Alexander Pope was born in 1688 and died in 1744. At this time in England the conflict between Protestants and Roman Catholics was still quite strong. And the Catholics, being the minority group, were often the victims of prejudice and unjust laws. Alexander Pope was a Catholic. Because of this, he could not attend a university; he could not vote; and he could not hold any public office. But despite these obstacles, Alexander Pope became one of the most prominent men of letters in the history of England. He was a critic, a translator, an editor, and, most importantly, a poet.
Pope was also a financial success. Fairly early in his career, his writing, especially his translations of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, provided him with a sufficient income. He was thus able to live the life of a gentleman. He was also the friend of many other notable writers during the time, including the other truly great writer of this particular time in history, Jonathan Swift. Achieving the status of gentleman and literary great, Pope was able to socialize with aristocrats and the more fashionable society of England. As certain critics suggest, he would often join "the masculine world of coffeehouse and tavern." His life was a comfortable one.
Critics divide Pope's literary career into three stages:
1710-17 Period of Light or
"An Essay on Criticism" (1711)
"Rape of the Lock" (1712)
Revision of "Rape of the Lock" (1717)
1717-27 Period as Translator and Editor
Translation of The Iliad by Homer (1720)
Edition of Shakespeare's Works (1725)
Translation of The Odyssey by Homer (1726)
1727-44 Period of Sharp Satire and Ethical Poetry
The Dunciad (verse satire, Books 1-3, 1728)
An Essay on Man
(poetry on ethics and philosophy, 1734)
The New Dunciad (The Fourth Book, 1742)
Pope wrote many other works besides the ones listed above. However, one of the listed works that deserves special mention is The Dunciad. In this satire or mock epic, Pope ridicules (or makes fun of) his literary enemies. In this regard, Pope's work is quite similar to a work of satire from the preceding age, MacFlecknoe (c. 1678), by John Dryden. But The Dunciad accomplishes several other goals in addition to mocking Pope's literary enemies. (1) It reflects the Age that Pope was living in. At this time there is a noticeable shift away from the aristocracy and to the commercial class as a social force of power and influence. Not everyone in England felt that such a shift was positive or progressive. (2) The Themes of the satire suggest a decline in the quality of life. Pope depicts morality, education, literature, and art as being in a state of decline or decay. The world is becoming a worse place to live. Such themes would reappear in literature during the 20th century. The most notable example is a long poem entitled The Waste Land (1922) by T.S. Eliot. (3) In Pope's poem a number of Characters are called dunces (which refers to foolish or stupid people). Pope suggests that the dunces dominate or have taken over society. This is a very obvious example of social criticism. Pope was not alone in viewing society as a world of dunces. His friend and fellow author, Jonathan Swift, suggested the same idea in Gulliver's Travels (1726). In that work of prose satire, Swift created a group of characters that he called yahoos. The yahoos and the dunces represent the same idea.
As noted above, The Dunciad is a satirical work of social criticism. Pope wrote the fourth book or section of this long poem in 1742. In this book Pope sharply criticizes the misuse or misapplication of human reason and learning. Apparently, such misuse was quite common in Pope's time, as it is today.
In the fourth book the goddess Dulness rules over the land, and numerous dunces (fools, weakminded individuals) push forward to come up to her and speak. One of these dunces is the Educator. The Educator is a satiric portrait of someone Pope actually knew: Dr. Busby, the headmaster of Westminster School. Pope's Educator is a hard and stern taskmaster who would often beat students who did not study or did not learn their lessons properly:
[His] index-hand
Held forth the virtue of the dreadful wand;
His beavered brow a birchen garland wears, Dropping with infant's blood, and mother's tears.
(lines 139-42)
The rod or sticks that teachers would beat their students with were often made from birch trees. The Educator wears a garland or crown made from the branches of birch trees to symbolize his cruelty. Pope also notes one boy who is pale with fear and shakes in the presence of the Educator. The scared boy is holding his breeches, the back of his pants, because he has just received a whipping.
The Educator presents a speech to the goddess Dulness in which he explains that he only allows rote learning to take place in his school. Rote learning refers to memorizing large amounts of information without having the students really comprehend or understand the information. He never allows the students to use their "fancy" (line 156), their imaginations. Instead, the Educator will "confine" their thoughts. He will only allow them to memorize the information that he feels is important. As the Educator's metaphor explains, these teachers "hang one jingling padlock on the mind" (line 162). In other words, they try to lock up the minds of the students so that the students will not think freely for themselves. Of course, the Educator does not like poets. And he regrets it deeply if he cannot eliminate any poetic talent that a student may have (lines 163-65).
Pope obviously did not appreciate the educational system in England. In the passage on the Educator, the poet is explaining that people become poets or great statesmen despite the educational system, not because of it.
PURPOSE AND METHOD IN
The story told in The Rape of the Lock is based on a true incident or event. In a fashionable teahouse in London, a man named Lord Petre cut off a lock of hair (a curl) from a woman named Arabella Fermor. Lord Petre did this as a joke and, perhaps, because he was also attracted to the woman. Arabella Fermor, however, did not find the matter amusing or funny at all. She became quite angry with Lord Petre, and that anger created a large conflict between her friends and family and his friends and family. The conflict lasted for some time. Alexander Pope, who personally knew both Petre and Fermor, decided to write this poem as a way to get them to see how ridiculous or silly their fight was. Pope wanted them to become friends again. This, then, was the primary purpose of the poem.
Pope was only partially successful in achieving his purpose. At first both Lord Petre and Arabella Fermor were quite pleased with the poem. But then a number of people began to comment on the sexual imagery in the poem. This imagery suggested that there was something more than just a friendship existing between Petre and Fermor. Then Petre and Fermor began to have second thoughts. They were no longer quite so pleased with Pope's work. Pope, though, did have the best of intentions. He even dedicated the poem to Arabella Fermor.
As time passed, the poem continued to be a favorite among many people Pope knew. In fact, it was so popular that Pope decided to revise it and improve it. The first version, written in 1712, was only two cantos (or sections) long. The second version, completed in 1717, contains five cantos. This second version, especially, established Pope (as some critics suggest) as the master of "witty, urbane satire." Some critics even add that it is "the most brilliant mock epic" in English literature.
In the poem, the character of the Baron represents Lord Petre. And the character of Belinda represents Arabella Fermor. The primary setting is the tearoom or teahouse. And the conflict, quite simply, may be referred to as "the battle of the sexes." This is the expression used to describe differences and occasional conflicts between the two genders.
However, it is especially used to describe the conflict between a man and a woman when their relationship develops difficulties or even falls apart.
The student should especially note two poetic devices or features. (1) Pope uses literary allusions or references to the great epics of the past: The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Aeneid, and Paradise Lost. (2) But perhaps the most important poetic feature of this poem is hyperbole (or exaggeration). The poet takes small, unimportant, or trivial matters and makes them appear to be great, grand, or epic. In this way the poet creates his mock epic. Such literary works make fun of an unimportant person or event by making that person or event appear to be great (as if the person were equal to the great Greek hero Achilles or as if the event were as significant as the Trojan War).
The student should also note a theme concerning innocence in the poem. In The Rape of the Lock the word innocence can mean both (1) goodness and
(2) chastity. Pope is then using the word innocence as a pun to suggest the sexual nature or quality of his heroine, Belinda. The title also suggests, perhaps, the sexual nature of the major characters. Generally speaking, in this poem the word rape means "to take by force." So, the literal interpretation of the title indicates how the Baron (Lord Petre) takes a lock of hair without the permission of Belinda (Arabella Fermor). However, the title also can suggest another meaning, a sexual one.