RAPE OF THE LOCK LONG QUESTIONS

RAPE OF THE LOCK AS A

MOCK EPIC

 WHAT IS EPIC?

According to Aristotle an epic is a long narrative in verse, embodying the tragedy of a

conspicuous person, who is involved in adventurous events and meets a tragic fall on account
of some error of judgment (Hamartia) which throws him from prosperity to adversity; his death
is not essential. The subject matter of an epic is of great and momentous importance, that is
why, the language is also grand and bombastic.

 WHAT IS MOCK EPIC?

A mock-epic, on the other hand, is a literary parody of the heroic style. The subject of a
mock-epic is ordinary and trivial, but the treatment and style is elevated. Ordinary subject matter
is draped with grand style and bombastic language which looks ridiculous. To be curt it is just like
using a great force to carry a feather. A mock-epic is also called Mock-Heroic because in it trivial
subjects are inflated with false dignity or it is a parody of epic norms.
According to Pope: “The use of pompous expression for low action is the perfection of
the mock-epic”.

 RAPE OF THE LOCK AS MOCK EPIC:

The Rape of the Lock is a mock-epic but it is a refinement on earlier mock-epics like Nun’s
Priest’s Tale and others. Tillotson’s view is that “in The Rape of the Lock Pope mocks at the
maximum amount of the epic”.

Dr. Johnson while commenting on The Rape of the Lock says that “The Rape of the Lock
is the most attractive of all ludicrous composition”.
De Quincy is of the view that The Rape of the Lock is “an exquisite monument of playful
fancy”.
Lowel and Gosse call it “a perfect poem” and Denn as “perfect specimen of the poetic
burlesque”. Hazillit too pays a great tribute to the poem.
From the above views the opinion that emerges is that The Rape of the Lock is a very
refined mock-epic. In order to achieve this, Pope used many devices and methods but on the
whole he relies on the method of “diminution”, i.e., everything must happen but on a diminished

SHEHRYAR RIAZ
Email: sherryyrizz@gmail.com
RAPE OF THE LOCK LONG QUESTIONS

scale. The diminution of an epic material is noticeable throughout the poem. The pompous and
exalted style of the true epic has been used for the ordinary, the trivial and the insignificant
subject matter.

 TRIVIAL SUBJECT MATTER:

The subject mater of The Rape of the Lock is ordinary. It is a dispute pertaining to love
affair between a young fashionable lady Belinda and a gentleman Baron. Baron proposed his
name for marriage to Belinda who rejected his proposal. Consequently, Baron cut one of her
beautiful locks. So the subject is trivial but this trivial theme has been given epical treatment as
if it were some grave event of paramount importance.

 BOMBASTIC LANGUAGE:

Pope has used highly pompous and bombastic language for low action. For example, the
process of Belinda’s make-up has been termed as ‘adoration’ and ‘The sacred rites pride’. While
describing the beauty of Belinda he calls her. “The Fairest of mortals” and “The brightest fair”.
Her dream is called ‘Mystic vision’ and Betty is called as ‘Inferior priestess’.
Similarly the game of Ombre has been described as ‘a war of nerves’ the table has been
termed as the “battle field”; the dispersed cards have been dubbed as “routed army” etc. In the
same way scissors has been described as ‘two edged weapon’, ‘little engine’, ‘fatal engine’ etc.
Fans and bodkins as ‘deadly spears’, ‘deadly bodkins’.
So he has used bombastic language to describe ordinary things, and the purpose is to
heighten the mock-epical effect.

 MOCK-EPICAL TITLE:
Similarly, the title of the poem The Rape of the Lock also mock-epical. Rape is a serious
moral offense which means the violation of a woman’s chastity by force. But Pope has used this
term in an amusing way. The possession of the hair of Arabella by Petre is ironically described by
him as “The Rape of the Lock”. So the title evokes nothing but the mock-heroic sensation.

 IMAGERY:
The Rape of the Lock contains numerous mock-heroic images too, which enhance the
effect of the fundamental irony. He has used a very bombastic and pompous expression for trivial

SHEHRYAR RIAZ
Email: sherryyrizz@gmail.com
RAPE OF THE LOCK LONG QUESTIONS

and ordinary actions. For example, to describe the reaction of Belinda on the cutting of her lock
he has given a mythical reference.
“Not Fierce Othello in so loud a strain
Roared for the handkerchief that caused his pain”.

 PERSONIFICATION:
Here Pope has also personified things for the purpose of the heightening of effect, i.e.,
inanimate objects are invested with living attributes. For example, he personifies the sun and
compares its grandeur with that of Belinda. He also personifies anger through goddess of spleen,
and her two servants personify ill-nature and affectation.

