The Rape of The Lock Canto 1 by Alexander Pope | Characters, Themes, Summary, Analysis — Transcript
Full transcript
- 0:00[Music]
- 0:00the rape of the lock can't open by
- 0:03Alexander Pope Characters themes summary
- 0:07analysis
- 0:09hello and welcome to the discourse the
- 0:12rape of the lock is a mock heroic
- 0:14narrative poem by Alexander Pope that
- 0:16was published in five cantos during the
- 0:18years
- 0:201712-1714. the first two cantos were
- 0:23published anonymously in May 1712 and
- 0:27the complete poem with five cantos was
- 0:29republished in March 1714 that mentioned
- 0:32Alexander Pope as the writer it is a
- 0:35long mock heroic narrative poem with 794
- 0:38lines in total the first Canto consists
- 0:41of 148 lines the whole poem is written
- 0:44in heroic couplets mostly arranged in
- 0:47iambic pentameter
- 0:48Alexander popes the rape of the lock and
- 0:51Samuel Butler's hudibras are considered
- 0:53the finest examples of hybrid lists or
- 0:56mockery the term lock in the title
- 0:59represents one of the hair locks of
- 1:01Belinda which are so lucrative that they
- 1:03can bring the destruction of mankind
- 1:05that is the male folk the term rape in
- 1:08the title doesn't mean sexual rape but
- 1:11it holds the older meaning of the word
- 1:12derived from the Latin word repre which
- 1:15means to Rob to grab to carry up or to
- 1:18snatch
- 1:19however it is a mock heroic satirical
- 1:22poem that involves exaggeration
- 1:24Alexander Pope exaggerates the act of
- 1:27cutting of a lock of hair of palinda in
- 1:30canto 2 and equates it with a man taking
- 1:32advantage of a woman's innocence and
- 1:35hence adds up a theme of sexual
- 1:37violation
- 1:38the main plot of the poem was based on a
- 1:41real incident involving Arabella farmer
- 1:43and her Suitor Lord Robert Peter who
- 1:46both belonged to two aristocratic
- 1:48recusant families
- 1:49a minor dispute over a mischievous act
- 1:52by Robert Peter became a huge issue that
- 1:55led to the dissolution of his engagement
- 1:57with Arabella
- 1:59after the Glorious Revolution of 1688
- 2:02the whole Catholic community of England
- 2:04was facing difficulties under the laws
- 2:07like the test act during such a period
- 2:09this minor incident became the reason
- 2:12for a huge dispute between two of the
- 2:14major English Catholic families
- 2:16John Carroll who was the second Jacobite
- 2:19Baron of durford witnessed the incident
- 2:21between Arabella farmer and Lord Peter
- 2:24he commissioned Pope to turn the
- 2:26incident into a jest in the hope that it
- 2:28would encourage reconciliation between
- 2:30the two families
- 2:32Pope makes the heroic world with the
- 2:35social to depict the anomalies
- 2:37juxtapositions ironies and hypocrisy of
- 2:40the current Society who appears of the
- 2:43sophisticated mask of the 18th century
- 2:45people denuding their Ugly Faces by
- 2:48presenting serious topics through
- 2:50giggles and thus made the audience of
- 2:53his time laughing at their own Follies
- 2:56characters of the rape of the lock
- 2:58Belinda is the heroine of the rape of
- 3:00the lock she is a young beautiful
- 3:02poppish girl belonging to a rich family
- 3:06Pope based this character on arabara
- 3:08formal former the daughter of an
- 3:11aristocratic Catholic Family she was
- 3:13engaged to her Robert Peter who sniffed
- 3:16a lock of her hair without permission
- 3:18thereby causing a rift between their two
- 3:21families that resulted in the
- 3:23dissolution of Engagement of Arabella
- 3:25with Robert Pope depicts this incident
- 3:28in the poor the baron is based on Robert
- 3:31Peter he is an admirer of Belinda who
- 3:33desires her he cuts off a lock of her
- 3:36hair in a mischievous act that fills
- 3:39Belinda with rage and anger
- 3:42Carol is a member of the party he is
- 3:44mentioned only once and he is the
- 3:46dedicated of the poem Carol is John
- 3:49Carroll a friend of popes who
