The Rape of the Lock

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1712

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Form and Meter

“The Rape of the Lock” is a mock-epic divided into five sections called cantos. Written in an Augustan neoclassic style, Pope uses the mock-epic format to both uphold and challenge classical conventions of the time. The epic was considered the highest form of poetic art and taken very seriously. The poems are long and sprawling, with heroes often overcoming significant challenges or enduring painstaking journeys. In contrast, “The Rape of the Lock” has a less serious subject and much shorter length, thus “mocking” the epic form. Yet Pope chose to elevate the poem to an epic scale in order to make a social comment about the concerns of the upper classes. The form enhances the dramatic implications of the poem and demands that “trivial things” (Line 2) still be taken seriously; this is meant to undermine the values of fashionable society and suggest a moralizing stance.

The poem’s meter is largely iambic pentameter (10 syllables per line, with alternating unstressed and stressed syllables), with variations throughout. Iambic pentameter is the meter that most closely captures the cadence of spoken English, and its effectiveness is echoed in the many speeches of the poem. Because the meter is structured but varied, the rhythm of the poem flows quite naturally, with the occasional sonic surprise.

Heroic Couplet

Pope is esteemed as the uncontested master of the heroic couplet, largely in part, because of “The Rape of the Lock.” The entire poem is composed of heroic couplets from start to finish. A heroic couplet is defined as a rhymed pair of lines written in iambic pentameter. Iambic pentameter consists of a 10-syllable line whose scansion alternates between unstressed and stressed syllables. The rhyme always falls at the end of the line, establishing a distinct metrical pattern and rhyme scheme.

However, due to the poem’s length, Pope varied the meter slightly to avoid sonic heavy-handedness. The meter remains regular and employs iambs, but he also uses trochees (a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable) and spondees (two stressed syllables). His rhyme scheme is also varied. While many of the end rhymes are perfect rhymes, he also makes use of slant and near rhymes. Again, this variation allows for readerly fluidity.

Along with such slight differences, Pope’s heroic couplets are also impressive because almost every line is end-stopped. An end-stopped line is often marked by some form of punctuation and encompasses a complete thought. Therefore, each couplet builds upon its predecessor and contains two complete assertations. Considering “The Rape of the Lock” is just under 800 lines, the logical structure of the poem is immense.

Satire

“The Rape of the Lock” is a satiric poem. Satire is a literary device used to expose vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings, with the intent to ridicule or shame the flaws of individuals, governments, or societies. Humor and wit are the major vehicles of satire, and Pope makes use of both. He uses satire in “The Rape of Lock” to examine various aspects of British society while also invoking the frivolity of individuals.

An example of satire is the comparison of Belinda’s severed lock to the capture of Helen of Troy. Pope is escalating a trivial event to mythic proportions in order to mock the values of British elite society and to expose the folly of Belinda’s self-absorption. Another satiric element is the assemblage of the sylph army to protect Belinda. Again, Pope exaggerates the severity of the situation by comparing it to armies engaged in battle. He conflates the serious with the mundane as a form of constructive social criticism intended to instruct readers on ethical and moral behaviors.