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The Rape of The Lock Canto 1 by Alexander Pope | Characters, Themes, Summary, Analysis — Transcript

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  1. 0:00[Music]
  2. 0:00the rape of the lock can't open by
  3. 0:03Alexander Pope Characters themes summary
  4. 0:07analysis
  5. 0:09hello and welcome to the discourse the
  6. 0:12rape of the lock is a mock heroic
  7. 0:14narrative poem by Alexander Pope that
  8. 0:16was published in five cantos during the
  9. 0:18years
  10. 0:201712-1714. the first two cantos were
  11. 0:23published anonymously in May 1712 and
  12. 0:27the complete poem with five cantos was
  13. 0:29republished in March 1714 that mentioned
  14. 0:32Alexander Pope as the writer it is a
  15. 0:35long mock heroic narrative poem with 794
  16. 0:38lines in total the first Canto consists
  17. 0:41of 148 lines the whole poem is written
  18. 0:44in heroic couplets mostly arranged in
  19. 0:47iambic pentameter
  20. 0:48Alexander popes the rape of the lock and
  21. 0:51Samuel Butler's hudibras are considered
  22. 0:53the finest examples of hybrid lists or
  23. 0:56mockery the term lock in the title
  24. 0:59represents one of the hair locks of
  25. 1:01Belinda which are so lucrative that they
  26. 1:03can bring the destruction of mankind
  27. 1:05that is the male folk the term rape in
  28. 1:08the title doesn't mean sexual rape but
  29. 1:11it holds the older meaning of the word
  30. 1:12derived from the Latin word repre which
  31. 1:15means to Rob to grab to carry up or to
  32. 1:18snatch
  33. 1:19however it is a mock heroic satirical
  34. 1:22poem that involves exaggeration
  35. 1:24Alexander Pope exaggerates the act of
  36. 1:27cutting of a lock of hair of palinda in
  37. 1:30canto 2 and equates it with a man taking
  38. 1:32advantage of a woman's innocence and
  39. 1:35hence adds up a theme of sexual
  40. 1:37violation
  41. 1:38the main plot of the poem was based on a
  42. 1:41real incident involving Arabella farmer
  43. 1:43and her Suitor Lord Robert Peter who
  44. 1:46both belonged to two aristocratic
  45. 1:48recusant families
  46. 1:49a minor dispute over a mischievous act
  47. 1:52by Robert Peter became a huge issue that
  48. 1:55led to the dissolution of his engagement
  49. 1:57with Arabella
  50. 1:59after the Glorious Revolution of 1688
  51. 2:02the whole Catholic community of England
  52. 2:04was facing difficulties under the laws
  53. 2:07like the test act during such a period
  54. 2:09this minor incident became the reason
  55. 2:12for a huge dispute between two of the
  56. 2:14major English Catholic families
  57. 2:16John Carroll who was the second Jacobite
  58. 2:19Baron of durford witnessed the incident
  59. 2:21between Arabella farmer and Lord Peter
  60. 2:24he commissioned Pope to turn the
  61. 2:26incident into a jest in the hope that it
  62. 2:28would encourage reconciliation between
  63. 2:30the two families
  64. 2:32Pope makes the heroic world with the
  65. 2:35social to depict the anomalies
  66. 2:37juxtapositions ironies and hypocrisy of
  67. 2:40the current Society who appears of the
  68. 2:43sophisticated mask of the 18th century
  69. 2:45people denuding their Ugly Faces by
  70. 2:48presenting serious topics through
  71. 2:50giggles and thus made the audience of
  72. 2:53his time laughing at their own Follies
  73. 2:56characters of the rape of the lock
  74. 2:58Belinda is the heroine of the rape of
  75. 3:00the lock she is a young beautiful
  76. 3:02poppish girl belonging to a rich family
  77. 3:06Pope based this character on arabara
  78. 3:08formal former the daughter of an
  79. 3:11aristocratic Catholic Family she was
  80. 3:13engaged to her Robert Peter who sniffed
