From the Rape of the Lock Alexander Pope 1688–1744
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Satirical Voices from The Rape of the Lock RL 5 Analyze how an author’s Poem by Alexander Pope choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text contribute to its aesthetic impact. RL 6 Analyze a case in which Meet the Author grasping a point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a tex t from what is really meant. L 3a Apply an Alexander Pope 1688–1744 understanding of syntax to the study of complex texts As a poet and satirist, Alexander Pope was not pay the bills. Pope was a neoclassicist, when reading. SL 1c Propel unrivaled during the early 18th century. modeling his writing on the works conversations by posing and responding to questions that Revered for his masterful use of the heroic of ancient Greece and Rome, which probe reasoning and evidence. couplet, Pope influenced the literature stressed balance, order, rationality, and of the first half of the 18th century sophisticated wit. As a great admirer of did you know? so undeniably that the time period is classical poetry, he took on the task of Alexander Pope . sometimes called the Age of Pope. translating Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. It was an enormous amount of work, but • was run over by a wild A Precocious Poet Pope was raised as the money he made on the project made cow when he was three a Roman Catholic during a period in him financially independent—a luxury years old. England’s history when only Protestants most poets of his day did not enjoy. • suffered from poor could obtain a university education or health and once said hold public office. For this reason, he Good Friends and Cruel Enemies Pope that his life had been was largely self-taught. Pope was an was a member of the exclusive Scriblerus a “long disease.” exceptional youth; by the time he was 17, Club, a group of writers affiliated with • wrote the first two his poems were being read and admired the Tory political party who dedicated cantos of The Rape of by many of England’s best literary critics. themselves to exposing the pretensions the Lock in less than and affectations of literary society two weeks. At the age of 12, Pope developed through satire. Other members of the tuberculosis of the spine, possibly from club included his good friends John Gay drinking contaminated milk. The and Jonathan Swift. Although Pope’s tuberculosis stunted his growth (he never poetry was widely admired, he was often grew taller than four feet six inches) and the object of criticism from less talented permanently deformed his spine. Pope’s writers who attacked his religion, politics, illnessillness limitedlimited thethe aamountm of physical and, most cruelly, his physical appearance. activityactivity hhee coucouldl engage in, whichwhich maymay haveh contributed Pope’s satire grew more biting as he to hishis earearlyly devotion to aged, and he articulated his views on readingreading anda writing. England’s political and literary leaders in many of his later works. Pope died shortly Fame anda Fortune after his 56th birthday and was buried Pope’sPope’s mostm celebrated near his parents in Twickenham, the rural wwork,ork, TThe Rape of town where he had spent the latter half of tthehe LocLock,k appeared in his life. 11712,712, wwhenh he was only 224.4. Poetry, hhowever, did Author Online Go to thinkcentral.com. KEYWORD: HML12-610 610 NA_L12PE-u03s21-brLock.indd 610 12/14/10 10:37:30 AM poetic form: mock epic A mock epic uses the lofty style and conventions of epic poetry to satirize a trivial subject. In The Rape of the Lock, Pope makes fun of a silly quarrel by narrating it in a grandiose manner. As What are the you read, look for epic characteristics such as formal language, boasting speeches, supernatural intervention in human affairs, signs of and elaborate descriptions of weapons and battles. vanity? text analysis: heroic couplet All of us are susceptible to occasional A heroic couplet is a pair of rhymed lines written in iambic bouts of vanity. Some people find pentameter, a metrical pattern of five feet (units), each of it difficult to resist a chance to gaze which consists of two syllables, the first unstressed and the lovingly at themselves in a mirror or talk second stressed. Pope was a master of the heroic couplet, at length about their favorite subject— employing it for matters both witty and wise, as in the themselves. In The Rape of the Lock, Pope following example: holds up a different kind of mirror, one O thoughtless mortals! ever blind to fate, that he hoped would prompt people to take a more critical look at themselves. Too soon dejected, and too soon