Alex's Analysis Of Any Abject Abuse

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Although Pope is definitely pointing to
the "lightness" of the social life of the privileged, he also recognizes their
sincerity in attempting to be polite and well-mannered and pretend to recognize
where the true values lie.
Pope satirizes female vanity. He wrote the poem at the request of his
friend, John Caryll, in an effort to make peace between real-life lovers. The
incident of the lock of hair was factual; Pope's intention was to dilute with
humor the ill feelings aroused by the affair. He was, in fact, putting a minor
incident into perspective, and to this end, chose a mock-heroic form, composing
the poem as a "take-off" epic poetry, particularly the work of Milton. He is
inviting the individuals involved to laugh at themselves, to see how emotion had
inflated their response to what was really an event of no consequence. For the
reader, the incident becomes a statement about human folly, a lesson on female
vanity, and a satire of the rituals of courtship. ...

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offense" that springs from "amorous causes" and the "mighty contest
s" that rise from "trivial things" (1-2) -- hardly the lofty and weighty
subjects of epic poetry -- and names his Muse "Caryll" (3) for his friend John
Caryll, the relative of the young lord who stole the lock of hair from Arabella
Fermor -- not the proper sort of Muse for epic poetry. By way of mythological
spirits hovering over earthly concerns, Pope gives us sylphs that are really the
spirits of young women like Belinda. Milton's Adam had the angel Raphael
looking out for him; Belinda has Ariel, one of the "light militia of the lower
sky" (42). He jokingly raises Belinda to the exalted stature proper to ...

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