  81. 3:16a lock of her hair without permission
  82. 3:18thereby causing a rift between their two
  83. 3:21families that resulted in the
  84. 3:23dissolution of Engagement of Arabella
  85. 3:25with Robert Pope depicts this incident
  86. 3:28in the poor the baron is based on Robert
  87. 3:31Peter he is an admirer of Belinda who
  88. 3:33desires her he cuts off a lock of her
  89. 3:36hair in a mischievous act that fills
  90. 3:39Belinda with rage and anger
  91. 3:42Carol is a member of the party he is
  92. 3:44mentioned only once and he is the
  93. 3:46dedicated of the poem Carol is John
  94. 3:49Carroll a friend of popes who
  95. 3:51commissioned Pope to turn the incident
  96. 3:53into a jest Clarissa is a woman
  97. 3:55attendant at the Hampton Court party
  98. 3:57where the incident took place she helped
  99. 4:01the baron in cutting off the hair lock
  100. 4:03by Landing her swing scissors to the
  101. 4:05baron later on she tries to calm Belinda
  102. 4:08down and sermonizes on the affirmal
  103. 4:11nature of Beauty and the importance of
  104. 4:13Good Sense Once a woman's looks have
  105. 4:16faded
  106. 4:17Ariel is Belinda's Guardian self his
  107. 4:21task is to protect the kokatisk virgin
  108. 4:23girls with the aid of an army of silks
  109. 4:26the character of Ariel is based on
  110. 4:28Shakespeare's The Tempest
  111. 4:31brilliante is a self is assigned to God
  112. 4:34Belinda's earrings
  113. 4:35self-momentila guards her watch while
  114. 4:38Chris's crispizza guards her favorite
  115. 4:41hair locks
  116. 4:43umbriel is a mischievous groom who
  117. 4:45instigates Belinda and intensifies her
  118. 4:48despair at the loss of her hair
  119. 4:50tail stress is a friend of balinda who
  120. 4:53convinces Belinda to take revenge on the
  121. 4:55baron for his action against her owner
  122. 4:58Pope took her name from Amazonian queen
  123. 5:01of Greek mythology sir plume his
  124. 5:04theltrie's pure
  125. 5:06Betty is a maid servant of Belinda and
  126. 5:08shock is her lap dog
  127. 5:10summary of the rape of the lock first
  128. 5:12came to lines 1-31
  129. 5:15Alexander Pope begins his mock epic with
  130. 5:18an outlining of the subject of the poem
  131. 5:20what dire offenses from Amorous causes
  132. 5:23Springs what Mighty contest rise from
  133. 5:26trivial things
  134. 5:28Pope suggests that Love and War are
  135. 5:30correlated to each other because love
  136. 5:32gives birth to cruel contests that often
  137. 5:35turn into bloody wars the lust and
  138. 5:37Amorous feelings of men often lead to
  139. 5:40dire consequences then following the
  140. 5:43classical approach of Greek authors he
  141. 5:45invokes his Muse for the poem which is
  142. 5:48which is the goddess of art and poetry
  143. 5:50to bless this verse but unlike the
  144. 5:52classical authors and Milton in Paradise
  145. 5:55Lost he doesn't name his Muse Pope
  146. 5:58requests the goddess Muse to help him
  147. 6:00gain the approval of both Caril and
  148. 6:02Belinda John Carroll and Arabella Farmer
  149. 6:05for this poem as he knows that despite
  150. 6:09the subject being trivial his efforts
  151. 6:11have turned it into an epic that will
  152. 6:13bring praise and fame
  153. 6:16he then brings forth the dispute and
  154. 6:18wonders what made a well-bred and
  155. 6:20educated Lord Robert Peter offered his
  156. 6:23beloved through mischief and what made
  157. 6:25Belinda reject his love
  158. 6:29pope then expertly describes a common
  159. 6:31day of a young female of an upper middle
  160. 6:33class family in England mockingly as if
  161. 6:37the female is a goddess or an important
  162. 6:39barrier
  163. 6:40he describes the beauty of Belinda and