- 3:51commissioned Pope to turn the incident
- 3:53into a jest Clarissa is a woman
- 3:55attendant at the Hampton Court party
- 3:57where the incident took place she helped
- 4:01the baron in cutting off the hair lock
- 4:03by Landing her swing scissors to the
- 4:05baron later on she tries to calm Belinda
- 4:08down and sermonizes on the affirmal
- 4:11nature of Beauty and the importance of
- 4:13Good Sense Once a woman's looks have
- 4:16faded
- 4:17Ariel is Belinda's Guardian self his
- 4:21task is to protect the kokatisk virgin
- 4:23girls with the aid of an army of silks
- 4:26the character of Ariel is based on
- 4:28Shakespeare's The Tempest
- 4:31brilliante is a self is assigned to God
- 4:34Belinda's earrings
- 4:35self-momentila guards her watch while
- 4:38Chris's crispizza guards her favorite
- 4:41hair locks
- 4:43umbriel is a mischievous groom who
- 4:45instigates Belinda and intensifies her
- 4:48despair at the loss of her hair
- 4:50tail stress is a friend of balinda who
- 4:53convinces Belinda to take revenge on the
- 4:55baron for his action against her owner
- 4:58Pope took her name from Amazonian queen
- 5:01of Greek mythology sir plume his
- 5:04theltrie's pure
- 5:06Betty is a maid servant of Belinda and
- 5:08shock is her lap dog
- 5:10summary of the rape of the lock first
- 5:12came to lines 1-31
- 5:15Alexander Pope begins his mock epic with
- 5:18an outlining of the subject of the poem
- 5:20what dire offenses from Amorous causes
- 5:23Springs what Mighty contest rise from
- 5:26trivial things
- 5:28Pope suggests that Love and War are
- 5:30correlated to each other because love
- 5:32gives birth to cruel contests that often
- 5:35turn into bloody wars the lust and
- 5:37Amorous feelings of men often lead to
- 5:40dire consequences then following the
- 5:43classical approach of Greek authors he
- 5:45invokes his Muse for the poem which is
- 5:48which is the goddess of art and poetry
- 5:50to bless this verse but unlike the
- 5:52classical authors and Milton in Paradise
- 5:55Lost he doesn't name his Muse Pope
- 5:58requests the goddess Muse to help him
- 6:00gain the approval of both Caril and
- 6:02Belinda John Carroll and Arabella Farmer
- 6:05for this poem as he knows that despite
- 6:09the subject being trivial his efforts
- 6:11have turned it into an epic that will
- 6:13bring praise and fame
- 6:16he then brings forth the dispute and
- 6:18wonders what made a well-bred and
- 6:20educated Lord Robert Peter offered his
- 6:23beloved through mischief and what made
- 6:25Belinda reject his love
- 6:29pope then expertly describes a common
- 6:31day of a young female of an upper middle
- 6:33class family in England mockingly as if
- 6:37the female is a goddess or an important
- 6:39barrier
- 6:40he describes the beauty of Belinda and
- 6:43says that as Saul the sun rises it drops
- 6:46the light rays into the room of Belinda
- 6:49through the white curtain in a nervous
- 6:52manner as if the Sun is worried and
- 6:54doesn't want to disturb the Sleeping
- 6:56Beauty as Belinda opens up her eyes they
- 6:59shine more than the sun itself it is
- 7:02midday and Belinda her lab dogs also
- 7:04wake up Pope calls her Sleepless lover
- 7:07who woke up exactly at 12 o noon she
- 7:11pushes her hand well Thrice to call the
- 7:14servants but none appear and hence she
- 7:16falls back to the pillow and sleeps
- 7:18again
- 7:20she then has a dream in which a handsome
- 7:22young man appears in the most
- 7:24fashionable dress
- 7:25Belinda finds him more attractive than a
- 7:28Suitor and blushes as he reaches near
- 7:30the young man Whispers in her ear that a
- 7:34beautiful girl like Belinda must be
- 7:36protected against the Airy elves the
- 7:39young man is God Is the Guardian silver
- 7:41Belinda who asks her if she has heard of
- 7:44the fairies and Angels who live in the
- 7:47air and appear in the dark places on a
- 7:50full moon night
- 7:52lines 32 to 64. the handsome man of
- 7:55Belinda's dream further mentions the
