Assignment 2 The Rape of the Lock As a Social Satire

 

This blog is part of an assignment for the paper 102 - Literature of the Neo-classical Period, Sem - 1, 2022

PERSONAL INFORMATION:-

Name:- Bhavyata Dhirajbhai Kukadiya 

Batch:- M.A. Sem 1 (2022-2024)

Enrollment Number:- 4069206420220018

E-mail Address:- bhavyatakukadiya@gmail.com

Roll Number:- 5

ASSIGNMENT DETAILS:-

Topic:- The Rape of the Lock As a Social Satire 

Paper & subject code:- 102 & 22393

Submitted to:- Smt. Sujata Binoy Gardi, Department of English, MKBU, Bhavnagar 

Date of Submission:- 7th November, 2022

The Rape of the Lock As a Social Satire 

• About writer
• Introduction
• What is Satire?
• Satire in 18th Century
• The Rape of the Lock as a Social Satire
• Satire on 18th Century England Society
• Social Satire on Males and Females
• Nature of Husband and Wives 
• Satire on Materialistic Relationships
• Conclusion

Alexander Pope

Born: May 21, 1688, London, England

Died: May 30, 1744 (aged 56), Middlesex, England

Notable Works: The Dunciad, The Rape of the Lock, An Essay on Criticism, His translation of Homer

 Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 — 30 May 1744) was an English poet, considered the foremost English poet of the early 18th century and a master of the heroic couplet. He is known for his writing style and satirical works, such as The Dunciad, The Rape of the Lock and An Essay on Criticism.

 Pope's satire is inspired not by any large view of human its vices and weaknesses; no such dark misanthropy as glares at and horrifies us, and flashes of which are seen in Byron, no such moral sincerity as we find in Juvenal. His satires do not blend anger and pure fun the kind of which we find in Burns. "Personal animosity is the feather with which Pope's satirical arrows are fledged." Thus to do full justice to The Dunciad, Moral Essays and Imitation of Horace the reader must be fully familiar with the social background of the age. As, for example, in 1725 he published an edition of Shakespeare which was vehemently criticized by Lewis Theobald in his Shakespeare Restored (1726). Theobald suggested many valuable restorations and amendments and exposed Pope's inefficiency as a critic. As retaliation, Pope made him the hero of his Dunciad, a violent satire of which three books were published anonymously in 1728. For a poet of Pope's stature the Dunciad is a movement of misapplied power.

Posterity has remembered Alexander Pope for his satires. Undoubtedly, while shaping his growth in the direction demanded by classicism, the feeling for which he strengthened more and more within himself. Pope developed his talent for satire and argument in verse.

Pope is also remembered as the first full-time professional English writer, having supported himself largely on subscription fees for his popular translations of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey and his edition of the works of William Shakespeare.

Pope was plagued with illness for most of his life, and only grew to 4 ft 6 in tall. He died in 1744 at the age of 56.

Introduction:-

The Rape of the Lock is Pope’s most famous poem and was first published in 1712. A revised version was published in 1714. It is a mock-epic poem that satirises a high-society quarrel between Arabella Fermor and Lord Petre, who had snipped a lock of hair from her head without her permission. However, the satirical style is toned down by the genuine and almost voyeuristic interest in the fashionable world of 18th century English society.

  Enlightenment writer Alexander Pope used different mediums of satire, different types of logic, and different targets of ridicule in order to shine a light on separate aspects of British society, providing much-needed criticism of the profuse moral corruption of a society that sometimes seemed to forget the true ideals of its age.

 What is Satire?

The word ‘satire’ is derived from the Latin word ‘satira’ which is a literary attack on the follies and vices of an individual or a society with a view to correcting them through laughter and ridicule written either in prose or verse. A writer uses this technique to show people their shortcomings so that they can make improvements. It is very wrong to understand satire merely as a synonym for humour. Humour may have many purposes; laughing, excitement, interest of audience etc; satire on the other hand is purely for the purpose of reformations. 

Satire in 18th Century:

In English literature, the technique of satire was much improved by the end of the 17th century. Almost every poet of that era wrote at least one satirical poem. In fact, the trend increased day by day and literature based on this technique engaged more and more audiences. The Rape of the Lock is a satire on the aristocratic strata of the 18th-century society. In the very opening lines, the poet laughs at "little" men engaging in tasks so "bold", and at gentle ladies who are capable of such "mighty rage’’:

In Tasks so bold can Little Men engage,

And in soft Bosoms dwell such mighty Rage?

(L. 11-12)

      The contrast between "tasks so bold" and "little men" and another between "soft bosoms" and "mighty rage" is very wittily constructed and cuts clown to size these vain people of Pope's time.Alexander Pope is also one of them who gained fame in those days and made his name in witty satires.

The Rape of the Lock as a Social Satire:

The Rape of the Lock was a response to a request that John Caryll made to Alexander Pope. He was his friend who requested him to write a poem. Thus, the real purpose of The Rape of the Lock was not to satarize the society. Alexander Pope once said:

“The stealing of Miss Belle Fermor’s hair, was taken too seriously, and caused an estrangement between the two families, though they had lived so long in great friendship before. A common acquaintance and well-wisher to both, desired me to write a poem to make a jest of it, and laugh them together again. It was with this view that I wrote the Rape of the Lock.”

