ugc net english literature lecture on RAPE OF THE LOCK. whatspp on 8587035827

whatspp on 8587035827

Pope's most famous poem is indubitably The Rape of the Lock, and that comes a year after An Essay on Criticism. We've got a whole other video on that poem, so we're just going to keep it short here. I do want to state right up front, though, that The Rape of the Lock is in the style of a mock-epic and has nothing to do with a real sexual assault, so don't be afraid to watch it. It's really pretty funny what actually happens.

In this poem, Pope is drawing on classical sources, but now his satire is really kicking into high gear with this poem that takes a very minor incident (in fact it's just the stealing of a lock of hair - that's the 'lock' in the title), but he conflates it with a war to shake the heavens along the lines of Virgil's Aeneid - a very violent, emotional, huge, epic poem. He's trying to elevate this minor event to something as big as an epic. It's really a great piece, and you can learn about it in the other lesson, and then you should go and read it because it's a mock-epic, so it's not as long as the Aeneid, thankfully.