 REVERSED STANDARDS:
In a mock-epic the great things are made look small and small things are made look great.
It means the standards of great and small are confounded. For example, in the following lines
staining of honour and loss of lady’s chastity is equated with loss of new brocade and the breaking
of a china jar.
“Whether the nymph shall break Diana’s law,
Or some frail china jar receive a flaw,
Or stain her honour, or her new brocade;
Forget her pray’rs, or miss a masquerade”
Similarly, in these lines the death of a lapdog is equated with the death of a husband to a lady:
“Not louder shrieks to pitying Heaven are Cast,
When husbands, or when lapdogs breathe their last;”

 ARIEL MACHINERY:
Pope has also made use of other mock-heroic methods. For example, he has used Aerial
Machinery to heighten the expression. It is ridiculous that Belinda an ordinary fashionable girl
has been shown being protected by thousands of spirits. The ordinary fight between the
supporters of Belinda and those of Baron’s has been compared with the fatal war between gods
and goddesses.

 PASSION OF COQUETRY:

SHEHRYAR RIAZ
Email: sherryyrizz@gmail.com
RAPE OF THE LOCK LONG QUESTIONS

An essential prerequisite of a mock epic is that there should be a peculiar passion. In

Nun’s Priest’s Tale the peculiar passion was flattery, and in The Rape of the Lock it is coquetry.
Pope has introduced through Belinda a group of fashionable women and in this way he criticizes
the coquetry. The entire poem, in fact, is a sharp satire on coquetry and coquettish attitude.

 THE EPIC HERO:

The hero of an epic is an extraordinary person. As against that in a mock-epic the hero is
an ordinary person because the subject matter of a mock-epic is also trivial and ordinary. In The
Rape of the Lock there is one heroine only and she is a fashionable butterfly who screams and
cries at the loss of her lock like epic heroes and this is quite humorous.
“Then flashed the living lightening from her eyes,
And screams of horror rend the affrighted skies”.
Another requirement of epic hero is that he performs certain rites and offers prayers in
order to achieve success. He addresses gods and goddesses and invokes their help. In The Rape
of the Lock there is an imitation of such rites and prayers when Baron burns the fire in order to
get Belinda.

“For this, ere Phoebus rose, he had implored

Propitious Heaven, and every power adored,
But chiefly Love to Love an altar built,”

An epic hero has to undertake a mortal battle, but in this case he simply goes to cut the
lock. Similarly, before going on adventure an epic hero makes certain preparations and Belinda’s
make up is a parody of that preparation. Then in an epic the hero uses deadly weapons to win
the war but here the weapons are not traditional, they are pins, eyes and bodkins. So all
requirements of a true epic hero have been imitated but for an ordinary objective.

 THE INVOCATION:

An epic normally opens with an invocation to some god or goddess and The Rape of the
Lock also begins with an invocation. In the very early lines Pope addresses the gods to find out
the riddle that why Lord Petre cut the lock.

Say what strange motive, Goddess! Could compel

A well-bred Lord to assault a gentle belle?

 HOMERIC SIMILIES:

SHEHRYAR RIAZ
Email: sherryyrizz@gmail.com
RAPE OF THE LOCK LONG QUESTIONS

The use of long-drawn-out simile is an important feature of Homer’s epic. Pope in The
Rape of the Lock makes repeated use of such similes. For example, the simile of a battle on a
green field is used throughout to elevate the game of cards. Similarly the description of fight
between fops and belles is mockingly exalted by the use of Homeric similes.

“No common weapons in their hands are found,

Like gods they fight, nor dread a mortal wound.”

 GRIEF :

Grief pre-dominates in an epic. There are a number of lines in The Rape of the Lock which
describe that the grief of Belinda was very melting. For example, there is a show of violent grief
when the lock of Belinda was cut. She expresses her grief in these words:
“For ever Curs’d be this detested day,
Which snatched my best, my favourite curl away”

 THE JOURNEY:
Again, the description of a long and dangerous journey undertaken by the hero or some
other person or persons is also convention. Here, the visit to the underworld undertaken by
malicious gnome (Umbriel) to the cave of spleen is a parody of this convention.

 MORAL:
Another prerequisite of an epic is moral. The moral be explicit or implicit because the
fundamental purpose of mock-epic is to inculcate heroic virtues and generous passions in us. It
tends to develop tolerance, passion and endurance in us. The moral instructions are interspersed
in The Rape of the Lock. However, Canto V contains explicit moral. The speeches of Clarissa and
Belinda are quite enlightening.
“How Vain are all these glories, all our pains,
Unless good sense preserve what beauty gains:
That men may say, when we the front-box grace;
Behold the first in virtue as in face!”
Clarissa emphasis that if apparent beauty is not supplemented by good sense it is of no
use. The enviable composition is that inner as well as outer beauty must co-exist. Since physical
beauty is ephemeral, it is necessary that women must inculcate in them the qualities of the heart
and the mind such as good humour, good sense etc. Apparent charm may strike the eyes but
inner beauty wins the soul.

SHEHRYAR RIAZ
Email: sherryyrizz@gmail.com
RAPE OF THE LOCK LONG QUESTIONS

“Beauties in vain their pretty eyes may roll;

Charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul.”

 CONCLUSION:
So, to conclude we can say that Pope’s The Rape of the Lock has all the qualities of a mock-
heroic poem. As Hazlitt observes,
“It is the triumph of insignificance, the apotheosis of foppery and folly. It is the
perfection of the mock-heroic”.

SHEHRYAR RIAZ
Email: sherryyrizz@gmail.com