ALEXANDER POPE- THE RAPE OF THE LOCK

The Rape of the Lock is a mock heroic poem written by Alexander Pope he who was invited to write the poem to bring peace in a conflict between two families, he has to find out what was behind the conflict. Pope didn’t adopted the real name of the families, but for examples the uses of the name “Baron” underline the social statues of the family (aristocracy), on the other hand the use of the name “Belinda” is ridiculous and is fictional to his aim: it is a parody of the habits of aristocratic people and so it has to make the reader laugh.

And now, unveiled, the toilet stands displayed,

Each silver vase in mystic order laid.

First, robed in white, the nymph intent adores,

With head uncovered, the cosmetic powers.

                  5                              A heavenly image in the glass appears,

To that she bends, to that her eyes she rears;

Th’ inferior priestess, at her altar’s side,

Trembling, begins the sacred rites of pride.

Unnumbered treasures ope at once, and here    

10                                The various offerings of the world appear;

From each she nicely culls with curious toil,

And decks the goddess with the glittering spoil.

This casket India’s glowing gems unlocks,

And all Arabia breathes from yonder box.

15                                The tortoise here and elephant unite,

Transformed to combs, the speckled, and the white.

Here files of pins extend their shining rows,

Puffs, powders, patches, bibles, billet-doux.

Now awful beauty puts on all its arms;

20                               The fair each moment rises in her charms,

Repairs her smiles, awakens every grace,

And calls forth all the wonders of her face;

Sees by degrees a purer blush arise,

And keener lightnings quicken in her eyes.

25                               The busy sylphs surround their darling care,

These set the head, and those divide the hair,

Some fold the sleeve, whilst others plait the gown;

And Betty’s praised for labours not her own.

The text that I am going to analyzes there is a description of what Belinda does when she has just woken up; Pope describes her actions as if they were ritual.

Right from the first two lines there is a strong alliteration of the sound “ei”.

At line 3 Belinda is described like a “nymph intent adores” and the metaphor underlines Belinda’s vanity, she thinks only to appearance and she worships his image into the mirror. “ A heavenly image in the glass appears” the use of the word “glass” is a synecdoche to refers to a mirror.

At line 4 Pope use “cosmetic powers” to refers to the concept that most of the beauty of the women of that time is artificial not natural and so he criticized this.

At line 7 the poet makes references to the classical culture and compares Belinda to a religious character: “the inferior priestess”, this is a just apposition of the two words because Pope defines an important character like a priestess with a depreciative adjective. This metaphor makes the reader understand that the poet wants to criticize the woman.

In addition Pope compares the table where Belinda makes up with the altar of the priestess and so a material thing with something more important.