  164. 6:43says that as Saul the sun rises it drops
  165. 6:46the light rays into the room of Belinda
  166. 6:49through the white curtain in a nervous
  167. 6:52manner as if the Sun is worried and
  168. 6:54doesn't want to disturb the Sleeping
  169. 6:56Beauty as Belinda opens up her eyes they
  170. 6:59shine more than the sun itself it is
  171. 7:02midday and Belinda her lab dogs also
  172. 7:04wake up Pope calls her Sleepless lover
  173. 7:07who woke up exactly at 12 o noon she
  174. 7:11pushes her hand well Thrice to call the
  175. 7:14servants but none appear and hence she
  176. 7:16falls back to the pillow and sleeps
  177. 7:18again
  178. 7:20she then has a dream in which a handsome
  179. 7:22young man appears in the most
  180. 7:24fashionable dress
  181. 7:25Belinda finds him more attractive than a
  182. 7:28Suitor and blushes as he reaches near
  183. 7:30the young man Whispers in her ear that a
  184. 7:34beautiful girl like Belinda must be
  185. 7:36protected against the Airy elves the
  186. 7:39young man is God Is the Guardian silver
  187. 7:41Belinda who asks her if she has heard of
  188. 7:44the fairies and Angels who live in the
  189. 7:47air and appear in the dark places on a
  190. 7:50full moon night
  191. 7:52lines 32 to 64. the handsome man of
  192. 7:55Belinda's dream further mentions the
  193. 7:57fairies that keep silver pennies in the
  194. 7:59shoes of young beautiful girls at night
  195. 8:01or those who dance on the green grass
  196. 8:04the young man who is the guardian self
  197. 8:07of Belinda says that if she ever
  198. 8:09believed in such fairies and Angels
  199. 8:11which of course are true and real visit
  200. 8:15virtuous themselves with golden crowns
  201. 8:17and garlands of flowers then she must
  202. 8:20know her impressive worth and should
  203. 8:22protect her virtuous self
  204. 8:24the self advises Belinda not to bow down
  205. 8:27to Earthly desires that can bring filth
  206. 8:30to her virtuous self the young man then
  207. 8:32reveals some secrets that are known only
  208. 8:35to innocent children and are kept away
  209. 8:37from grown-up adult men
  210. 8:40is that the angels and fairies he is
  211. 8:42talking about were living beautiful
  212. 8:44women in the past who died in this world
  213. 8:46but their desires and vanities remained
  214. 8:49and became the reason for their
  215. 8:51afterlife
  216. 8:52Indian classifies the Angels into groups
  217. 8:55and says that when a proud beautiful
  218. 8:57woman dies she dissolves into the five
  219. 9:00elements of the earth a violent and
  220. 9:02quarrelsome woman turns into a
  221. 9:04salamander as they represent fire the
  222. 9:08emotional woman with soft hurts become
  223. 9:10nymphs in their afterlife while the
  224. 9:13serious minded movement turn into gnomes
  225. 9:15and roam on Earth to continue their
  226. 9:18mischievous Acts
  227. 9:19lines 65 to 105 The Guardian silver
  228. 9:23Belinda continues to describe the
  229. 9:25afterlife of beautiful woman who die and
  230. 9:28says that when a light-hearted
  231. 9:30flirtatious girl dies she turns into a
  232. 9:33self with a duty to protect the virtue
  233. 9:35of Virgin flirtatious girls who have
  234. 9:38rejected all love affairs
  235. 9:41he then defines the selves and their
  236. 9:43powers and says that herself is beyond
  237. 9:45the limits of human beings as they can
  238. 9:47take any shape and sex they prefer any
  239. 9:50time these cells protect the weak
  240. 9:53Coquette is girls from falling into the
  241. 9:55charms of seductive men at parties corn
  242. 9:58country balls and marked dances they
  243. 10:01protect the girls from the seductive
  244. 10:03gauges of young lovers during their weak