elate: SURVEY How can you tell if someone As you read The Rape of the Lock, notice how Pope uses is vain? Complete the following survey surprising rhymes to create humor. to help you distinguish between vanity and self-confidence. Then form a small reading skill: understand elevated language group with three or four classmates and Pope often uses difficult words and unusual syntax, or word discuss how everyone answered each order, to mimic the style of epic poetry and to maintain the question. meter and rhyme scheme of heroic couplets. The following strategies can help you make sense of his elevated language: 1. You spend a lot of time • Use sidenotes to understand unfamiliar words and historical choosing just the right outfit allusions in the text. to wear. ❒ VAIN ❒ SELF-CONFIDENT • Try to visualize the action and imagery in the poem. • Paraphrase sentences, restating them in your own words. 2. You usually think you have the best solution to a problem. If sentences have unusual syntax, rearrange the words to ❒ VAIN ❒ SELF-CONFIDENT form a more familiar sentence structure. 3. You frequently check your As you read, use a chart like the one shown to record and appearance in mirrors, paraphrase examples of elevated language. windows, etc. ❒ VAIN ❒ SELF-CONFIDENT Example Paraphrase 4. What you have to say is Hither the heroes and the nymphs The heroes and maidens often go to almost always important. resort . this place. ❒ VAIN ❒ SELF-CONFIDENT 5. People are sometimes envious of you. Complete the activities in your Reader/Writer Notebook. ❒ VAIN ❒ SELF-CONFIDENT the rape of the lock 611 NA_L12PE-u03s21-brLock.indd 611 11/24/10 1:18:58 PM e ra th pe o f t he lock ander Pope Alex background The Rape of the Lock was based on a real-life quarrel between two affluent Roman Catholic families, the Fermors and the Petres. The feud began when young Lord Petre (the “Baron” in the poem) snipped a lock of hair from Arabella Fermor (“Belinda”). The dispute escalated out of all proportion, and a friend of Pope’s asked him to intervene, hoping that he could “laugh them together again.” Pope rose to the occasion, mocking the folly of the dispute by portraying it as if it were a battle of epic scale. In the first of the poem’s five cantos, a Muse is evoked for inspiration (a tradition in epic poetry) and Belinda is warned of impending danger by Ariel, a spirit sent to protect Belinda. In Canto 2, Belinda rides up the Thames River to a Hampton Court party and is noticed by the scheming Baron, who resolves to possess one of the two curly locks spiraling down Belinda’s back. from canto 3 Close by those meads, forever crowned with f lowers, 1 meads: meadows. Where Thames with pride surveys his rising towers, 2 Thames (tDmz): a river that flows There stands a structure of majestic frame, through southern England. Which from the neighboring Hampton takes its name. 3–4 structure . name: the royal palace of Hampton Court, about 5 Here Britain’s statesmen oft the fall foredoom 15 miles from London. Of foreign tyrants and of nymphs at home; 6 nymphs (nGmfs): maidens; young Here thou, great Anna! whom three realms obey, women. Dost sometimes counsel take—and sometimes tea. a 7 Anna . obey: Queen Anne, Hither the heroes and the nymphs resort, who rules over the three realms of England, Scotland, and Wales. 10 To taste awhile the pleasures of a court; In various talk the instructive hours they passed, a HEROIC COUPLET In Pope’s time, tea was Who gave the ball, or paid the visit last; pronounced “tay.” How does One speaks the glory of the British Queen, Pope use rhyme in lines 7–8 to And one describes a charming Indian screen; mock pomposity? The Toilet (1896), Aubrey Beardsley. Drawing for Alexander 612 unit 3: the restoration and the 18th century Pope’s The Rape of the Lock. The Granger Collection. NA_L12PE-u03s21-Lock.indd 612 11/24/10 1:16:22 PM NA_L12PE-u03s21-Lock.indd 613 11/24/10 1:16:36 PM 15 A third interprets motions, looks, and eyes; At every word a reputation dies. Snuff, or the fan, supply each pause of chat, 17 snuff: powdered tobacco that is With singing, laughing, ogling, and all that. inhaled. Meanwhile declining from the noon of day, 20 The sun obliquely shoots his burning ray; The hungry judges soon the sentence sign, And wretches hang that jurymen may dine; The merchant from the Exchange returns in peace, And the long labors of the toilet cease. 24 toilet: the process of dressing, 25 Belinda now, whom thirst of fame invites, fixing one’s hair, and otherwise grooming oneself. Burns to encounter two adventurous knights, At ombre singly to decide their doom, 27 ombre (JmPbEr): a popular card And swells her breast with conquests yet to come.