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Example research essay topic: York Harper Collins Rape Of The Lock - 1,562 words

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... his mourning people. They place the ashes of Beowulf and all of the dragon's treasures inside a giant mound of sand where they would be safe from the enemies sure to attack after hearing of the tragedy. (Russom 15) The contemporary mock epic like The Rape of the Lock is certainly quite different from the ancient epic such as Beowulf, and this illustrates how epic has changed with time. As the name indicates, the mock epic is a literary form that burlesques the classical epics by using characteristics of the epic -- the invocation of a deity, a formal statement of theme, the division of the work into books and cantos, grandiose speeches, battles and supernatural machinery- to reveal the ridiculousness of a certain subject. (Phiddian 139) The main effect of employing techniques of an epic is, however, not so much to have fun with the epic, but to deflate a subject or characters that by contrast appear particularly trivial.

One of the best examples of a Mock Epic is Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock, which uses its highly polished verses, mordantly satirical heroic couplets, and intelligence to satirize not only the overwhelming complexity and seriousness of subject matters found within epic poems, but the fuss that results when an young lord cuts a small lock of hair from the head of an young beauty. In The Rape of the Lock, Pope expends much energy preparing the audience for a battle (card game) that will shortly take place, that of English intrigue at Hampton Court. Pope treats the subject with seriousness, depicting the story as a true epic. Pope's intention was possibly to dilute, with humor, the ill feeling aroused by the affair of the lock of hair.

Pope is asking the participants to laugh at themselves, to see how an event of little importance has been filled with value. (Phiddian 141) The two main subjects that Pope mocks are beauty and epic poems. Pope addresses beauty in a variety of ways. The Rape of the Lock conveys Popes thoughts regarding the effect of beauty upon women as individuals, various males, religion and society at large. (Erwin 47) It is obvious that Pope deems the effects of beauty on the women entity (body, mind and soul) as silly. Pope would agree that beauty is the root of female vanity. Pope clearly considers female vanity to be meaningless, he uses satirical techniques throughout the piece to reveal this viewpoint.

For instance, when he says her joy in gilded chariots, when alive, And love of ombre, after death survive, he mocks the fact that the women are so concerned with the card game; he mocks the intense preparation that the women undertake. (Phiddian 147) He mocks female vanity by comparing the arming of the soldier to a toilet (dressing) scene. The most obvious satirical device used to mock female vanity is viewed in the form of a speech, which is delivered by Ariel, the head of the Sylphs and Gnomes. Theses characters represent Meddling Gods and Goddesses that exist in many epics. The speech however isnt an inspirational speech to better the protection a true battle hero might receive, but rather a woman who prepares to look her best. (Doherty 363) The speech draws a clear comparison, as well as an absurd and truthful connection, between significant battle incidents and simple trivial womanly aspects, "Whether the nymph shall break Diana's law, / Or some frail china jar receive a flaw; / Or stain her honor, or her new brocade, / Forget her prayers, or miss a masquerade. " (Pope 13) In addition, he used a very basic method to reveal the absurdity of female vanity-he compared smaller less significant objects to larger more prominent things. Belinda's toilette is an egotistical, vain parody of the Mass which is the central liturgical act in Pope's Roman Catholic religion. (Erwin 50) The white-robed maiden approaches the altar-like dressing table where the vials are laid out "in mystic order. " (Pope 19) She raises her eyes and sees not the Cross but her own reflection. Thus, Pope illustrates the strong effect of female vanity upon the focus of woman.

In the Rape of the Lock Pope exposes the effects beauty has on other people. It seems that Pope's misogyny becomes especially potent in the following excerpt because he equates female beauty with deception and dissuasion from ideals, such as religion. He shows how Belinda's beauty leads, not only herself, but others to forsake their religious ideals; on her alluring bosom she wears a jeweled cross "Which Jews might kiss, and infidels adore. " (Pope 21) Their "conversions" would not be through their perception of the altruistic symbolism of the Holy Cross, but through their adoration of her physical charms. In fact, the beholding of her face makes one forget that she might even be a member of the flawed human race: "If to share some female errors fall, / Look to her face, and you'd forget em all. " (Pope 24) Pope also exposes the effects beauty has upon society. For instance, when the Lock was cut from Belinda's hair, in her wailing, she said: "O, hadst thou, cruel! been content to seize/ Hairs less in sight, or any hairs but these! (Pope 25) Belinda has inelegantly told the truth; she would have preferred a genuine sexual violation than the nonsexual theft, which will expose her to social scandal.

