Have you ever wondered what would happen if a petty social dispute is exaggerated and elevated to the grandeur and significance of an…epic battle?
And what happens if a genius of a poet transforms a real life incident, a quarrel between two aristocratic families, into a masterpiece of 18th century literature?
The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope is an 18th century mock-epic poem satirizing the aristocratic society and its vanity in historical England. You might come across instances while reading Rape of the Lock where Pope mocks the self-absorbed and narcissistic behaviors of people, particularly women in the 18th century elite circles of England.
There’s no denying Pope’s poetic genius. Read about Pope’s life and works here.
Table of Contents
‘Rape of the Lock’ by Alexander Pope
Here’s what Rape of the Lock is about: a young beautiful woman, Belinda, whose lock of hair is snipped and stolen by a man named Baron, leading to this whole dramatic conflict that is narrated unusually alike the high stake battles of classical epic poems such as The Iliad and Paradise Lost.
The poem, though, is based on a real-life story, as I said, and the character of Belinda comes from Arabella Fermor, whose lock of hair was cut off by Lord Peter, leading to a whole series of serious rifts between their two families in 1711. By taking this story as the inspiration of his next work, Pope satirizes the triviality of these issues raised by aristocratic families, the vanity that shines, the inefficiency of social rituals and the obsession—gosh, the obsession—with one’s appearances and material desires.
His wise integration of prevailing social customs and elements and his absolute excellency in writing satire can draw you in even if some of the opinions of society around that time don’t fit well with you.
The Rosicrucian Philosophy
Before I drive right into Rape of the Lock Canto 1 by Alexander Pope, I’d like to tell you about the Rosicrucian system of philosophy heavily referenced to in the play.
The Rosicrucian doctrine emerged in the early 17th century, a belief system dedicated to alchemy, mysticism, and occult wisdom. The role of Rosicrucian philosophy in the Rape of the Lock is its classifications of spirits into groups based on their personalities. Each supernatural being corresponds to an element.
There are Sylphs, which are light airy beings flying in the air, being associated with beauty, flirtation, fleeting romance. They protect women and their virtues. It raises another question about the views regarding women prevailing in that era, but that’s what we’re going to address later on.
Then come the Gnomes, which correspond to earth and are spirits who’re often linked to mischief and…bitterness in a sense, those who don’t want to enjoy the same things that Sylphs do.
The Nymphs are spirits of the water, reflecting, as the element suggests, fluidity and emotions.
The final one is the Salamanders which are connected to fire and represent fiery beings who are all about passion and intensity and drive.
Understanding these four supernatural elements is crucial, because they frequently are referenced in the Canto 1.
Let’s begin.
Rape of the Lock Canto 1 Analysis
The very first lines of the Rape of the Lock Canto 1 immediately draw you in and make you wonder what these supposedly trivial things are that have led to these big issues that Pope is talking about.
The mock heroic tone sets itself from these very lines. Dire offenses? Mighty contests? Are you talking about a great battle or a romantic affair? The very fact that it seems to be one thing and turns out to be another establishes the irony in the poem, something which Pope maintains throughout, frequently through his choice of words and phrases.
Belinda is introduced in the fourth line of the poem, right after the invocation to the muse Caryll as Pope seems to ask Belinda to condescend to allow the idea and the story behind this poem to see the light of the day.
Obviously, the mock epic tone again: the subject of the story is very minor and unnecessary, in a sense, but the way it’s talked about far exceeds that.
And calling the causes am’rous? Surely it’s about love and romance what Pope is telling the story of, and you can see that on the very first page in the very first few lines. Like here;
Assault is the Lord cutting off Belinda’s hair. Belle here can refer to many things: a young beautiful fancy woman, or it can be a shorter name for Belinda, or probably for Arabella herself. Oh, the uncertainty of literature. You never know anything for sure because the poet has been long dead.
