Judging the Relevance and worth of ideas part 2.pptx
Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope
1. Prepared by: Khushbu Lakhupota
Batch: MA 2020-22
Paper no.: 102 Literature of the
Neoclassical Period
Roll no.: 10
Enrollment no.: 3069 2064 2020 0011
To: Department of English MKBU
4. MAJOR POINTS
● Belinda, A most beautiful wealthy young
woman.
● Narcissus, A beautiful youth in Greek
mythology.
● Belinda, enjoys flirting, but until the Baron
becomes one of her beaus, she never really
entertains the idea of giving into love and
marriage.
5. ● Narcissus rejected the love of nymph Echo.
● Belinda becomes the victim of Baron's attempts
to cut of one of the two pretty locks.
● Narcissus becomes victim of his own reflection
in a pool of water, he fell deeply in love with it,
as if it was somebody else and eventually dies.
6. ● Lock of hair ascended
into the heavens,
becomes a star.
● Lock will burn brightly
in the sky as an eternal
testament to Belinda's
spectacular beauty.
7. Narcissus melted away
from the fire of passion
burning inside him,
eventually turning into
a gold and white flower
and is known as
Narcissus flower
bearing his name.
10. Rape of the Lock -Alexander Pope
● Mock heroic narrative poem 1717
● Elaborate process of beautifying Belinda.
● Looking exceptionally beautiful, Belinda then
sails from London to Hampton court.
● Bright as the Sun, her eyes the gazers strike,And like the
Sun, she shines on all alike.”
● Belinda Latin name means Lovely to Behold.
● Belinda also known as “The Brightest Fair”, “The Fairest
of Mortals”.
11. ● Belinda's childishness, vanity, superficiality
come out even more strongly when Baron
relieves her of one lock.
● Without her lovely lock of hair she feels no
longer beautiful, it is then that Belinda
undergoes a stark transformation.
● However much Belinda rages, Baron at first will
not return the lock of hair, then having lost it, he
cannot return it.
● Belinda is told that the lock of hair went to stars.
12. ● It was made into a constellation where everyone for
eternity can admire its beauty.
● The lock of hair rises as a star visible only to “quick,
poetic eyes.”
● The poet himself steps into the poem at its
conclusion, bidding Belinda no longer to mourn her
“ravish d hair/ which adds new glory to the shining
sphere!”
● By selecting such a low subject as the clipping of a
curl to elevate through epic poetry, Pope makes the
point that,
13. Humans often take themselves too seriously.
● Based on an actual event recounted to the poet by
his friend, John Caryll.
● Arabella Fermour & her suitor, Lord Petre, were
both from aristocratic recusant Catholic families.
● Petre had cut off a lock of Arabella’s hair without
permission, & the consequent argument had
created a breach between the two families.
● The poem satirises a small incident.
14. The Myth of Narcissus
One day Narcissus was walking in the woods
when Echo, an Oread mountain nymph saw him, fell
deeply in love, & followed him. Narcissus sensed he
was being followed & shouted “Who's there?” She
eventually revealed her identity & attempted to
embrace him. He stepped away & told her to leave him
alone. She was heartbroken & spent the rest of her life
in lonely glens until nothing but an echo sound
remained of her.
15. Nemesis, the Goddess of revenge, noticed this
behaviour after learning the story & decided to punish
Narcissus.
Once, during the summer, he was thirsty after
hunting & went to a pool of water. Seeing his own
image in the water, he fell in love with it. But each time
he bent down to kiss it, it seemed to disappear.
Narcissus grew thirstier more and more but would not
leave or disturb the pool of water for the fear of losing
sight of its fine features.
16. In the end he died of thirst, & there on that very spot
appeared the Narcissus flower with its bright face &
bowed neck.
17. CONCLUSION:
● Myth of Narcissus gave rise to the term
“Narcissism”.
● In both the cases, Belinda & Narcissus are punished
for their arrogant behaviour & rewarded for their
beauty in the end.
● Belinda's lock of hair becomes a star.
● Narcissus after his death, a Narcissus flower
sprouts.
● In both the cases, their beauty takes the eternal
form, a testament for the beauty.
18. WORKS CITED:
1. "Narcissism." - Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc, 17
June 2006, en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissism. Accessed 7
Feb. 2021.
2. "Narcissus (mythology)." - Wikipedia, Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc, 8 Jan. 2002,
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissus_(mythology). Accessed 7
Feb. 2021.
3. "The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope Plot Summary."
LitCharts, www.litcharts.com/lit/the-rape-of-the-
lock/summary.
19. 4. "The Rape of the Lock." ENotes,
www.enotes.com/homework-help/character-belinda-26713.
5. "THE RAPE OF THE LOCK." Academia.edu - Share
Research,
www.academia.edu/44690298/THE_RAPE_OF_THE_LOCK
.
6. "Who Was Narcissus?" Psychology Today, 22 Mar. 2018,
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-
seek/201803/who-was-narcissus.
