The
Rape of the Lock - a social satire
Introduction: Poetic satire may
be regarded as didactic poetry or the object it has in view is the reformation of
man and his manners and to this end, the satirist takes the liberty of boldly
censuring vice and vicious characters. “The true end of satire is the amendment
of vice by correction”, says Dryden. Most people agree that satire is the
criticism of life and an exposure of human weaknesses, follies, absurdities and
shortcomings. The satirist uses humor, wit, mockery, ridicule and irony to
achieve his goal – his moral end.
The Rape of the Lock is a satire
on the aristocratic strata of the 18th century society. In the veryopening
lines, the poet laughs at “little” men engaging in “bold” tasks and at gentle
ladies who are capable of such “Mighty rage”
In tasks so bold little men
engage,
And in soft bosoms dwell such
mighty rage
The contrast between “tasks so
bold” and “Little men” and another between “soft bosoms” and “Mighty rage” is
very wittingly constructed and cuts down to size these vain people of Pope’s
time. Juvenal and Horace are the two well-known satirists in the verse of Roman
Literature. The former’s satire is pointed, full of force and often savage like
that of Swift, but Horace’s irony is more graceful and easy. He chides with a
smile. Satire is a distinct element in Chaucer and yet he cannot be called
a satirist. There is no misanthropy or cynicism
in him. In the
Elizabethan Age, John Donne and John Marston wrote poetic satires, but their
work lack vigor. In the seventeenth century, Dryden wrote a number of
satires such as the Hind and the Panther, the Dunciad and the Progress of
Dullness. According to Richard Garnett, “The expression in adequate terms of
the sense of amusement for disgust excited by the ridiculous or unseemly,
provided that humor is a distinctly recognized element. Without humor satire
is invective; without literary form it is mere clownish jeering.”
Pope’s satire: The true objective
of satire is moral. It amends vice by castigation. The satirist, in the words
of Dryden, “is no more an enemy to the offender than the physician to the
patient when he prescribes harsh remedies to an inveterate disease”. Pope’s
satire, too, functions in somewhat the same manner. Satire predominates the
work of Pope. Even a cursory glance at hispoetry reveals that the major
part of it consists of satire. The Rape of the Lock, the Dunciad and Moral
Essays are the best of his satires. Pope wrote many satires against
individuals, which were deadly, sharp and bitter marked by malice. Stopford
Brook in comparing Dryden and Pope as satirists says, “Dryden’s
satire has relation not to the man he is satirizing, but to the whole of human
race. Pope’s satire is thin, it confines itself to the person and has no
relation to the world.” In the Rape of the Lock, the whole panorama is
limited to the 18th century aristocratic life. In the strange battle
fought between the fashionable belles and the vain beau, the fall of Dapperwit
and Sir Fopling is particularly demonstrative of the hollowness of the people
of this age:
A beau and witling perished in
the throng
One died in metaphor, and one in
song
Even the greatest of the great,
the Queen herself is satirized to produce a truly comical and witty
effect.
Here thou, a great Anna whom
three realms obey/ Dost sometimes counsel take – and sometimes tea.
The satire in the Rape of the
Lock is directed not against any individual, but against the follies and vanities in
general of fashionable men and women. Pope started writing this poem to
reconcile two quarreling families but as the poem progressed, the poet forgot
his original intention and satirized female follies and vanities. Belinda
is not Arabella Fermore. She is the type of the fashionable ladies of the time
and in her the follies and frivolities of the whole sex is satirized. The Baron
represents not Petre alone but typifies the aristocratic gentleman of that age.
The strange battle between the sexes shows what kind of people they are.
When bold Sir Plume had drawn
Clarissa down,
Chloe stepped in, and killed him
with a frown;
She smiled to see the doughty
hero slain,
But, at her smile, the beau
revived again.
Instances of Satire: The poet has
satirized the system of judges that they, at 4 o’clock, hurriedly sign the
sentence so that they could have their dinner in time.
Meanwhile, declining from the noon of
day,
The sun obliquely shoots his
burning ray,
The hungry judges soon the
sentence sign,
And wretches hand that jurymen
may dine;
Even the concept of friendship
has been attack. Friends are hollow and fickle. Belinda’s friendThalestris
is as shallow as the age he lives in. As soon as Belinda’s reputation is gone,
she doesn’t like to be called her friend. Thus it a direct satire on the
upper-class society of Pope’s time. It doesn’t condemn like Swift, but simply
and lightly exposes the frivolities and dandies of the people.
It is in fact a satire on
feminine dandies. Women are all frivolous beings, whose genuine interest lies
in love-making. The same sentiment is really implied in the more playful lines
of the Rape of the Lock. The sylphs are warned by omens that some
misfortune impends; but they don’t know that. Use Diana’s Passage above! Pope
was inspired by a prevailing sentiment of contempt against the whole female
sex. The witty lines are read not with kindly irony but as disagreeable sneers.
Conclusion: The poem is a
reflection of this artificial and hollow life, painted with a humorous and
delicate satire. It paints the ideal life of the pleasure-seeking young men and
women. It introduces to us a world of fashion and frivolities. These pleasures
are petty – flirting, card-laying, driving in Hyde Park, visiting theaters
and writing love-letters. Their whole day’s program seems to be nothing but a
waste. Their whole day’s program seems to be nothing but a waste.
Give here a synopsis of the poem.
Pope’s satire is unique,
intellectual and full o wit and epigram. Lowell rightly says
that “Pope stands by himself in English verse as an intellectual observer and
describer of personal weaknesses”.
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