considers her beauty as her greatest asset and source of power and is enraged when the Baron cuts off a lock of her hair without her consent. The Baron, on the other hand, is motivated by his desire to possess a trophy of Belinda’s hair, which he thinks will make him famous and admi...

What mighty contests rise from trivial things." Rape of the Lock The Rape of the Lock is a mock-heroic poem by Alexander Pope that satirizes the trivial quarrel between two aristocratic families in 18th-century London. The poem was written to reconcile the families after Lord Petre cut off a lock of hair from Miss Arabella Fermor’s head without her consent, which caused a violent dispute. The poem is dedicated to Miss Fermor, who belonged to a distinguished Catholic family. Pope imitates the form and style of the epic genre, which is usually reserved for heroic and serious subjects, and applies it to a commonplace and trivial incident. He uses various epic conventions, such as the invocation to the muse, the epic similes, the epic machinery, the journey to the underworld, the voyage on water, and the heroic battle, to create a contrast between the high style and the low subject matter, which is typical of a mock-heroic poem. One of the mock epic features is the invocation to the m...

  Rape of the Lock Context Alexander Pope was born in London in 1688. As a Roman Catholic living during a time of Protestant consolidation in England, he was largely excluded from the university system and from political life, and suffered certain social and economic disadvantages because of his religion as well. He was self-taught to a great extent, and was an assiduous scholar from a very early age. He learned several languages on his own, and his early verses were often imitations of poets he admired. His obvious talent found encouragement from his father, a linen-draper, as well as from literary-minded friends. At the age of twelve, Pope contracted a form of tuberculosis that settled in his spine, leaving him stunted and misshapen and causing him great pain for much of his life. He never married, though he formed a number of lifelong friendships in London’s literary circles, most notably with Jonathan Swift. Pope wrote during what is often called the Augustan Age of English...

  RAPE OF THE LOCK SOCIAL SATIRE As Shakespeare is the poet of man, Pope is a poet of society. “The Rape of the Lock” is a social document because it mirrors contemporary society and contains a social satire, too. Pope paints about England in the 18th century. The whole panorama of “The Rape of the Lock” revolves around the false standard of the 18th century. Pope satirizes the young girls and boys, aristocratic women and men, their free time activities, nature of husbands and wives, the professional judges and politicians of the day. Pope depicts the absurdities and the frivolities of the fashionable circle of 18th century England. The world of Belinda – the world of fashion is trivial. The whole life of Belinda is confined to sleeping, make-up, enjoyment and alluring the lords. There are no transcendental elements in her life. This life is marked by ill-nature, affection, mischievousness, coquetry, yielding and submissive nature, fierce and unruly nature, infidelity, cheapness, m...

Question:  Consider the poem ‘The Rape of the Lock’ as a mock-epic. Answer: Mock epic is a narrative poem that aims at mockery and laughter by using almost all the characteristic features of an epic but for a trivial subject. Alexander Pope’s “The Rape of the Lock” is a famous mock-epic. In it, there is an invocation to Muses, the proposition of subject, battles, supernatural machinery, journey on water, underworld journey, long speeches, feasts (coffee house), Homeric similes and grand style but all for a simple family dispute instead of a national struggle. The grand treatment of a low subject produces hilarious laughter and makes the story more ridiculous. Firstly, “Paradise Lost” a long epic poem by John Milton begins with the proposition of justification of God’s way to a man with a nice invocation to the Muses. And another epic poem titled “The Faerie Queene” by Edmund Spenser follows the same manner. The subject matters in both of the epic poems are grand. Like the epic ...