ICT role in 21st century education and it's challenges.
P epic convention of the rape of the lock
1. Epic Convention of the
Rape of the Lock
Presented by : M.Altaf
Presented to: Ma’am Mahwish
Department of English
2. Outline
What is Epic and mock Epic?
The Epic Conventions
High formal diction
Invocation of the Muse
“Machinery” (i.e. gods or supernatural figures)
Gods speak to hero in a dream
Battle scenes
Descent into the underworld
Advice of the general to the troops
Descriptions of Soldiers Preparing for Battle
Descriptions of Heroic Deeds
Description of a Great Sea Voyage
Catalog of the armies
Rise of the dead into the heavens
3. What is Epic and mock Epic?
Epic:
“A long narrative poem about the actions of a great person.”
Or
“A long narrative poem which deals in a grand diction with
beautiful themes and tells heroic deeds.”
Mock Epic:
“It is a parody of an epic.”
Or
“A long narrative poem which deals in a grand diction with
trivial/ordinary themes and produces laughter.”
4. High formal diction
The Rape of the Lock is a mock epic Written in heroic couplets rhymed in
every two lines
Iambic pentameter
Ten syllables in each line
Alternate with stressed and unstressed syllables
Figures of Speech
The main figure of speech in The Rape of the Lock is hyperbole
Examples of hyperbole include the following:
Sol through white Curtains shot a tim'rous Ray,
And ope'd those Eyes that must eclipse the Day.
Hyberbole: Belinda's eyes are so bright that they outshine a ray of
sunlight
Other figure of speech: Alliteration Anaphora Metaphor Metonymy Simile
5. Invocation of the Muse
When a writer asked for help, he was said to
be“invoking the muse.” In "The Rape of the Lock,"
Pope does not invoke a goddess; instead, he invokes
his friend, John Caryll
who had asked Pope to write a literary work focusing
on an event (the snipping of a lock of hair) that turned
the members of two families the Petres and the
Fermors into bitter enemies. Caryll thought that poking
fun at the incident would reconcile the families by
showing them how trivial the incident was.
6. “Machinery” ( gods or supernatural figures)
In classical epics God, gods and goddesses were
the supernatural elements but here this part is
performed by tiny spirits like; sylphs, nymphs,
gnomes, and salamanders etc. The Rape of the
Lock, Belinda was helped by inhabitants of the air
such as fairies, gnomes, nymphs, sylphs and
salamanders. Belinda receives special attention
from the sylphs.
7. Conti.
These magical creatures in the poem did not help her in
battle but helped Belinda look beautiful and respectable
the whole day. Each sylph assigns themselves to protect
her hair, dress, makeup, jewelries, her lap dog Shock
and most importantly her petticoat for Ariel have "saw,
sadly, some dread event impend. Ariel did warn Belinda
beforehand but she forgot all about it the minute she saw
her "Billet-doux". So now it is up to them to protect her
appearance and her honor.
8. Gods speak to hero in a dream
Ariel, the sylph who watches over
Belinda sent this dream to warn her
beware of man.
BEWARE OF
MAN!
9. Battle scenes
In The Rape of the Lock, Belinda's game of ombre
with her friends was portrayed as battle by Pope.
The cards where depicted as warriors and words
such as troops, combat, war, invade and armies
where used by Pope to describe and intensify the
tension during a game of ombre between Belinda
and her aristocratic friends who took the game
seriously. Even the magical creatures get
themselves involve in the game so that Belinda
wins the game.
10. Descent into the underworld
A gnome named Umbriel descends to the
Underworld on Belinda’s behalf and obtains a
bag of complaints and a flask of tears from the
Queen of Spleen. With these magical gifts, he
means to comfort poor Belinda. A legendary
creature that guards the earth's resources
underground.
11. Advice of the general to the
troops
Ariel, the divine angel guesses some evil to
happen on Belinda and engages his troop of
Sylphs to guard Belinda’s properties and
honour. An brave youth Robert ,Lord Petre
is determined to steal Belinda’s tempting
‘Locks’ of hair.
12. Descriptions of Soldiers Preparing for Battle
In an epic poem a hero will get well prepared for a
great battle by armoring himself with chain mail,
shield, sword, axes, daggers, bow and arrows. These
weapons and armor will not only protect a hero but
also make his enemy fear of him. Belinda on the
other hand armors herself with beautiful brocade,
make-ups, Arabian perfumes, and glittering Indian
jewelries and uses combs and pins made out of
elephant tusks and tortoise shell in order to face the
upper-class society every day.
13. Conti.
In The Rape of the Lock Pope describes
Belinda preparing herself with combs
and pins–with "Puffs, Powders, Patches"–
noting that Beauty puts on all its Arms."
After cutting her Lock She attacks the
Baron with snuff and hair-pin etc.
14. Descriptions of Heroic Deeds
Pope describes the "heroic act" of Belinda and
the Baron during a card game called Ombre
which involves three players and a deck of
40 cards.
15. Description of a Great Sea Voyage
In The Rape of the Lock
Belinda travels up the Thames in a boat.
The guests board a boat to the Palace Harbor Court
16. Catalog of the armies
In The Rape of the Lock, Belinda's game of
ombre with her friends was portrayed as
battle by Pope and words which they used
during game were armies.
17. Rise of the dead into the heavens
It is then discovered that the lock of
hair has risen to the heavens, only to
become a shining star
