Thursday, May 1, 2014

Could you explain the epic conventions of Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock?

Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock is a brilliant example of the mock epic, a style of writing that uses conventions of epic literature in a satirical setting, often to expose the foibles and absurdity of contemporary society. The poem chronicles a gentleman's theft of a lady's lock of hair, and it is based on a similar event that caused a quarrel between two prominent families of Pope's day. The poem references major epic works, such as The Iliad and Paradise Lost, and it includes many classic characteristics of epic literature, such as supernatural beings, war, heroes and heroines, and even a trip to the Underworld. However, Pope translates these tropes to high society, and so epic warfare becomes a card game, heroes become vain gentlemen, and the exciting climax becomes the theft of a lock of hair. By using epic conventions in such a setting, Pope pokes fun at the high society of his day, exposing its ridiculousness by juxtaposing it with epic literature. 

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