Question: Consider The Rape of the Lock as a witty and humorous poem.
Or, Discuss the wit and humour in The Rape of the Lock.
Answer: Augustan Age or the Age of Pope was the great age of satire and wit. The world-class satirists Jonathan Swift, John Dryden, Addison and Steele- all belonged to this. As a representative of his age, Po just followed the matter and manner, the substance and the style of the day. Pope accomplished his job adeptly and successfully that he remained unsurpassed still today in the literary arena as a writer of mock-epic.
In “The Rape of the Lock” Pope has used wit and humour not only in content and context but also in style and form. To create a humorous effect and to invite a very smile on the lips of the reader, Pope has chosen a trivial theme and has treated it in such a lofty and grandiloquent manner that on careful reader mils the ironic contrast of the matter and manner.
In "The Rape of the Lock” Pope has chosen the style and diction of the great epic like The Iliad, Odyssey, The Aeneid or Paradise Lost. In contrast to it, the theme of the poem is ludicrous, the snipping of the lock of hair of a fashionable belle. Both in theme and treatment “The Rape of the Lock” parodies in a witty and humorous way the trivial and the sublime to establish its superiority as a mere travesty.
The very title of the Poem “The Rape of the Lock” is witty and humorous. Because the word “rape' is a very serious one and it relates to the gross violation of a social, religious or moral code, to the loss of a ladies' chastity. But this grave term is used to mean the cutting of a mere tress of hair of a “gentle belle”. As if the chastity or virginity of a lady lies in the lock of her hair. The entire event of the rape of Belinda's hair by one of her aggressive admirers and Ombre partner is given an epical hue. The poet willfully and consciously parodies the historical occurrences of the rape of Helen and the rape of Lucrece— incidents contained in Homer's and Shakespeare's writings. The poem parodies the entire epic genre - the theme, the form, the underworld journey, the battle, the invocation to the muses. Instead of invocation the goddess of poetry, the poet invokes his friend Caryll to seek inspiration to 'write the poem. Any able reader would burst into a roar of laughter to such downscaling of a magnanimous thought.
The description of Belinda's dressing table is full of wit and humour. The rising sun or the sun with its strong and powerful rays at noon turns "timorous" when Belinda opens her 'still sleepy' eyes. Raising her to the level of a goddess in front of her “altar” like a dressing table, Pope is really creating a humorous atmosphere. The readers do not miss the burlesque when they read Belinda's ludicrous treatment of the Bible and love letter on the same scale:
“Here files of pins extend their shining rows,Puffs, powders, patches, Bibles, billet-doux.”
Belinda's maid Betty is presented as the "inferior priestess" who 'trembles to begin the "sacred rite" of decorating her proud mistress. It cannot but create laughter for an adept reader. Again, the Baron's building of an altar 'to love' with "twelve vast French Romances, neatly gilt," and his placement of paltry offerings like "gartess", "half a pair of glones", love trophies and love letters make the readers burst into a roar of laughter. His prayer to heaven and to 'love' to inspire and help him in his mischievous act of possessing the treasure 1.e. Belinda's hair which he has cherished for so long a time. It is really funny that the heavenly Powers granted half his unlicensed appeal and the other half of his prayer was scattered by the sylphs or winds in empty air. The entire narration creates a ludicrous effect on the readers' minds.
Belinda's horrible reaction after the separation of her hair provides a source of humour to the readers. Her reaction was so virulent and mind-boggling that her eyes began to flash like lightning and her screams seemed to rend and affright the sky above. The idea that her shock and pity would have been the same at the death of her husband or lap dogs are humorously portrayed:
“No louder strikes to pitying Heaven's are cast.U When husbands, or when lap-dogs, breathe their last,”
The Baron's comparison of his victorious possession i.e. Belinda's hair with life-giving air provides a sort of blithe humour:
“That while my nostrils drew the vital air,This hand which won it shall forever wear.”
As if parting with Belinda's sheared hair would be tantamount to parting with his life.
The portrait of Sir Plume with his Ambre 'snuff box' and 'clouded cane' is an amusing one. His nonsense utterances to Baron to get back Belinda's hair are a source of humour. Endowed with the noble mission of a powerful hero, Sir Plume downgrades to the level of a flattened top.
The battle between the fashionable belles and vainglorious beaux is actually a war of wit. The infuriated Thalestris being wittier than her opponents kills them with the charms of her looks. The defeat of Dapperait and Sir toppling was a defeat of poor wit. We cannot but enjoy the plain humour lying between the lines:
“A beau and witting perished in the throng,One died in metaphor, and one in song."
Belinda's victory over Baron with a pinch of snuff is nothing but the triumph of wit. Finally, we can conclude that the poem “The Rape of the Lock” is replete with wit and humour. As a mock-epic, it still remains unsurpassed. It is a glaring example of humour "wit and fancy." James Russell Lowell rightly declared, "For wit, fancy, invention and keeping, it has never been surpassed."
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