Alexander Pope, the Rape of the Lock

Alexander Pope, “The Rape of the Lock”

1. Pope's poem is a mock-epic, meaning that he uses an epic style to mock or satirize his subject. Mock-epics invert the convention of decorum, which states that high subjects should be treated in an elevated manner, low subjects in a common manner, and so on—the subject and the style should fit. Mock-epics also use the conventions of epic poetry (invocations to the muse, descents into the underworld, descriptions of arming for battle, scenes of battle, and so on), but in a satiric way. Find several examples of epic sensibility in Pope's “Rape of the Lock.”
2. Considering what we know about the mock-epic genre, what is Pope satirizing or mocking in this poem?
3. The poem is entitled “The Rape of the Lock.” What does this refer to? How is Pope using the word “rape”?
4. A poem's “meter” refers to the measures of its lines, the total syllables in each line and the stresses put on each. Pope writes in closed, rhymed, iambic pentameter, also called “heroic couplets”; this means that each line is ten syllables in length, with regular stress and rhyming patterns. The first line of a couplet (a small group of two lines that rhyme) usually pauses at the end, and the second line usually comes to a full stop (either a semicolon or a period). A heroic couplet is also called a “closed” couplet for this reason. The heroic couplet was the preferred mode of poetic expression in the early eighteenth century. Heroic couplets tend to be very balanced in their structure and their content, which allows the poet to compare, combine, and contrast the elements in the lines for further effect. Look closely at the form of one of Pope's couplets, and consider what an attention to the form can tell us about the couplet's subject.
5. In the world that Pope has created, women are watched over and guided by sylphs, nymphs, gnomes, and salamanders; these “guardians” are like the gods and goddesses of heroic poetry who guide the hero through his travails, sometimes helping and sometimes hindering. Where did these spirits come from? What were they each before they became sylphs, nymphs, gnomes, and salamanders?
6. Look closely at the last verse paragraphs concluding Canto I, where Belinda is being dressed (her “toilet” or “toilette”) by her maid, Betty. What images emerge? How is her dressing table imagined? Does this suggest anything about the early eighteenth-century on the world stage?
7. Trace the motifs of painting, seeming, appearance, and so on throughout the poem. What does the poem seem to be doing with these images?
8. Trace the motifs of variability, movement, glittering, and transience throughout the poem. What does the poem seem to be doing with these images?
9. Look up the word “vanity” in the OED. What does this help us understand about Pope's use of the word in this poem?
10. In the beginning of Canto II, the Baron builds an altar to Love. What does he build the altar from? What kinds of things does he “sacrifice” on it? What does he want?
11. Consider the objects of material culture that permeate the poem: lapdogs, china, monkeys, combs, scissors, parrots, card games, love-letters (“billet-doux”), and so on. How does Pope treat them? Look closely at one of those objects and consider it more fully.
12. Consider the ways masculinity is represented in this poem. It is easy to focus on femininity here, but Pope also has something to say about how some modern men act. How is the Baron represented? What about Sir Plume? Other men? What does the Baron use to “rape” Belinda's lock? What object does Belinda threaten the Baron with? Do you note any relationship between these two objects?
13. Many critics and scholars have commented on the card game in Canto III; the text follows a game of ombre. How is the card game described? Who wins? Do you think this fits with the mock-epic quality of the poem? Why?
14. In Canto IV, Umbriel descends into the Cave of Spleen. Describe this place—what does Umbriel find there? What allegorical figures preside in the Cave? What kinds of objects does he see? What kind of place is it? Finally, what does he bring back from the Cave—and what does he do with it?
15. What does Clarissa say to the assembled party, and how does the party respond to her?
16. In Canto V, the beaux and the belles (the fashionable men and women at Hampton Court Palace) battle each other. Why do they battle each other? How do they battle each other?
17. What happens to the lock of hair at the end of the poem?
18. What is the role of the “Poet” in the poem? You might also consider why Pope is said to have written the poem in the first place.

