Textuality » 4A Interacting

DIacumin - The rape of the lock
by DIacumin - (2011-05-26)
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Right from the start the reader understands that the text is a mock of aristocracy’s manners. The first two lines are about how the toilet stands displayed in a magical way. Then Pope mock Belinda’s manners: as she wakes up she adores herself and his figure made wonderful because of the “cosmetic power”. There the poet uses techniques to make the text the reader laugh. Pope wants to mock her because she thinks to be wonderful but she is like that only because she uses superficial things. The use of “that” makes an idea of distance: Pope wants to say that Belinda can’t see very well and also she must go next to the glass to see her figure. Then the poet uses the word “priestess” first because he wants to reduce the importance of the protagonist and also to refer to the classical literature because there weren’t priestess in that age and also to mock Belinda because she thinks to be like a divine figure.