Does mock-heroic poetry debase its subjects?

Does mock-heroic poetry debase its subjects?

Alexander Pope’s The Rape of the Lock (1714) is a mock-heroic poem, imitating the elevated language of classical epics through ‘[describing] in inflated terms a trivial subject’ (Terry, p.364) in a ceremonious manner. The poem is based upon a real incident: Lord Petre had cut a lock of Miss Arabella Fermor’s hair, enraging the Fermors as a result. This incident is mocked to such heights of grandeur that the effect is comic and readers laugh at their foolishness. This essay argues Pope’s mock-heroic as potently attacking aristocratic society by representing Belinda and Sir Plume as grand spectacles of entertainment through grandiose language that elevates their trivial and superficial eighteenth-century values. Particularly, the excessive values of female beauty and objects depreciate characters as being products of a society consumed with materialism and consumer culture. Also, morality – spiritual and female morality concerning chastity – is a pretence Belinda places upon herself which invites readers to laugh at the charade she creates. Furthermore, contemporary masculinity is amusing through Sir Plume’s grand language. He is a comedic, stock character whose absurdity through speech we ridicule. The poem itself as a grand spectacle of the reader’s entertainment is effective in exposing the ‘cultural unease’ (Terry, p.366) of an opulent society close to chaos and debasing the characters.

The poem satirises aristocratic society where the trivial subject is elevated to a point of exaggeration. Pope describes the poem as ‘Heroi-Comical’, a subtitle that immediately introduces the poem’s satirical stance, therefore inviting readers to mock the poem’s trivial subject: Belinda’s loss of hair. The elevated language is prevalent in the beginning, reducing the significance of Belinda’s incident:

‘What dire Offence from am’rous Causes springs,

What mighty Contents rises from trivial Things’ (Pope, Canto I, 1-2).

A ‘profound change in human relations’ (Crehan, p.47) had taken place in the eighteenth century; lifestyles and principles changed immensely, affecting people’s societal values. It was believed that the classical age of epics had passed, and human passions no longer inspire people to ‘mighty Contests’, unlike in the Iliad, where conflicts arise from affronts against a hero’s honour. Weitzman asserts that in London ‘there was a progressive disenchantment as [London] appeared to lose its innocence because of [the city’s] commitment to purely social and economic value’ (Weitzman, p.472). Thus, the contrast of epic subjects to the frivolous, trivial nature of ‘Things’ that dominate Belinda’s society, marks the period as one of loss. The characters are unable to rise to the epic standards of heroes in Homer; instead, they escalate their sense of importance through grand language. The effect becomes farcical because of the triviality of the subject: Belinda’s loss of hair. Therefore, Belinda’s incident is a ludicrous spectacle designed for mockery due to the subject’s comparison to the histories of epics.

The ridiculousness of Belinda’s incident is contrasted to the reactions of the characters. Belinda’s reaction to her loss of hair marks a certain ‘nostalgia for classical traditions’ (Weitzman, p.469). The ‘traditions’ have diminished and rather than the brave deeds of heroes, Belinda’s lock of hair, an insignificant part of her, is the central subject. Unlike Homeric epics, where events are vast and word-encompassing, The Rape of the Lock centres on an inconsequential event involving an aristocratic woman and a small number of people. This debases the characters as it discounts their importance; the characters are concerned solely with ‘subjects that can be seen as affronting the standard of epic by being provocatively low or trivial’ (Terry, p.357). Pope dismisses the anger that a woman of her status had the right to feel, especially if her chances for marriage were tainted, and places it under a ‘trivial’ event to laugh at then move on. While Pope’s description of Belinda’s experience in mock-heroic form elevates the subject through heroic couplets, the sardonic tone in the quote indicates the ridiculousness of her experience. The poem and Belinda are a spectacle for mockery, and the lock’s importance to Belinda is amusing to readers in its contrast between her exaggerated reaction and the triviality of her hair.

Pope claimed that his poem was intended for reconciliation between the Fermor’s and Lord Petre’s families, and therefore the humorous aspect of the poem is seen as deliberate. The phrases ‘am&rsq