  245. 10:05phase when they find themselves in such
  246. 10:08situations that tempt them for male
  247. 10:10companionship
  248. 10:11the young man says that all intelligent
  249. 10:14people know that cells protect virgin
  250. 10:16beautiful girls while men Safeguard
  251. 10:19themselves for their self-respect he
  252. 10:22says that cells often face the challenge
  253. 10:24of gnomes who continue to play their
  254. 10:27mischievous acts on young girls who are
  255. 10:29proud of their beauty and vanity gnome
  256. 10:32stamped such girls pump their pride and
  257. 10:35vanity and make them believe that some
  258. 10:37young handsome Lord will sacrifice all
  259. 10:39his wealth and self for their love and
  260. 10:42will address them with the utmost
  261. 10:44respect calling them your grace
  262. 10:47the young man of Belinda's dream then
  263. 10:49says that the selves not only protect
  264. 10:52virgin girls against seductive
  265. 10:54mischievous men but they also help them
  266. 10:56in the most difficult puzzles of fashion
  267. 10:59the girls often face moreover
  268. 11:02these cells continue to change their
  269. 11:04shape to offer entertainment to these
  270. 11:06cookies young girls and don't allow them
  271. 11:09to settle for any handsome man and lost
  272. 11:12their virginity to him lose their
  273. 11:14virginity to him he says that a virgin
  274. 11:16girl will never lose her virginity if
  275. 11:19she continues to attain gauges from a
  276. 11:21better man every time she finds a good
  277. 11:23man interested in her so if a girl falls
  278. 11:27for florio's charm a self will take the
  279. 11:30shape of diamond to attract her towards
  280. 11:32himself
  281. 11:34thus the continuous interchange of one
  282. 11:36option to the better one is the tricks
  283. 11:39of the shelves to protect the young
  284. 11:40virgin coquettes girls who never stop
  285. 11:43flirting with the new attractive man
  286. 11:45lines 106 to 148.
  287. 11:48the self then introduces himself in the
  288. 11:51106th line as Ariel who is the guardian
  289. 11:54of Belinda as he must protect her
  290. 11:57against any danger to her virtuous cook
  291. 11:59at itself
  292. 12:00he says that since the safe selves are
  293. 12:03spirits of high air he could see
  294. 12:05something untoward is coming in near
  295. 12:07future and thus he came to inform and
  296. 12:10warn Belinda he says that though he
  297. 12:13doesn't know how and when something
  298. 12:15deeply wrong will happen in her life if
  299. 12:18she doesn't remain alert he requests her
  300. 12:21to keep her guard at all moments and
  301. 12:23remain away from Men
  302. 12:25Ariel is interrupted at shock the lap
  303. 12:27dog of Belinda licks up her chin and she
  304. 12:31wakes up Ariel soon vanishes as Belinda
  305. 12:34notices a love letter sent by some of
  306. 12:36her lovers in which he Praises her
  307. 12:39Angelic Beauty and confesses how he has
  308. 12:41been engrossed by her thoughts
  309. 12:44Belinda soon forgets her dream and the
  310. 12:46warning of by Ariel and moves to her
  311. 12:49toilet
  312. 12:50her toilet is very extravagant and
  313. 12:53grandious with silver pots and Shining
  314. 12:55mirrors it is so clean and spotless that
  315. 12:58deities Roman in the toilet
  316. 13:01she wears a beautiful white dress
  317. 13:03without a headdress and sees herself in
  318. 13:06the mirror with pride she bends her body
  319. 13:09as her eyes are raised to see her image
  320. 13:11in the mirror it appears as if she is
  321. 13:13worshiping the toilet deities like a
  322. 13:16high priestess her mate servant batty is
  323. 13:19standing behind her and she feels
  324. 13:21nervous like an inferior Priestess who
