Alexander Pope’s “The Rape of the Lock” Essay

18th-century high society through and through exaggeration and exaggeration. Basing his song on an actual incident that occurred among some of his acquaintances, pope intended his story to put the episode into humorous perspective and instigate his friends to laugh at their own actions.A mock epical is a poem dealing with petty subject matter in the opulent style of the great literary epics. This genre is a form of parody for satirical purposes. The poem drug ab rehearses the trivial story of the stolen lock of hair as a vehicle for making judg custodyts on society and on hands and women in general. Characteristics of the ILLIAD and the ODYSSEY that the Rape of the Lock mocks include the statement of the theme, invocation of the muse, translation of the great battles, supernatural beings taking part in the affairs of men and the hero becoming immortalized in a star or contour (Long, Pope 1).In the opening lines What dire offense from amorous causes springs, / What noble co ntests rise from trivial things (Canto I, lines 1-2), Pope states the theme of the poem that trivial matters should continue just that- trivial. In the lines following theinvocation of an unlikely muse is clearly stated I sing- This Verse to Caryll, Muse Is due (Canto 1, 3).The entire poem is divided into five cantos and is written in do-or-die(a) couplet verse. The use of the heroic couplet is typic entirelyy neoclassic because it exhibits the ideals of the time. In order to compile a heroic couplet the author must have write out control over his words and the story he wants to tell. A unvoiced sense of order is needed so that the couplets may rhyme and most importantly make sense to the reader at the same time. The heroic couplet perfectly accents the epic devices used in the poem, for, as a form of verse the heroic couplet seems to have a intension oflarger-than-life-situations in the minds of its readers. By using this style in describing such peanut matters in his poem, P ope only supports his theme that his society places great splendor on minor matters.Popes elaborate portrayal of events in Canto I furthers comparison with the literary epic it parodies the traditional epic transportation system describing the shields of ancient warriors. Belindas make-up routine is compared to the putting on of equip From each she nicely culls with curious toil,/ And decks the goddess with the glittering spoil (Canto II, 131-132). Make-up, clothing, jewelry and different material possessions are this parodys substitutes for armor and weapons. Pope near imitates the epic form for comic effect in order to spoil the questionable care fors of his time. Using a vast force to nip and tuck a feather (Long,Pope n.p.), thoroughly describes Popes reasons for his use of elaborate language.He uses the epics exaggeration to mock place priorities. The great battles of the literary epic are transformed into card games and sexy charades. The great Greek and Roman gods ar e converted into an army of preventive but powerlesssprites called sylphs who protect both the serious and the trivial. For all of her strife This Lock, the Muse shall consecrate to Fame, / And midst the Stars inscribe Belindas fix (Canto V, lines 149-150). Belinda is immortalized in the sky by a star bearing her name. sarcasm is a glass wherein beholders do generally discover everybodys award but their own (Long, Racine 4). Pope uses every aspect of the mock epic to satirize the frivolity of the people around him. He takes specific scenes and uses parody to illustrate the insignificance of everyday rituals. He even uses the structure of rhyming couplets to pose the ordinary with the extraordinary to reveal the societys distorted value system.