Jonathan Swift, “The Lady's Dressing Room”

1. Like Pope, Swift is concerned with issues of moment to contemporary 18th century urban life. What similarities do you find between the content of Pope's “Rape of the Lock” and Swift's “The Lady's Dressing Room”?
2. How do Pope and Swift treat the toilette differently?
3. Swift's meter is different from Pope's. How is the meter different? How do the poems sound different? To answer this question, read aloud a couplet from Pope and a couplet from Swift. Count the syllables and consider how each line is stressed. Which sounds more “poetic”?
4. Swift often uses “open couplets” or “feminine endings,” usually for critical emphasis. It is not a coincidence that “heroic endings” and “feminine endings” have those names; “heroic endings” are closed, meaning they end on a stressed syllable—in preparation for the unstressed opening of the next line (if the meter is iambic—stressed/unstressed). These are considered to be stronger, more complete metrical features. “Feminine endings” are “open,” meaning they end on an unstressed syllable—this throws the meter off when the next line starts also on an unstressed syllable. Find one or two uses, in Swift's “The Lady's Dressing Room,” of the feminine or open ending, and consider why Swift may have used it. To answer this question, you'll want to consider the subject of the couplet(s) you're examining, as well as the form.
5. “Strephon” and “Celia” are typical pastoral names, meaning they are names often used to signify pastoral poetry. Pastoral poetry is poetry set in a rural environment, and it's usually about innocent, “natural” love. Is Swift's poem pastoral? Why do you think he uses these names?
6. What kinds of things does Strephon find in Celia's dressing room?
7. “Tripsy” is the name of Celia's lapdog. What happens to Tripsy in Swift's poem? Why do you think both Pope and Swift use images of lapdogs?
8. This poem has a clear poetic speaker—the first-person “I” in the poem. This poetic speaker is not necessarily Swift. How would you characterize the role of the poetic speaker in Swift's poem? What does he do, say, think? Is this different from Strephon's actions and thoughts? What is the relationship between Strephon and the poetic speaker?
9. How does the poetic speaker describe the “chest” (70)? Look closely at the images used in lines 75-78.
10. The poetic speaker compares this “chest” to “Pandora's box” (83). What is Pandora's box? How does the comparison here follow through—what is being compared to what? What does Strephon look for in the box, and what does he in fact find? Try to be as specific as possible.
11. In the verse paragraph beginning at line 99, the poetic speaker describes another comparison. What, again, is being compared to what? Note that there are many components and sub-parts to these comparisons.
12. How does “Vengeance” (119) punish Strephon?
13. How does the poetic speaker respond to Strephon's woes? Paraphrase the last two verse paragraphs.

Mary Wortley Montagu, “The Reasons that Induced Dr. S--- to Write a Poem Called 'The Lady's Dressing Room'”

1. Montagu clearly sets her poem up as a response to Swift's, and she makes Swift into a character in her poem. What, in “The Reasons,” does Swift do? Who is he going to see?
2. Swift tries to get through the door by showing off his skills at poetry; does this impress anyone in “The Reasons”? What else does Swift show off? Keeping in mind what we've talked about while reading both Pope and Swift—especially their claims about femininity and vanity—why do you think Montagu emphasizes these moments?
3. What does she cite as “The Reasons that Induced Dr. S--- to Write” his poem?
4. Is Montagu's meter like or unlike Swift's? What does this tell you about her response?
5. Does Montagu ever use “feminine endings”? Where, and why? Remember to consider the content of the couplets as you address this question.
6. In Swift's “The Lady's Dressing Room,” the poetic speaker claims “Whereof, to make the matter clear,/ An inventory follows here” (9-10). Does Montagu do anything similar to Swift? How is her approach different? Do you note any other moments in the poem that both Swift and Montagu share?
7. How does Montagu use the digression in her poem? In this digression, her poetic speaker makes claims about masculinity. What does she say about masculinity in the early 18th century?
8. Swift's poem is very scatological, meaning it deals with human defecation. How does Montagu respond to his scatology?
9. Does Montagu respond directly to Swift's claims about feminine dirtiness, or does she focus on something else? Why?