  325. 13:24doesn't want anything go wrong as that
  326. 13:26will bring the Wrath of the high
  327. 13:27priestess towards her
  328. 13:29Melinda engages in the highly
  329. 13:31prestigious ritual of her makeup as
  330. 13:34Betty opens up the various caskets
  331. 13:36containing cosmetic items collected from
  332. 13:38all over the world
  333. 13:40one casket contains glorious gems and
  334. 13:42javels from India while the other
  335. 13:45contains perfume from Arabia there are
  336. 13:48some Combs made of tortoise shells while
  337. 13:50some milky white Combs are carved from
  338. 13:52Ivory one of the Cascades contains
  339. 13:55shining pins Puffs powders patches a
  340. 13:59Bible and love letters
  341. 14:01Belinda adones the shiny pins on her
  342. 14:03beautiful dress uses Puffs and powder on
  343. 14:06her skin and glares at the love letters
  344. 14:08with interest
  345. 14:10she is preparing herself for the party
  346. 14:12that she has to attend where they will
  347. 14:15meet there will be male folk she is
  348. 14:18unaware but the selves are observing her
  349. 14:21protecting her and assisting her in
  350. 14:23getting ready for the unknown challenge
  351. 14:25that she has to face about which Ariel
  352. 14:28warned her she is preparing herself like
  353. 14:31a barrier princess equipping herself
  354. 14:33with all sorts of weapons before raising
  355. 14:36to the Battleground
  356. 14:37has a toilet ritual completes she
  357. 14:40appears more like a Divine Beauty she
  358. 14:43shines and appears more attractive with
  359. 14:45much more captivating charms
  360. 14:48the blushes on her cheeks show all the
  361. 14:50Wonders on of her face while her
  362. 14:52eyelashes flash as bright as the
  363. 14:55lighting in the sky the army of selves
  364. 14:58Guardian God guarding her are all
  365. 15:01assisting her as some set her hair some
  366. 15:03others take care of the sleeves of her
  367. 15:05dress while some selves are taking care
  368. 15:08of her Petticoat and the plates of her
  369. 15:10gown though the cells diligently
  370. 15:13contributed to her rituals Betty takes
  371. 15:16all the credit away
  372. 15:17analysis of the rape of the lock
  373. 15:20Pope used mock heroic elements
  374. 15:22throughout the Canto one right from the
  375. 15:24beginning
  376. 15:25he invokes the unnamed Muse at the
  377. 15:27beginning and then expresses variating
  378. 15:29deities interfering in the lives lives
  379. 15:32of human beings as happens in Greek
  380. 15:34epics he presents the central issue of
  381. 15:37the poem in an epic manner then he
  382. 15:40satirizes the daily routine of women in
  383. 15:42the 18th century while mocking the
  384. 15:44passions in a mock heroic pattern he
  385. 15:47continues to offer satirical
  386. 15:48juxtaposition and shows how the people
  387. 15:51of those times gave more importance of
  388. 15:54to property than religion imagery has
  389. 15:57been used to perfection
  390. 15:59Belinda's glamor makes the Suntec
  391. 16:01tremble while the sacred Rites of Pride
  392. 16:03offers an image of some religious ritual
  393. 16:06Pope uses hyperbole while describing the
  394. 16:09beauty of Belinda and he personifies
  395. 16:11many inanimate things anaphora has been
  396. 16:14used in the beginning
  397. 16:16while alliteration has also been used in
  398. 16:19many instances Pope mentions women's
  399. 16:21films as a toy shop which is a metaphor
  400. 16:24so this is it for today we will continue
  401. 16:27to discuss the history of English
  402. 16:28literature please stay connected with
  403. 16:31the discourse thanks and regards

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