This document provides background information on Alexander Pope and analyzes his famous work "The Rape of Lock" as a social satire. It discusses how Pope satirizes aspects of 18th century society such as young aristocrats, gender roles, justice systems, fashion, and the concept of friendship. The document concludes that "The Rape of Lock" is a work of social satire that effectively portrayed and ridiculed the follies and vices of Pope's contemporary society.

1. THE RAPE OF LOCK: A SOCIAL
SATIRE

2. ALEXANDER POPE: LIFE AND WORK
• Born on May 21 1688 in London, England
• Roman Catholic Family
• Life “As disease”
• Inspired by Greek writers specially Horace.
• Self taught
• Start to write when he was only 12 years old
• Poet of Society
• Most famous work is “The Rape of Lock”
• Translated the Greek writings.
• Died on May 30, 1744 in the age of 56

3. SATIRE AND ITS CLASSIFICATION
• “a literary work holding up human vices and
follies to ridicule or scorn”
• “a way of using humor to show that someone
or something is foolish, weak, bad, etc. :
humor that shows the weaknesses or bad
qualities of a person, government, society,
etc.”

4. SATIRE AND ITS CLASSIFICATION
• Satire is classified in the following two
categories
– Juvenalian
• Serious, Harsh and bitter in tone
– Horatian
• Handles the situation with smiles, light hearted

5. ELEMENTS OF SATIRE
• Exaggeration
• Irony
• Sarcasm
• Understatement

6. THE RAPE OF LOCK: GENERAL INTRODUCTION
• Two aristocrat Roman Catholic Families in
friendship
• Lord Petre and Lady Arabella Fermor fall in love
• Peter cut Arabella’s hair lock
• Relationship between two families cooled down.
• Mr. John Caryll asked Pope’s to write a poem
• Pope accepted to do this job. He wrote “The Rape
of Lock”

7. THE RAPE OF LOCK: SOCIAL SATIRE
• Pope, in “The Rape of Lock”, satirizes the
following aspects of that society
– Young Girls and Boys
– Nature of Husbands and wives
– Justice and Judges
– Fashionable Ladies
– Queen is Satirized
– Friendship

8. YOUNG GIRLS AND BOYS
“Now Lap-dogs give themselves the rowzing Shake,
And sleepless Lovers, just at Twelve, awake:”
“A beau and witling perished in the throng,
One died in metaphor, and one in song.”

9. NATURE OF HUSBANDS AND WIVES
• Pope also satirizes of the husbands and wives of that
days. Husbands always suspect their wives.
• Wives are also not virtuous at all. They love their lap-
dogs more than their husbands
“Not louder shrieks to pitying Heave are cast,
When husbands, or when lapdogs breathe their last;”

10. JUSTICE AND JUDGES
• Pope says that judges signs their documents
of decisions in great hurry
“The hungry judges soon the sentence sign,
And wretches hang that jurymen may dine”

11. Fashionable Ladies
• Pope also ridicules the women’s excessive
attention of self embellishment and self
decoration of a famous satirical passage
“Here Files of Pins extend their shining Rows,
Puffs, Powders, Patches, Bibles, Billet-doux.”

12. QUEEN IS SATIRIZED
• Queen herself is satirized to produce a truly
comical and witty effect
Here thou, a great Anna whom three realms obey
Dost sometimes counsel take – and sometimes tea

13. FRIENDSHIP
• The concept of friendship has been satirized.
Friends are hollow and fickle. As soon as
Belinda’s reputation is gone, Thalestris doesn’t
like to be called her friend.

14. CONCLUSION
• On the base of the upper discussed pints it
could be concluded that “The Rape of Lock” is
social satire. It is said the “Poet is the
representation of his/her age”. This saying is
so true for Pope. He, in the Rape of Lock,
amazingly pertained and satirized the follies
and vices of the 18th century.