Umbriel, a gnome, travels down to the underworld to get Belinda a bag of sighs and a vial of tears.The Baron cuts a lock from Belinda’s hair and she becomes infuriated.Clarissa fetches a pair of scissors for the Baron to cut Belinda’s hair.This game is described as an almost life-or-death situation Pope makes the card game seem like an important battle, and by doing so he is in effect mocking high society for equating a card game to war.Everyone plays a card game called Ombre, and although it seems clear that the Baron will win, Belinda does not give up hope.He so badly wanted this lock that he even prayed to the gods and lit an altar fire the ridiculousness of this behavior for just a piece of hair is a good example of the satire that Pope employs.A baron, who especially admires Belinda’s beautiful golden locks of hair, has decided to attempt to cut off a lock of her hair, as it would be the finest treasure he could hope to have.She travels to where the social event is being held, and is thought to be more beautiful than anyone else her hair especially is always the object of envy.Belinda, clearly a woman from high social standings, prepares herself for a social event by putting on makeup and generally just dolling herself up.
A sylph, or spirit, named Ariel warns a young woman named Belinda that an offense will be committed against her, but she does not include where or when.Pope begins with an overview of the problem at hand a baron has committed a terrible offense against a young lady, but we do not yet know what this offense is. However, it is interesting to note that by the time Pope had finished the latest version, Lord Petre had died of smallpox, and Arabella was married, so the feud which the poem was originally written to mend was no longer relevant. This version is five cantos long, and includes Clarissa’s speech, which aids in describing the morality behind the poem. Finally, in 1717, upon preparing for a publication of a collection of his work, Pope wrote the version that we know today. However, this version was not published until 1714. A year later, Pope improved upon his work by polishing the piece, as well as adding elements from the supernatural. The first version was only two cantos long, but with each version, the story became progressively longer. In Pope’s poem, Belinda represents the character of Arabella Fermor.Īlthough written in 1711 and published in 1712, The Rape of the Lock went through many stages before becoming the poem as we know it today. After telling her family about the incident involving her lock of hair, they were offended and became estranged from their once good friends, the Petres. Known for her beauty, she was the belle of the London society in the early 18th century. It was with this view that I wrote the Rape of the Lock.” (1).īorn into the upper-class, Arabella Fermor was the daughter of Henry Fermor. A common acquaintance and well-wisher to both, desired me to write a poem to make a jest of it, and laugh them together again. “The stealing of Miss Belle Fermor’s hair, was taken too seriously, and caused an estrangement between the two families, though they had lived so long in great friendship before. In order to make light of the situation, Pope wrote The Rape of the Lock. Ever since the incident, the families had been feuding. Caryll explained that his friend, Lord Petre, had cut off a lock of Arabella Fermor’s hair. Pope wrote The Rape of the Lock in response to a request made my his friend John Caryll, a prominent Roman Catholic of the time. The poem follows the events of the night, leading up to Belinda’s “horrific” loss. In the Rape of the Lock, Pope uses Belinda and the Baron to mock two of his acquaintances, Arabella Fermor, and Lord Petre. Although trivial to most, Belinda is outraged that her lock of hair has been cut by the Baron. The poem is a mock-epic that satirizes the upper-class in London at the time.The story focuses on the central character, Belinda, whose lock of hair is cut off at a social gathering. The Rape of the Lock was written by Alexander Pope and first published in 1712, then reworked and published again in 1714.
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