But Pope seems to be wondering over this one thing he can’t understand, and asks the Goddess to explore —why would Belinda reject the lord? It might be a mock at the society at that time which seemed to think that being a lord—being rich and influential was enough reason for women to want to marry someone—was enough for someone to feel entitled for many things that shouldn’t have been allowed otherwise. Pope can’t understand why Belinda would reject such a lord when marrying him would promise her a life full of wealth and power and riches.
This line seems a little pretty…I don’t know how to describe it. The idea of soft bosoms and mighty rage, is…obviously because of the literary device used…seems to shine among all others because of how poetic it is.
And also, by little men, again, Pope could be referring to the vanity of aristocratic males themselves, people who pride themselves for being mighty and strong and wise but are actually very materialistic and focus on petty disputes. He could also, I don’t know, talk about himself, on a more biographical level. Because Pope himself was only four feet six in height, it seems like he might be laughing at himself, mocking himself bitterly about taking up the task of writing such a poem when he might be feeling doubtful about his abilities to do that.
Again, can’t ask him anyway.
From this line we’re actually entering the action of the poem, the little brief exposition is over and the scene opens with Belinda rising from bed. The plethora of imagery used is carefully interwoven to showcase the daily routine of an aristocratic household, elevated to such an extent despite just talking about the very simple act of waking up from sleep.
Pope describes as the sun shoots in the morning sunlight through the curtains of Belinda’s bed, I’m imagining her curtains must be silk or something very fancy and luxury, you know, and Belinda opens her eyes—the eyes which can “eclipse the day”. Way to exaggerate.
Her eyes are so bright and beautiful and shiny that the day seems eclipsed in front of them. The use of the lapdogs presents a picture of…I don’t know…pets who’re taken care of cautiously, those cute little poodles that you only keep in your lap because they’re too precious and god-sent. Yes, that’s the image Pope might be trying to picture.
Now sleepless lovers seems to be a mock again, because lovers who claim to be so knee-deep in love that they can’t sleep at night are not really admirable if they wake up at twelve at noon. It’s like, I’m just not sleeping at nights. I’m sleeping all day instead.
Ringing the bell, knocking the ground, pressing the watch, are all images of what the aristocratic society does to call servants or to indulge themselves.
In the line 20, the Sylph comes up, who’s a guardian for Belinda; and it’s this sylph—Ariel, as we’d come to know—who looks after Belinda and makes sure that she gets her beauty sleep perfectly. The Sylph is also the one who induces the dream in Belinda’s sleep.
Creepy enough?
A gay youth is introduced in Belinda’s dream, glittering and handsome. Even in her slumber, she’s blushing. And then the youth presses his persuasive (can be understood from the word winning) lips against her ears. The following lines are what the Sylph says, or seems to say, an important detail that can be expected to introduce a sense of blurring boundaries between dreams and reality because Belinda can’t know for sure what she actually hears or what she just imagines.
Belinda is cared for in a very distinguished way, the thousands of Sylphs of the air look after her to protect her honor, virtue. The nurse and the priest are talked about because in a way of the era were talking about, nurses and priests are the ones who actually have a very substantial influence on a child’s mind in the elite circles. What follows are images to introduce the elements of mysticism, knowledge, power.
Moonlight shadows introduces the mystical imagery. The silver Token and circled Green refer to folklore. Virgins are rewarded with golden crowns and wreaths of flowers that are compared to heaven. The world is full of magic and folklore.
The vision, I believe, that is being revealed in these lines is that of magical beings and supernatural elements being present in the world, something that children believe but are taught not to as they grow older and the society starts influencing their rationales.
The Sylph asks Belinda to believe in her own significance and not be bound by the truths of the material world below. Learned Pride is again a very heroic term, referring to intellectuals, but in this context it’s just used to contrast the wise people from the maidens and the children who are the only ones to whom the truth of the world is revealed. These truths succeed in adding the element of that secrecy, something being otherworldly. And even though the intellectuals might doubt all this, the innocent and fair-minded will still believe it with full conviction.
