Alexander Pope began "The Rape of the Lock" in 1711 after an incident involving two families he knew. It was an attempt to calm tempers after a dispute which cropped up between two families when Lord Petre cut a lock of hair from Arabella Fermor as a prank. Mr Caryl, who was acquainted with Mr. Pope and with the two families involved in the dispute, suggested to Mr. Pope that ... he write a poem poking fun at the ridiculousness of the incident, satirising it in order to soothe tempers with humour. Over a period of a fortnight Mr. Pope put together the first version of The Rape of the Lock, wh...

• Word Count: 1460
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock is not generally seen as a love story. The poem's title alone would not suggest a love story, but when the story behind the poem is looked into further, there is a love story that emerges. Pope was asked to write the story of Arabella Fermor and the curly tendril of hair that ... "ll forget "em all." Canto II. 15-18 Pope refers to the romance of the "belles" and "beaux", rather than women and men. Pope show the romanticism of a beautiful face being more than the errs of a personality. The real love story in The Rape of the Lock is not easily found but imp...

• Word Count: 598
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock is not generally seen as a love story. The poem's title alone would not suggest a love story, but when the story behind the poem is looked into further, there is a love story that emerges. Pope was asked to write the story of Arabella Fermor and the curly tendril of hair that ... "ll forget "em all." Canto II. 15-18 Pope refers to the romance of the "belles" and "beaux", rather than women and men. Pope show the romanticism of a beautiful face being more than the errs of a personality. The real love story in The Rape of the Lock is not easily found but imp...

• Word Count: 589
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... Rape of Lock" by Alexander Pope is the most perfect example of mock-epic genre. The poem functions as a satire on interesting facts of fashionable life. The Rape of the Lock was written because of a brawl between two Roman Catholic families, the Fermors, and the Petres caused by an irrelevant incident: (when the Baron cuts off a lock ... of Belinda's hair). The main protagonist is Belinda and she acts as an epic hero. Pope's way of satirizing ... and Baron tries to return it, but he fails to succeed. At the end, we can see rising of a dead hero into the paradise. The lock disappears in...

• Word Count: 775
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Sylphs In Alexander Pope's introduction to, The Rape of the Lock, Sylphs are described as fictitious, gentle spirits inhabiting the air. Speaking to Mrs. Arabella Fermor in the introduction, Pope tells her that mortals "may enjoy the most intimate familiarity with the gentle spirits, upon a condition very easy to all true adepts, an inviolate preservation of chastity" (291). Throughout the ... squadrons of Sylphs were assigned specific "Belinda" areas of responsibility. Zephryetta guarded Belinda's fan, Brillante guarded her earrings, Momentilla guarded the watch, and Crispissa guarded her h...

• Word Count: 872
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School