This expresses the importance of beauty- it helps classify people. Pope clearly and cleverly portrayed the effects of beauty upon various characters, he attempted to persuade his readers that beauty holds to much sway and its importance is overemphasized. (Erwin 61) The second theme in Pope's mock epic is seen through a parody of the structure and language of the classical narratives that had served since the Middle Ages as the models for literature at its grandest. Pope transforms the real-life Arabella into Belinda, a paragon of female charm whose name is Latin for "lovely to behold. " (Crider 81) The narrative begins with the heroine asleep, being counseled by a sylph about the dangers (satirically statement) that she will confront that day. Pope created the supernatural machinery of sylphs, who are the spirits of ladies who even after death participate in the stratagems of courtship by protecting them from gossip and scandal.

These sylphs represent Meddling Gods and Goddesses that exist in most epic poems; Pope diminishes the idea of these characters by choosing to make them appear as small, and almost insignificant creature. (Doherty 369) Pope gives Belinda's sylph the same name, Ariel, as the sprite in Shakespeare's The Tempest. He tells her that his divination's have revealed to him ominous but vague portents about the coming day: "This to disclose is all thy guardian can: / Beware of all, but most beware of man. " (Pope 30) Belinda wakes up, roused by her lapdog Shock, and dresses for the day, with only the most indistinct recollection of the warning. The crafty man then performs the violation alluded to in the title. The entire fairy band tries to warn her, but to no avail.

The Baron decides that what he has gained through the "con " ring force of unassisted steel, " he will keep as his token of victory. (Crider 82) All in all Pope used epic question, invocation to the muse, epic simile, descent to the underworld, deus ex machina, macro / micro imagery, arming of the epic hero, and allusion, as methods of poking fun at epic poems. (Phiddian 153) By ludicrously overstating the importance of the whole affair (largely by parodying the epic), Pope succeeds, paradoxically enough, in making the whole thing seem ridiculous and funny but also somehow tragic. As a result, Pope makes us aware of the fact that not only the participants in the drama but also the rest of humanity, including Pope himself and certainly his readers are somehow ridiculous and funny -- and tragic -- too. Thus, Pope has successfully taken the audience from epic poetry in form, to mock epic in reality. Pope has built on the epic form, presenting the audience with a satire of the rituals of courtship and sex, highlighting Belinda's wounded pride with the meaningless lives of the English upper class. Words Count: 2, 878.

Bibliography: Bjork, Robert E. Speech as Gift in Beowulf. Speculum 69 (1994): 993 - 1022. Clark, G. (ed. ) Beowulf. New York: Harper Collins, 1990. Crider, Richard. "Pope's The Rape of the Lock. " Explicator 49. 2 (Winter 1991) 80 - 2.

Doherty, Francis. "Rape of the Lock: Stretching the Limits of Allusion. " Anglia: Zeitschrift fur Englishe Philologie 111. 3 - 4 (1993) 355 - 72. Erwin, Timothy. "Alexander Pope and the Disappearance of the Beautiful" Eighteenth-Century Life 16. 3 (Nov. 1992) 46 - 64. Grove, Robin. "Pope's Shaping Powers. " Critical Review 34 (1994) 22 - 32. McFadden, Brian. Sleeping After the Feast: Deathbeds, Marriage Beds, and the Power Structure of Heart. Neophilologus 84 (2000): 629 - 646.

Phiddian, Robert. "A Name for Mock-Epic: Pope, Bakhtin, and Stylization. " The Eighteenth Century: Theory and Interpretation 37 (1996) 136 - 55. Pope, A. The Rape of the Lock. New York: Harper Collins, 1991. Russom, Geoffrey R. A Germanic Concept of Nobility in The Gifts of Men and Beowulf.

Speculum 53 (1978): 1 - 15.


Free research essays on topics related to: gods and goddesses, mock epic, york harper collins, lock of hair, rape of the lock

Research essay sample on York Harper Collins Rape Of The Lock

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