And what is the truth being talked about?
These lines introduce one of the main ideas frequented in the poem. Women and their guardian spirits, the Sylphs. They are called militia of the lower sky, again, another attempt at mocking how important Sylphs are considered, to be called militia, a term vaguely…heroic, and masculine, both the things that the Sylphs are not concerned with.
The Sylphs are always on their guard, wherever the beautiful, fashionable women are, you’ll find them too. The Sylphs also are very self absorbed, in that sense, very entitled in that they view the pages (servants) and chair (carriages, maybe) with contempt. The Sylphs, though dead, have got the attitude.
Oops, sorry, spoiler alert. The Sylphs are dead people. Sorry I forgot to mention.
The Sylphs were once people. Women. Or trapped in women’s beautiful physical bodies. And then by a soft transition form the land of the living to the land of the supernatural, they shifted from earth to air.
The Sylph proceeds to tell Belinda that no one should misunderstand that once women are dead, their vanities have ended too. No, nah. Her vanities still live on; what follows can be interpreted in literal terms but I also think of it as a metaphor, because, now even though Sylphs don’t participate in these societal rituals and material pursuits anymore, they do look over the women who are still tied to all of it.
Or it can mean that obviously the Sylphs can’t play cards anymore, something they probably loved to do when they were alive, but they can definitely watch the game and tell Belinda where she’s going wrong. Their joy in chariots, their love for the game of Ombre survive even after death.
This is a mockery at the aristocratic life too, in addition to just women. Instead of focusing on heaven or hell after death, they wonder who’s gonna win the game this evening.
What follows is a description of each of the four supernatural beings that I talked about before, their activities and characteristics that give them and their defining qualities a suitable profession for afterlife.
You have to think here: Alexander Pope is surely mocking the idea of afterlife. The Christian concept of afterlife deals with morals, with sins and temptations, redemption, heaven and hell. This supernatural idea of afterlife, though, presents a completely different and…a very skewed picture.
Women don’t have to worry about going to heaven or hell. They are immediately assigned their roles in afterlife on the basis of their personalities on earth. Which is an oversimplification in its truest form
Women shouldn’t be contained in a box like that, I think, but who’s gonna listen to me anyway?
And then there’s the complete expansion on the idea of becoming Sylphs, because, obviously they’re the most desirable, right. They’re called coquettes, offensive really. They play in the field of air.
Pope continues to describe Sylphs as those who take under their wing whoever rejects romance on earth. Why? Because Sylphs are concerned with the playful, flirtatious side of love, not the deep, passionate, unconditional one.
So, whoever is willing to have fun with them in romantic rendezvous can definitely join in. I think that’s the thing.
These spirits are freed form the laws of humanity and can take on whatever shapes and sizes that they want, nothing is out of bound. Which is another mockery because when they were alive, they weren’t allowed to do this, to carve their own path, so now when they’re dead, they take a different idea of freedom and choose how they want to be seen.
Sylphs are the one who guard the purity if these maids who melt at the sight of fancy courtly balls and masquerades at midnight, all images showing the idea of secrecy, fleeting romance, flirtation. There are glances shared in the day, and whispers in the night. Something stirs these warm emotions and desires in their hearts, the music is soft and melodic, and the dancing is fiery. All of this presents a picture very romantic. And also dangerous.
And now it’s the duty of Sylphs to protect the young, fashionable, moldable women like Belinda herself, from the watchful gaze of the men. It’s their duty to protect their honor. Their virtues, their purity you know.
And people on earth might call this word honor, but in truth it’s just the doing of the Sylphs. What’s Pope trying to say here? Does he mean that women are not capable of protecting their own virginity and instead are so swayed by the men that they need some guardian spirits hanging over their head all the time to make sure they don’t end up making a mistake?
