"Rape of the Lock"

Paper Summary:

This paper briefly examines Pope's poem in terms of the 18th century society in which it was written. Within this one work, Pope touches on many topics of concern for the 18th century commoner: love, gender, and the generally superficial thinking of the time. One of the poem?s most important themes is the interplay and disconnection between gender roles and love.

From the Paper:

""Rape of the Lock" first and foremost, is a poem about love. Belinda, the Baron, and Clarissa all seek the affection of another; however their strategies in which they go about receiving it are vastly different. Belinda toys with men to eventually win their affections. The Barron takes pieces of the women that he lusts after as trophies to keep them immortalized forever. Clarissa assists the man whom she loves in his conquest. Every classical epic poem contains some sort of battle or conquest. As a mock epic poem, "Rape of the Lock" dramatizes a mock battle between the Baron and Belinda, which takes place in Canto III lines 125 through 160."

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