Page 230 - DENG405_BRITISH_POETRY

Unit 24: Alexander Pope: The Rape of the Lock

As the boat makes its way to Hampton Court, Belinda and her companions enjoy a lighthearted Notes
journey. Ariel, however, is anxious, remembering the foretold “impending woe” (54). Concerned
for Belinda’s safety, he summons an army of Sylphs to protect her. The sprites assemble, their bodies
incandescent in the glittering sunlight. Ariel addresses them, much the same as a general addressing
his troops. He reminds them of their duties: guiding celestial bodies, regulating weather, guarding
the British Throne, and “[tending] to the Fair” (91). As part of their responsibilities to the Fair, the
sprites protect ladies’ powders, perfumes, curls, cosmetics, and hair, working to “assist their blushes,
and inspire their airs” (98).
Because “some dire disaster” looms over Belinda, Ariel charges a phalanx of Sylphs to act as her
bodyguards (103). He charges Zephyretta with the care of Belinda’s fan, Brillante her earrings,
Momentilla her watch, and Crispissa her locks. Ariel himself will protect Shock, her lapdog. Above
all, he is concerned that someone might “stain her honor” (107). He therefore chooses fifty select
Sylphs to guard her petticoat, which sometimes fails to protect a woman’s virtue. Ariel warns that
any sprite who neglects his duties “shall feel sharp vengeance” (125). The Sylphs report to their
posts and wait for the “birth of Fate” (142).

Analysis

In the second canto, Pope relies on martial language to situate his poem within the epic tradition and
reinforce his satiric manipulation of the genre. Much like the combs, pins, and cosmetics that Pope
assigns military value in the first canto, Belinda’s physical appearance is defined within militaristic
terms. The beauty of her curls attracts admirers, which Pope compares to a trap meant to ensnare
enemies. Similarly, he refigures Belinda’s seven-layered petticoat as a fortified wall meant to withstand
the attacks of invading forces. As Pope establishes in his description of the coquette, a woman must
attract a suitable husband but simultaneously refrain from so great an attraction that she compromises
her virtue. Her curls thus perform the former duty, capturing the attention of men while her petticoat
functions as an impediment to the loss of her chastity. Of course, as Ariel notes, “we have known that
seven fold fence to fail,” and he commands an army of fifty Sylphs to take defensive positions around
the petticoat, ready to defend Belinda’s virtue from amorous assailants (119). Pope, however, makes
the Sylphs’ militaristic role ironic: they are not guarding against Belinda’s failure but rather protecting
her from excessive success at attracting admirers. Pope thus critiques society’s contradictory
expectations with regard to female sexuality.
As the irony of Pope’s military allusions suggests, Pope develops the poem’s sexual allegory in the
second canto. From the outset of the poem, the theft of Belinda’s hair has sexual implications,
specifically in the poem’s title: The Rape of the Lock. Pope’s use of the word “rape” denotes explicit
sexuality in the cutting of Belinda’s curls. Pope’s word choice in the second canto strengthens this
sexual imagery. The poem indicates that the Baron has resolved to steal the locks “by force to ravish”
(32). The use of the words “force” and “ravish” emphasizes this theme of sexual violation. The
phrase “by fraud betray” with regard to the Baron’s desire for the curls similarly equates the theft
of the lock with a man taking advantage of a woman’s innocence (32).
Even Ariel suspects that the foretold “dire disaster” will take the form of a sexual assault (103). He
speculates that Belinda might be fated to “break Diana’s law,” an allusion to the Roman goddess of
chastity (105). In the following line he worries that “some frail china jar [will] receive a flaw” (106).
Literary instances of broken pottery often indicate the loss of virginity. Ariel’s final anxiety is that
Belinda might “stain her honor or her new brocade” (107). While the staining of Belinda’s honor is
overtly sexual, the staining of her dress likewise has sexual implications, alluding both to female
sexual maturity (menstruation) and to the tearing of the hymen (loss of virginity).
The sexual implications of The Rape of the Lock culminate with the locks themselves. Though Pope
describes Belinda’s ringlets as hanging down her “smooth ivory neck,” the sexualized double-
readings throughout the second canto suggest a more explicit secondary reading of Belinda’s curls
(22). A sexualized reading of Belinda’s locks as pubic hairs reinforces Pope’s portrayal of their theft
as rape.

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