I think that might be what Pope is trying to say, and that’s what makes this interesting because obviously there’s another perspective: he might be calling women out for their frivolous nature, or he might be mocking the aristocratic society itself for assuming these details in the first place about women’s attitudes, about their need to remain pious in the outdated sense to command social respect.
Pope shifts his focus from Sylphs to Nymphs and Gnomes. There are some women who are predestined to becomes Gnomes. These are women who think of themselves as too important, and deny the offers for marriage and the love prospects. Pope calls them vacant-brained, yeah another comment I don’t see the necessity of.
They love listening to servants call them Your Grace as they marry Dukes and Lords and other important officials who give them the positions os power and luxury and status.
Pope here describes all these trivialities and vanities that taint, or rather, corrupt the young female soul, they are taught from a very young age how to behave in the society, how to flirt, how to manufacture a blush and beauty and have their little young innocent hearts thud louder for a beautiful man.
And whenever women lose their way, Sylphs are there to guide them back. Women might pursue the “giddy circle” of dazzling balls and masquerades and flirtations, they might replace old trifling with new ones as time passes and they grow up. These tender maids fall victim to men’s treats and the balls they go to.
Okay so Florio and Damon here represent two rivals fighting each other for Belinda’s attention, and it’s a light-hearted attempt by Pope to show the social dramas of upper-class society.
Calling the heart a toy-shop gives it a vaguely artifical image. As if it’s not natural, as if it’s got these puppets and that’s how you pull the strings of someone’s hearts and make them attracted to you.
Finally, Pope is not just criticizing women but also the aristocratic society of that time. Men compete with each other based on looks; aristocratic rich men wonder over who is looking better, more manly, whose sword-knot is fancier. Beautiful men replace beautiful men. They’re all interchangeable in the society. Coaches come and go, showing how the society is so self absorbed and think of themselves as the most supreme regardless of whether they deserve that title or not.
Mortals may call this attitude their foolishness, but in truth it’s always the Sylphs orchestrating everything.
Finally, after this whole soliloquy spanning all these lines, the Sylph finally introduces himself as Ariel.
Ariel speaks of how recently, as he was moving through the vast expanses of his “celestial realm”, he saw Belinda’s future in her ruling star. Here is a reference particularly to astrology and again, the magical aspect frequently coming up in the poem.
Now what did Ariel see in Belinda’s ruling star? What is foreshadowed here?
He says that before the sun descends onto the sea, (Main), which means, before the sunset, Aires saw some dreading event happening to Belinda. But the heavenly stars of her fate don’t reveal what it is and so Ariel can’t do anything to help her or protect her, and thus the only thing he can do is to warn her of the impeding event. Do notice how Belinda is called a Pious Maid here, which can also be used to foreshadow how her so-called piety, is going to be in danger in the upcoming cantos.
The last thing Ariel tells Belinda is to beware of everyone, but most importantly, be cautious of the very one who’s going to offend her honor and virtue—a man.
This serious warning of Ariel is shapely contrasted with how Belinda’s pet dog, named Shock, wakes her up immediately by licking her with his tongue and suddenly she’s brought back to her normal, daily rich life.
And the very first thing that her eyes sees is a billet-doux, which is French for a love letter. Now, two things can be considered here, firstly that the seriousness of the dream is immediately replaced by the trivialities and the romantic aspects of a love letter, and then secondly, and I’m shooting blindly here, the sudden transition into the French word of love letter gives a very elite, rich idea, a very romantic one. Look how good it sounds, billet-doux, wow.
Moving on, Wounds, Charms, and Ardors are just words to describe how…flowery and articulate and you know, in that sense, how exaggerated the language of these love letters are, and they are enough to distract Belinda completely from what she was seeing in her dream.
Well, great job, Ariel, she just ignored you.
She gets busy in her morning routine the first thing of which is walking up to her dressing table (don’t know why it was called Toilet in those times) and then she’s, you know, putting on her makeup and preparing herself for the day to engage in her fun endeavors.
