This document discusses Alexander Pope's poem "The Rape of the Lock" and the real-life scandal that inspired it. The scandal involved Lord Petre cutting a lock of hair from Arabella Fermor, which caused a feud between their families. Pope was asked by John Caryll to write the poem to help reconnect the families, but it instead drew more attention to the scandal. The proposed exhibition would include manuscripts of the poem, a portrait of Arabella Fermor, and letters from Pope discussing the incident, in order to examine how Pope dramatized the real events and what constituted a scandal in 18th century society through this case study. The research is interdisciplinary, exploring literature, cultural history, art history, and

1. SCANDAL AND
SENSATION
The mythologizing of a dispute: Scandal in the Eighteenth Century

2. WHAT dire Offence from am'rous Causes springs,
What mighty Contests rise from trivial Things,
I sing -- This Verse to C---, Muse! is due;
This, ev'n Belinda may vouchfafe to view:
Slight is the Subject, but not so the Praise,
If She inspire, and He approve my Lays.
Say what strange Motive, Goddess! cou'd compel
A well-bred Lord t'assault a gentle Belle?
Oh say what stranger Cause, yet unexplor'd,
Cou'd make a gentle Belle reject a Lord?
And dwells such Rage in softest Bosoms then?
And lodge such daring Souls in Little Men?
Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock (1714)

3. BACKGROUND
 Arabella Fermor (called Belinda in the poem) and Lord Petre (Sir
Plume)
 Scandal when he cut off a lock of her hair
 Let to feud between the two families
 John Caryll asked Pope to write about it to reconnect the families
 Had the opposite effect

4. Scandal and Sensation
ITEMS FOR THE
EXHIBITION

5. Manuscript of
The Rape of the
Lock published
in 1714
Currently at
Christies

6. Portrait of Arabella Fermor, painted by Grant
Currently at Rufford Old Hall

7. Letters from
Alexander
Pope to
John Caryll
talking
about the
incident

8. THE NARRATIVE OF THE
PROJECT
 The whole idea behind this project is to look at the idea of what a scandal was
in the Eighteenth Century
 Using The Rape of the Lock and Alexander Pope’s approach to this scandal as a
kind of ‘scandal case study’
 Using the letter and manuscript as evidence of the distinction between the ‘real’
occurrence and the heavily dramatized account
 Thinking about the study of ‘scandal’ and the elite in the Eighteenth Century
and how this single event fits into this study

9. AREAS TO RESEARCH
 Studies of Alexander Pope and The Rape of the Lock
 Studies of Scandal in the Eighteenth Century
 Studies of Alexander Pope’s correspondence
 Art history surrounding Eighteenth-Century portraits
 Book history and the proliferation of The Rape of the Lock in its
first full edition

10. INTERDISCIPLINARY
 This research is interdisciplinary as it looks at a variety of sources
– paint, poetry, and a selection of letters
 Literary studies and cultural history are the main discipline areas
studied, although art history comes into play with the painting and
book history is important when considering the original print edition