Page 236 - DENG405_BRITISH_POETRY

Unit 24: Alexander Pope: The Rape of the Lock

Clarissa’s failure to pacify Belinda creates an occasion for the poem’s second epic battle. Unlike the Notes
card game in the third canto, the struggle over the lock has erotic implications, which befit the
sexual allegory of the poem. The din made during the fight—rustling clothing and confused shouts—
more closely resembles erotic sounds than the noises of battle: “Fans clap, silks rustle, and tough
whalebones crack; Heroes’ and heroines’ shouts confusedly rise” (40-1). The postures of the
combatants likewise take on sexual connotations. During the fight, Sir Plume “draw[s] Clarissa
down,” suggesting a sexual act rather than the striking down of an enemy (67). Similarly, Belinda
basically sits on the Baron when she overcomes him, an obviously sexual position. The eroticism of
the battle culminates with the sexual double meaning of the word “die.” Though “die” can refer to
physical death, it is clear that the men are not actually expiring during the fight. Rather, Pope uses
the word “die” as a metaphor for orgasm, in the sense of la petite mort (the little death). Most
significantly, the Baron, who stole Belinda’s sexually-charged lock of hair, fights unafraid because
he “sought no more than on his foe to die” (78). This suggests that his goal throughout the poem has
been sexual gratification.
Despite its erotic overtones, the battle over the lock is also the culmination of Pope’s heroic parody.
Following the epic paradigm, Pope invokes the martial Greek and Roman gods: “’Gainst Pallas,
Mars; Latona, Hermes arms;/And all Olympus rings with loud alarms; / Jove’s thunder roars /
Blue Neptune storms” (47-50). Pope simultaneously undermines these lofty allusions by killing the
men in rather ridiculous fashions. Dapperwit and Sir Fopling faint as the women overcome them,
while Chloe kills Sir Plume “with a frown” (68). She smiles when he dies, and at her smile, Sir
Plume “revive[s] again” (70). The absurdity of these deaths demonstrates the triviality of the scuffle
and emphasizes Pope’s mock-heroic tone. The reversal of gender roles also contributes to Pope’s
parody of the epic. In this battle, the women are the aggressors. Pope calls Thalestris “the fierce
virago,” and she easily overcomes many of the men (37). While Thalestris is the most vicious of the
female combatants, Belinda remains the heroic figure, flying to her enemy “with more than usual
lightning in her eyes” (76). She abandons all pretext of lady-like grace. In a shout that echoes her
victorious cry at the end of the card game, Belinda demands for the return of the lock: “Not fierce
Othello in so loud a strain / Roared for the handkerchief that caused his pain” (105-6). Her rage
thus turns her into a swarthy warrior, and she easily overcomes the Baron. At this point, Pope
diffuses the epic tone of the poem. Belinda’s use of snuff trivializes the fight, causing the Baron to
sneeze, a most unheroic action.

Pope provides a final epic flourish by relating the history of Belinda’s bodkin. He relates
an elaborate tale that memorializes the bodkin’s evolution from three signet rings to a
buckle to a whistle and finally to an ornamental hairpin. This history imbues the hairpin
with the same significance as Agamemnon’s scepter or Achilles’ shield in The Iliad.

Pope concludes the poem with a final compliment to Arabella Fermor, the historical inspiration for
Belinda. By depicting the lost curl as a star in the firmament, he refuses to chastise Belinda’s behavior
and instead celebrates Miss Fermor and Belinda. The poem’s conclusion indulges female vanity,
immortalizing Miss Fermor’s experience in verse just as the heavens become an eternal testament to
Belinda’s beauty. Despite the poem’s social critiques, the poem ends with little moral development.
Belinda’s hair will grow back, and her beauty will be admired even after her death. The poem is
thus an example of Horatian satire; rather than exposing the evils of the aristocracy, the poem
provides a gentle critique that generally sympathizes with the characters in spite of their follies.

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