The Rape of the lock by Alexander pope

               The Rape of the Lock 

                  

      Introduction

The Rape of the lock is a one narrative poem by Alexander pope that was published in 1712. There are 5 cantos in that poem.   It's represent the hair of her which was cut by one person. who does not like to see the hair (lock} of  the her because of the beauty of her. she is very beautiful girl so that that person is not happy with the her's beauty of her lock.  so the lock is in the center of the poem .so all part of poem is related with the story of the girl's hair as well as the lock of the Bellind. here are some of the characters of the poem. who have whiteral role in the poem .

• Bellinda

A very beautiful girl. All people want to see the hair of bellinda also bellinda thinks that her lock through she has own beautiness of herself.Also bellinda is protagonist of the poem of pope.

• The Baron

He is Antagonist of the poem,also a very jealous full person in the poem. he does not happy with the hair of the bellinda. so He wants to decided to cutting down the hair of bellinda due to his jealousy.

Shock

Bellinda's Lap Dog.

Caryl

Goddess

Ariel

Umbriel

Brillante

Momentilla

Crispissa

Clarissa

she is a very good girl also gives some Moral lecture of her friend Bellinda.

Thalestris

Sir Plume

These are the some characters of the poem. who all giving his role in the poem. here you can see the picture of alexander pope. 

                    

The Alexander pope is one of the best writer of the poem. he wrote many poems but some famous poems are very famous as well as criticize to the nature and Human culture .He wrote many satirical works so the people believe that he is a best satirist in the world.

Also There are five cantos in the poem .

Here we know the this part as the that man has desire to cut the lock of the Bellinda. she is playing game with her friends. They all are enjoying his/her game but that jealous man wants to cut the lock but how can ? so he wants to take Advantage of the situation.

Here cantos wise Information of the poem. which is given by me from the source.

                       

       The story is relatively simple. In canto 1, the reader finds Belinda sleep but awakened about noon by her lapdog Shock. Before she awakens, she dreams about Ariel, a Rosicrucian sylph, who whispers praises in her ear and warns her to beware of jealousy, pride, and especially men. When she does awaken, she finds a love letter on her bed and, after reading it, quickly forgets all the advice that Ariel has given her. She has been invited to sail up the Thames with friends to Hampton Court palace and have fun and games with her host. She devotes much time to her cosmetics and hair in preparation for the trip.The Baron, a suitor, is seen admiring a lock of her hair and vowing that he would have it by any means. The modern reader must remember that, until the 1920’s, few women of character would cut their hair, an act symbolizing the loss of virtue, even chastity. The reader next sees the crew sailing up the Thames, with everyone but Ariel apparently pleased with the state of affairs. Worried, Ariel summons his helper sylphs and reminds them of their duty in helping to protect Belinda, one especially to guard her fan, one her watch, another her lock, and Ariel himself her dog. A host of sylphs are assigned to guard her petticoat, a literal device of armor in older times, protecting the female’s sexual chastity.                                           After the cruise on the Thames, canto 3 sees Belinda, the Baron and the rest of the party arriving at the palace. There Belinda decides to play a Spanish card game called Ombre with two of her suitors. During the game, coffee, recently introduced into England by Queen Anne in order to help with the alcohol problem, is served, and fumes from the hot liquid open the rational mind of the Baron, providing him with new stratagems. With the help of a female crony named Clarissa, he manages to cut off the lock of Belinda’s hair during the card game. At this rape, Belinda cries out in horror, and the Baron cries out in triumph. Ariel weeps bitterly because he was not able to prevent the deed.                                                                  In canto 4, a bad sylph named Umbriel takes advantage of the chaos and chooses to increase the woes by flying down to the Cave of Spleen to get more woes to dump onto Belinda. With his trusty key, “Spleenwort,” in his hand, he enters and secures from the queen of Spleen a bag of horrible noises and a vial of tears, sorrows, and griefs. One of Belinda’s friends, Thalestris, demonstrates “fair weather friendship” when she announces that everyone is talking about the rape of the lock and that she is afraid that she, too, will be branded as “loose.” Thalestris attempts to get her brother Sir Plume to demand that the lock be returned. Sir Plume is unsuccessful.                                                Canto 5 shows Umbriel casting the vial of woes upon Belinda so that she is almost drowned in tears. She longs for simple, country life. Clarissa, the one who helped the Baron earlier in his successful venture, gives an interesting moral sermonette about vanity and age and the need of women to use good sense in the battle of the sexes. Soon a battle of teacups ensues, disturbed by the Baron’s sneezing from the snuff that he is using; this causes the lock to fly high into the air, never to be rescued. Some think that the lock has gone to the moon, where love letters and other love tokens find themselves eventually, but others think that the lock became a star.  The poem is a wonderful example of burlesque, a form that takes trivial subjects and treats them seriously, with the effect being comic. Many epic conventions are used here: the epic question is asked; Belinda’s toilet becomes the epic putting on of armor; there is the conference of protective gods; there are the games and the banquet; there is the descent into the underworld; and there are heroic encounters and apotheosis. The poem deals with an actual event and thus pokes fun at the two families, but more than that it shows the vanities of humankind. In doing so, much social satire of the fads of the day are presented. The conclusion shows that eighteenth century reason is strongly advocated; whatever one thinks of Clarissa’s early actions in the poem, it is difficult to ignore her advice near the end, advice that advocates the use of reason in all matters of life.

As we know that The hair means Lock is in center of the poem so I am just saying that the in my point of view that The alexander pope is Criticise to Human nature. who are living this kind Ill mentality.

let us discuss about the some of the symbol of the poem. which is satire by alexander pope.

           The playing cards                                             playing cards is the symbol of the one game .who were playing by some person of the poem.Like Bellinda, Baron also some of the person.who has some Interest in the playing card's game.may be pope is trying to criticize to the poem because of the unknown time baron cuts the Lock of the her.

The Lock                                                                          The lock is the symbol of the Absurdity of the humans. They are believing that the only hair is the beauty of woman. Now we all accept the women beauty is in her Hair that's why,  Baron and Bellinda Both are fighting with each other for a Lock of the Bellinda.

                                          Thanks...........😊

          .