- 7:57fairies that keep silver pennies in the
- 7:59shoes of young beautiful girls at night
- 8:01or those who dance on the green grass
- 8:04the young man who is the guardian self
- 8:07of Belinda says that if she ever
- 8:09believed in such fairies and Angels
- 8:11which of course are true and real visit
- 8:15virtuous themselves with golden crowns
- 8:17and garlands of flowers then she must
- 8:20know her impressive worth and should
- 8:22protect her virtuous self
- 8:24the self advises Belinda not to bow down
- 8:27to Earthly desires that can bring filth
- 8:30to her virtuous self the young man then
- 8:32reveals some secrets that are known only
- 8:35to innocent children and are kept away
- 8:37from grown-up adult men
- 8:40is that the angels and fairies he is
- 8:42talking about were living beautiful
- 8:44women in the past who died in this world
- 8:46but their desires and vanities remained
- 8:49and became the reason for their
- 8:51afterlife
- 8:52Indian classifies the Angels into groups
- 8:55and says that when a proud beautiful
- 8:57woman dies she dissolves into the five
- 9:00elements of the earth a violent and
- 9:02quarrelsome woman turns into a
- 9:04salamander as they represent fire the
- 9:08emotional woman with soft hurts become
- 9:10nymphs in their afterlife while the
- 9:13serious minded movement turn into gnomes
- 9:15and roam on Earth to continue their
- 9:18mischievous Acts
- 9:19lines 65 to 105 The Guardian silver
- 9:23Belinda continues to describe the
- 9:25afterlife of beautiful woman who die and
- 9:28says that when a light-hearted
- 9:30flirtatious girl dies she turns into a
- 9:33self with a duty to protect the virtue
- 9:35of Virgin flirtatious girls who have
- 9:38rejected all love affairs
- 9:41he then defines the selves and their
- 9:43powers and says that herself is beyond
- 9:45the limits of human beings as they can
- 9:47take any shape and sex they prefer any
- 9:50time these cells protect the weak
- 9:53Coquette is girls from falling into the
- 9:55charms of seductive men at parties corn
- 9:58country balls and marked dances they
- 10:01protect the girls from the seductive
- 10:03gauges of young lovers during their weak
- 10:05phase when they find themselves in such
- 10:08situations that tempt them for male
- 10:10companionship
- 10:11the young man says that all intelligent
- 10:14people know that cells protect virgin
- 10:16beautiful girls while men Safeguard
- 10:19themselves for their self-respect he
- 10:22says that cells often face the challenge
- 10:24of gnomes who continue to play their
- 10:27mischievous acts on young girls who are
- 10:29proud of their beauty and vanity gnome
- 10:32stamped such girls pump their pride and
- 10:35vanity and make them believe that some
- 10:37young handsome Lord will sacrifice all
- 10:39his wealth and self for their love and
- 10:42will address them with the utmost
- 10:44respect calling them your grace
- 10:47the young man of Belinda's dream then
- 10:49says that the selves not only protect
- 10:52virgin girls against seductive
- 10:54mischievous men but they also help them
- 10:56in the most difficult puzzles of fashion
- 10:59the girls often face moreover
- 11:02these cells continue to change their
- 11:04shape to offer entertainment to these
- 11:06cookies young girls and don't allow them
- 11:09to settle for any handsome man and lost
- 11:12their virginity to him lose their
- 11:14virginity to him he says that a virgin
- 11:16girl will never lose her virginity if
- 11:19she continues to attain gauges from a
- 11:21better man every time she finds a good
- 11:23man interested in her so if a girl falls
- 11:27for florio's charm a self will take the
- 11:30shape of diamond to attract her towards
- 11:32himself
- 11:34thus the continuous interchange of one
- 11:36option to the better one is the tricks
- 11:39of the shelves to protect the young
- 11:40virgin coquettes girls who never stop
- 11:43flirting with the new attractive man
- 11:45lines 106 to 148.
