'The Rape of the Lock' is a grand masterpiece penned by Alexander
Pope, a great literary figure of the eighteenth-century Augustan Age
which is well known as an age of satire. John Dryden has defined the
term so briefly;
Satire means to mend the follies by correction.
It means that satire always has a
motive of correctness and reformation of different follies, vices, absurdities
and imperfections of society. 'The Rape of the Lock' pokes fun on the social
evils of the Augustan age. In fact, eighteenth century was a morally bankrupt
society and Pope has exposed, satirized and ridiculed the absurdities of the fashionable
men and women of his age.
What dire offence from amorous causes springs,
What mighty contests rise from trivial things.
Belinda’s character is a true representative
of the 18th century ladies inasmuch as she possesses all the qualities which
the ladies of that age possessed. Pope has satirized their habit of attending dance
parties and musical parties at night and sleeping late at night,
which surely results in getting up late in the next morning. Belinda gets up at
twelve and again goes to sleep.
Now lap-dogs give themselves the rousing shake,
And sleepless lovers, just at twelve, awake.
Just like Belinda, the ladies always
dream of being someday wives of great men like gallants, dukes, peers and
aristocratic young fellows. They are accustomed to spend their time in amorous
affairs. They like to indulge in frolics and their only motive is merry
making. They rejoice in love affairs and receive love-letters from the
so-called lovers. They keep pet animals with them just for the sake of fashion.
All such things clearly show that Pope has satirized the contemporary society
in an amusing manner.
The ladies of the age spent most of
their time in meaningless and useless activities. Belinda spends much
time on dressing table to enhance her personal and external charm, beauty and
fascination. She has nothing to do with moral, ethical, spiritual or religious
ideas and ideals. She is an ultra-modern lady. She is beautiful but she is not
satisfied with her natural beauty. She keeps on making herself up with cosmetics
and her maidservant also takes special pains in making her more beautiful than
she naturally is. She uses the Arabian scents and wears Indian gold as well.
This casket India's glowing gems unlocks,
And all Arabia breathes from yonder box.
The character of Belinda is also an
embodiment of religious and moral bankruptcy of the age. She puts the Bible
among cosmetics i.e. powders, patches and perfumes. For the 18th century ladies,
the Bible and the cosmetics were equally important; breaking a China
jar and the violation of Diana's law were equally valued; the loss of a
necklace and the loss of heart were equally troublesome. To forget the
dance party was equal to forget one's prayers; the death of a pet animal, to
say, dog was equal to the death of dear husband. Reputation was preferred to chastity.
The loss of reputation was more lamentable than an invisible stain on
virginity. The ladies were also very expert in flirtation. They could
win hearts of dandies at the very first glance. They knew the art of rolling
their eyes and blushing. They often pretended to be sick, so that their
lovers might come and see their costly gowns.
Here sighs, and sobs, and plaints, and groans, arise,
And all the various forms of female lies.
The ladies were so jealous of one
another. They could not bear that there was another lady, more beautiful than
any of them. They were dumb and had never paid heed to acquire wisdom.
Clarissa gives a wise speech, which all ignore, and finally hands over a
two-edged weapon (scissors) to Baron to cut Belinda's lock which was a
great source of her beauty and which she had nourished to nurture a killing
appearance.
Why should we fear to let our follies die?
Charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul.
The dandies, young fops and so-called
gallants were no less absurd and imperfect than ladies. Therefore, Pope
has also introduced different male characters and satirized them equally.
The young, the gay, the valiant, and the fair,
In all the pride of dress, and all the glare of show.
The social injustice was also a
matter of great concern. The judges considered their official duties as
boring. They used to sign the declaration of verdicts in a hurry to return their
homes to dine. They were unscrupulous, relentless, cruel, callous, merciless,
ruthless, stone hearted and marble livered.
The hungry judges soon the sentence sign,
And wretches hang that jurymen may dine.
The ladies are hypocrites. Belinda laments the loss of her lock just because it meant the loss of her beauty; if any other hair might have cut, she would have not mourned the loss so deeply.
To cut the matter short, Pope has exposed all the social evils of his time and expressed them in a ridiculous way with a corrective motive behind.
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