Pope uses the words mystic order, cosmetic powers, heavenly image, altar, priestess, to enhance the idea of it being a mock epic. She’s just putting on her makeup, not doing some grand gesture like preparing for war or presenting offerings to a God. And then at the same time, there’s the phrase silver vase to give the idea of how the Belinda is so rich and lives a luxurious life.
She’s robed in white too, and white here can signify purity and innocence in a way. She’s also called a Nymph, she is admiring her own heavenly image in the mirror. The inferior priestess might be a maid or someone of definitely lower rank who’s helping Belinda, standing near her altar/toilet/dressing table.
Sacred Rites of Pride? Pope is obviously exaggerating and it makes the satire interesting to read, to see to what extent he’s willing to exaggerate the simple acts and present them in its most grandeur form.
There are innumerable treasures on her drawers, each opened and it’s almost like the world itself is presenting this to her for her to use it—condescend using it. She chooses her cosmetic items with such labor it’s like she’s doing something more important instead of just wondering whether to put her blush first or her ring.
Belinda is the goddess referred to here, and she’s spoiled with all this glittering stuff brought from India and Africa. The reference to India and Africa is to show the eroticism that’s a part of aristocratic life; they use expensive, luxurious, items that have a global significance because of their rarity and value. Pope uses this is to emphasize the extravagant status, particularly of Belinda herself in this scene. The fragrant spices, aromas, all present itself to her.
The tortoise means tortoiseshell and elephant, ivory which is used to make her combs, something as simple as that being made of such valuable, and…exploitative items, showing how nature plays a role here too in contributing to Belinda’s artificial beauty.
These lines written by Pope show how easily beauty is constructed to fit the demands and…you know…superficial needs of the elites. Then, Pope is talking about files of hairpins that are arranged in neat rows on her dresser, it’s got all kinds of things from puffs, powders and face patches to the Bible and billet-doux. There’s alliteration, there’s juxtaposition.
Pope uses satire to put together beauty items and something as mature as religion or love. In the eyes of Belinda and other women like her, artificial, external beauty is placed right next to some of the most important aspects of humanity at that time and still prevalent today.
Belinda prepares her beauty like a warrior putting on his armor. That’s the kind of grandeur Pope giver to the simple action, every single line is dripping with satire here. It also presents beauty as a kind of weapon that Belinda, all women actually, used to, maybe protect herself? Or at least that’s what she thinks it’ll do, but we already know that it ends up doing the opposite.
Belinda’s charms increases by every second passing. She puts on a nice smile, “repairing” it, as if it’s a machine, not human lips. She heightens every grace on her face, all her pretty features.
The wonders of her face show another aspect of that mock grandeur. What is the world? Like, are you talking about the seven wonders of the world? Because one of them belongs in India too.
So, these past few lines have shown how Belinda arose from her sleep, and immediately got to work on her face to enhance her beauty and give it a feel that’s entirely constructed and not anything natural. Not even a little natural. Everything’s made to please, to uphold the status, to look untouchable to the lower eye.
Her eyes sparkle now with the “lightnings”—dramatic enough?—that’s tuned up because of this whole beauty ritual she’s done.
And everything is done by the Sylphs, she’s their darling and they’re looking after her rightfully so—at least in the sense they think she needs. Someone is setting her hair, someone plaiting her gown, someone folding the sleeves just to the right amount.
Poor Betty, her maid—can’t even know what hit her.
We’re done! If you came this far, congrats! This is wrapping up Alexander Pope’s Rape of the Lock Canto 1 in all its humorous satire and sharp critique of the 18th century society.
Were you able to understand exactly what Pope was saying, along with thinking up your own interpretations and new analysis? I’m glad!
I was contemplating on writing about the themes and all, imagery symbols, literary devices and all of that we can find here but this one ended up being too long so I decided to drop it for now. Maybe after we go through all the cantos of the poem we can focus on that bit too.
For right now, happy studying the Rape of the Lock!
I hope you think of me when you’re writing your exam.