- 11:48the self then introduces himself in the
- 11:51106th line as Ariel who is the guardian
- 11:54of Belinda as he must protect her
- 11:57against any danger to her virtuous cook
- 11:59at itself
- 12:00he says that since the safe selves are
- 12:03spirits of high air he could see
- 12:05something untoward is coming in near
- 12:07future and thus he came to inform and
- 12:10warn Belinda he says that though he
- 12:13doesn't know how and when something
- 12:15deeply wrong will happen in her life if
- 12:18she doesn't remain alert he requests her
- 12:21to keep her guard at all moments and
- 12:23remain away from Men
- 12:25Ariel is interrupted at shock the lap
- 12:27dog of Belinda licks up her chin and she
- 12:31wakes up Ariel soon vanishes as Belinda
- 12:34notices a love letter sent by some of
- 12:36her lovers in which he Praises her
- 12:39Angelic Beauty and confesses how he has
- 12:41been engrossed by her thoughts
- 12:44Belinda soon forgets her dream and the
- 12:46warning of by Ariel and moves to her
- 12:49toilet
- 12:50her toilet is very extravagant and
- 12:53grandious with silver pots and Shining
- 12:55mirrors it is so clean and spotless that
- 12:58deities Roman in the toilet
- 13:01she wears a beautiful white dress
- 13:03without a headdress and sees herself in
- 13:06the mirror with pride she bends her body
- 13:09as her eyes are raised to see her image
- 13:11in the mirror it appears as if she is
- 13:13worshiping the toilet deities like a
- 13:16high priestess her mate servant batty is
- 13:19standing behind her and she feels
- 13:21nervous like an inferior Priestess who
- 13:24doesn't want anything go wrong as that
- 13:26will bring the Wrath of the high
- 13:27priestess towards her
- 13:29Melinda engages in the highly
- 13:31prestigious ritual of her makeup as
- 13:34Betty opens up the various caskets
- 13:36containing cosmetic items collected from
- 13:38all over the world
- 13:40one casket contains glorious gems and
- 13:42javels from India while the other
- 13:45contains perfume from Arabia there are
- 13:48some Combs made of tortoise shells while
- 13:50some milky white Combs are carved from
- 13:52Ivory one of the Cascades contains
- 13:55shining pins Puffs powders patches a
- 13:59Bible and love letters
- 14:01Belinda adones the shiny pins on her
- 14:03beautiful dress uses Puffs and powder on
- 14:06her skin and glares at the love letters
- 14:08with interest
- 14:10she is preparing herself for the party
- 14:12that she has to attend where they will
- 14:15meet there will be male folk she is
- 14:18unaware but the selves are observing her
- 14:21protecting her and assisting her in
- 14:23getting ready for the unknown challenge
- 14:25that she has to face about which Ariel
- 14:28warned her she is preparing herself like
- 14:31a barrier princess equipping herself
- 14:33with all sorts of weapons before raising
- 14:36to the Battleground
- 14:37has a toilet ritual completes she
- 14:40appears more like a Divine Beauty she
- 14:43shines and appears more attractive with
- 14:45much more captivating charms
- 14:48the blushes on her cheeks show all the
- 14:50Wonders on of her face while her
- 14:52eyelashes flash as bright as the
- 14:55lighting in the sky the army of selves
- 14:58Guardian God guarding her are all
- 15:01assisting her as some set her hair some
- 15:03others take care of the sleeves of her
- 15:05dress while some selves are taking care
- 15:08of her Petticoat and the plates of her
- 15:10gown though the cells diligently
- 15:13contributed to her rituals Betty takes
- 15:16all the credit away
- 15:17analysis of the rape of the lock
- 15:20Pope used mock heroic elements
- 15:22throughout the Canto one right from the
- 15:24beginning
- 15:25he invokes the unnamed Muse at the
- 15:27beginning and then expresses variating
- 15:29deities interfering in the lives lives
- 15:32of human beings as happens in Greek
- 15:34epics he presents the central issue of
- 15:37the poem in an epic manner then he
- 15:40satirizes the daily routine of women in
- 15:42the 18th century while mocking the
- 15:44passions in a mock heroic pattern he
- 15:47continues to offer satirical
- 15:48juxtaposition and shows how the people
- 15:51of those times gave more importance of
- 15:54to property than religion imagery has
- 15:57been used to perfection
- 15:59Belinda's glamor makes the Suntec
- 16:01tremble while the sacred Rites of Pride
- 16:03offers an image of some religious ritual
- 16:06Pope uses hyperbole while describing the
- 16:09beauty of Belinda and he personifies
- 16:11many inanimate things anaphora has been
- 16:14used in the beginning
- 16:16while alliteration has also been used in
- 16:19many instances Pope mentions women's
- 16:21films as a toy shop which is a metaphor
- 16:24so this is it for today we will continue
- 16:27to discuss the history of English
- 16:28literature please stay connected with
- 16:31the discourse thanks and regards
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