Shakespeare is the poet of man, Alexander Pope is a poet of society. “The Rape of the Lock” is a social document because it mirrors contemporary society and contains a social satire, too. The Pope paints about England in the 18th century. The whole panorama of “The Rape of the Lock”revolves around the false standard of 18th century. The Pope satirises the young girls and boys, aristocratic women and men, their free time activities, nature of husbands and wives, the professional judges and politicians of the day.

The Pope clearly depicts the absurdities and the frivolities of the fashionable circle of 18th century England. The world of Belinda – the world of fashion is a trivial world. The whole life of Belinda is confined to sleeping, make-up, enjoyment and alluring the lords. There are no transcendental elements in her life. This life is marked by ill-nature, affectation, mischievousness, coquetry, yielding and submissive nature, fierce and unruly nature, infidelity, cheapness, meanness, trivialities and frivolities. Belinda represents all the fashion struck women, busy in such stupidities.

Satire on 18th Century England Society:

In The Rape of the Lock the poet explores the vanity of english aristocratic society; he exposes their excessive beliefs in their own abilities and attractiveness to others. On one hand, he talks about fashionable men whereas on the other hand he also mentions that ladies were not different from men in this regard. He creates war-like scenes in the poem to ridicule the society and to show them they make preparations for useless activities as they are going to war. He does not target a single person nor does he talks about any specific profession but as a whole; it is the beauty of The Rape of the Lock that it is a complete social satire due to which it has a universal appeal.All the ladies of that era were fond of gilded chariots. The poet shows their vanities. They considered themselves superior to others in beauty. Although the poem has not been ever judged from psychological perspectives yet it is a matter of fact that the poet shows mental psyche of those people through social satire in his poem The Rape of the Lock. 

Social Satire on Males and Females:

In the poem, the poet creates a female character named Belinda. Although in the complete poem, he talks only about her yet he means to say every single female of that era who belonged to aristocratic class. On the opposite, he creates a male character named Baron. He uses him to show the routine life of gentlemen. England has been known for the people with heroic deeds for many years; however, the lifestyle that the gentlemen adopt in this poem is entirely opposite to the heroism. The poet laughs with us on them.

In the very beginning of the poem, the poet starts showing the laziness of the upper class. Belinda wakes up from sleep and sleeps again. It means that she has nothing to worry about. The poet means to say that plenty of money was there with those people, hence, they had no worries. Subsequently, she prepares herself for a party just like a soldier prepares for a battle. In an epic poem we see a poet give a detailed description of armour and body of a hero. Similarly, Alexander Pope mentions in detail Belinda’s combs and pins.

The poem also shows that people’s hobbies also change with the passage of time. They were no more interested in courageous, heroic and war stories; rather they were busy in making themselves look better to others in a ball party. Thus, there is a social satire on noble ladies of that centaury in The Rape of the Lock.

There is no denying the fact that women were busy impressing men and men were trying their best to make good impressions in front of the ladies. Women’s curiosity has been shown towards puffing, make-up, using cosmetics, dying their hairs, petting etc. whereas men on the other hand are shown useless, idle, lazy, unwise, foolish and hollow minded who think flirting with ladies as their primary moto.

Nature of Husband and Wives :

The Pope also satirizes the husbands and wives of the day. Husbands always suspect their wives. They think that their wives have been merry-making with their lovers. On the other hand, wives are also not virtuous at all. They love their lap-dogs more than their husbands. And the death of husbands is not more shocking than the death of a lap dog or the breakage of a china vessel.

“Not louder shrieks to pitying Heave are cast,

When husbands, or when lapdogs breathe their last;”

Satire on Materialistic Relationships:

Relationships between men and women were not real at all. The poet sheds light on this issue too. Romeo and Juliet once lived there; however, the poet does not portray any such relationship between anyone. He shows that the people were busy in making affairs and they were apathetic to real relationships. 

The Rape of the Lock in actual is the rape of honour and a social satire that honour had no value in the eyes of those people. There was no purity in those ladies. It seems that the Pope was living in the 21st century. These days, people are living in “living relationships”’ without marrying; however, that was started many years ago though it was not usual for everyone. The poet has shown this in his poem if we deeply study it with symbolic meanings.

The poet targets every relationship. People do not like the friendship of those people who are inferior to them. When Belinda’s lock was cut, her friends left her alone; the incident is a social satire on emptiness in relationships between the people of that era. 

He also satirized those friends whose friendship is but lust, those politicians who do not have a deeper insight and cannot see beyond the shows and take steps just for their own interests and ends

Conclusion:

The poet does not directly uses any word against the standards of 18th century England society; rather he uses the technique of social satire in his poem The Rape of the Lock to spread awareness about the follies of their people. He covers almost everything in the poem. From every angles, The Rape of the Lock seems a poem that best defines the technique of social satire.

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