|
E211: British Literature to 1760 Alexander Pope Study Questions Alfred J. Drake. Office: Hum. 520 | W 3-4 | ajdrake@ajdrake.com The Rape of the Lock 1. What contemporary forms of entertainment or art take the place of a formal mock epic such as Pope's? How many current approaches to social satire can you identify, ranging from the rough to the more refined? List them and connect the types or genres to groups or individuals. 2. Satire is usually about very specific or "topical" subjects. What things do you think most deserve a good sendup today, and what satirical or otherwise humorous approaches have you found most effective in getting across serious criticisms on those issues? Explain your reasoning. 3. What would you say is the main thing or tendency that Pope's mock epic criticizes? Is Pope concerned to offer an alternative to the foolish ideas and pretentions he mocks, or is that not the point of his poem? Explain. 4. What might satire and comedy have as an advantage over more serious forms of art and direct criticism when it comes to making a point about politics or morals? And conversely, what risk do satirists take in employing their peculiar methods instead of criticizing things more directly? Canto 1 5. What does the first canto suggest about the nature of the poem's subject matter, and what does it suggest about the concept of honor? What is the connection between honor and beauty here? 6. Belinda is given a warning by her guardian spirit Ariel. How specific is this warning? How does it compare to, say, the warnings that Adam and Eve get in Paradise lost? How well prepared is Belinda to face her ordeal? Does the ordeal itself have anything to do with morality, or is it about something else? Explain. Canto 2 7. What drives the Baron to form his nefarious plot? Why is the extremely serious term "rape" used to describe such a ridiculous act? (Hint: look up the Latin verb from which this word derives.) What classical stories about rape or abduction might lie behind Pope's description of Belinda's plight? 8. What echoes of Milton's Paradise Lost do you find in this canto regarding what the spirits say about their task? How does Pope's style in this canto deflate or confound the seriousness of the threat the heroine faces? Canto 3 9. This section revolves around a card game called Ombre. Why is this game particularly appropriate to the poem's subject matter, and even more specially to the relations between men and women in Pope's time? 10. Why does the guardian spirit Ariel withdraw at the crucial moment when Belinda is about to lose her lock to the Baron? And what does the Baron apparently think he has accomplished by his deed? Canto 4 11. What classical motif does Pope borrow to describe the kindling of Belinda's wrath? What does his handling of this episode suggest about "feminine nature"? 12. How does Pope mock the pretensions of masculine honor in the figure of Sir Plume? What significance attaches to the name "Plume"? 13. What does Belinda feel she has lost--what does she believe will be the consequences of her having lost a lock of hair to the Baron? Canto 5 14. What is Clarissa's counsel to Belinda? Why does Belinda reject this advice? 15. Why is it better that the lock of hair should be whisked up to heaven rather than restored to its rightful owner? What does Belinda gain thereby? Eloisa to Abelard 16. Many readers have found that Pope conveys a genuine sense of Eloisa's passion for Abelard. Yet, this is a very formal poem consisting in rhymed couplets. If you find the formal approach effective, what makes it so? How might rhyme, in the hands of a master like Pope, actually work in his favor? 17. How do this poem's medieval sentiment and setting assist Pope in conveying a real sense of passion flowing from his heroine to her onetime lover? 18. It's clear that Eloisa's insistent concentration upon Abelard entails serious danger to her faith. So how does she deal with the tension between her affection for God and for Abelard? Would you call her an heroic figure by the end of the poem? Why or why not? 19. While Eloisa's words have all the fire of speech, she is writing a reply to a letter Abelard wrote for another. How does Pope turn this circumstance into an advantage--that is, why is focusing on the thoughts of a character writing such a letter an effective way to capture the role passion plays in even the most devout life? Edition: Abrams, M.H. et al. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Vols. 1A, 1B, 1C. 7th. edition. New York: Norton, 2000. ISBN #'s: 1A = 0393975657, 1B = 0393975665, 1C = 0393975673.
|