Key Text Paper: RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER

Southern Nazarene University

Image of women in "the rape of the lock"

The rape of the lock is a poem written by Alexander Pope. It is based on a true story from the 17th century, but unfortunately, it gives an impression of mocking women's gender. The poems seem to be focused on superficial womanhood and male dominance in the 17th century specifically and overall generally. The writer mocks the main character, Belinda, by turning a serious issue into a joke. Besides this, the poem reflects women as a sample of beauty despite how intellectually intelligent they can be. The physical appearance of women is given more importance compared to the intellectual beauty they have, which is yet to be discovered. Along with this, women are considered as an object rather than human, consequently categorization of females based on mere observations.

In the modern world, women and men are considered equal. Equal in rights and equal in social life. Women are allowed to do whatever they want to. Back in the 17th-century, feminism was at its initial stages. No one ever talked about women and their rights. Pope wrote a poem of five cantos mocking women. People were unaware of the social life and equal rights that women deserve. If the Pope would have written something like this now, then feminists would not have liked it, and it would not attract more audience. Through the character of Belinda and Classica, the generation of women has been generalized. Man can be bad, and women can be bad, but we cannot generalize it to the whole womanhood or manhood. It is a poem by a well-known poet. It was heard at the larger forum and among a large audience. The poet did not give it a second thought before writing and mocking women and their characters throughout the poem.

Pope has categorized women into groups based on his observation. The poem is giving the impression that women are considered as an object or thing rather than human beings. Categorization of objects is easy but categorizing people is out of human knowledge. The frivolous life of society in the 17th century is evident in the poem. Women are portrayed as a symbol of beauty. The physical appearance of women is given more importance than any other thing. Besides being a human being, appearance, whether physical or social, is prioritized in the story, which is truly unfair with the female gender along with the creator who created such beautiful humans with intellect and understanding. Unfortunately, society had divided genders according to their convenience and ease.

It is also apparent from the poem that women spent more of their time in beatification and getting ready for parties to show off their bodies (Crehan and Stewart). The word beauty is overrated in the write-up. Every woman and every human is beautiful on their own. Definition of beauty is not long hair and colored eyes; rather, it is way beyond the superficial meaning. All men and women are born with equal rights; they all have the same body part; despite this, women are not considered intellectual beings while making important decisions. The beauty of the female is beyond all constraints of societal definitions. It can be explained from the text where Belinda felt shamed when a symbol of beauty, that is, hair starts to fall. Belinda being a woman of that time, experienced humiliation and shame while her sudden hair fall occurred. She preferred to hide her face from society. The character of Belinda is seen as more beautiful and superior compared to other women merely based on the definition of beauty and her physical appearance. Her mind can be extraordinarily beautiful than her appearance, but all of the attention is given to external appearance. This is the way women are seen in society, where they are only judged on the basis of their looks, as opposed to men.

The marginalized thinking of society about women is also evident in the poem. When the lock of her hair is cut, she cries and blames herself for no reason, like many women are made to feel bad when they are raped. Despite being the victim, she feels like she is responsible for whatever happened to her (Pardes and Ilana). Belinda blamed herself and considered her stupid. It is not her fault that is she is beautiful, and men cannot control her attentiveness. Women are considered honorable if they are pure and clean, but a rapist is forgiven after a few years of the incident. Refusal of sexual involvement by women is their right, but male considered it against their pride, and they are victimized when they are alone. On the other hand, Baron is happy and celebrating his victory despite humiliating women. Belinda preferred to be humiliated privately than publicly because women have the power to hide things and cry in silence, but public humiliation is out of control (Tigges and Wim). The whole incident is a portrayal of male dominance. Patriarchy rules the world since the dawn of the day, and it can still be observed in society, especially in the literature and media.

In short, it can be said that the poem is characterizing women as objects, illogical, untruthful. The poem overall is giving a negative picture of women. Just like the general perception in society, especially in that era, this poem is also taking a negative stance on women and their intellect. Firstly the writer has the generalized character of few women to the whole women gender. The mocking of emotions and her innate character is as well evident from the text. Secondly, the female is portrayed as a symbol of sex and beautification. It is very offensive of humans to create division in the creations of the holy God. Finally, women are blamed for the deeds that they have not performed. The writer is giving the impression that cutting off a lock of hair was the fault of Belinda even though Baron came with a planned idea to cut her hair lock.

References

Pope, Pope. Rape of the Lock. Orient Blackswan, 1979.

Pardes, Ilana. Countertraditions in the Bible: A feminist approach. Harvard University Press, 1992.

Crehan, Stewart. "The Rape of the Lock" and the Economy of" Trivial Things." Eighteenth-Century Studies 31.1 (1997): 45-68.

Tigges, Wim. "Translating" The Rape of the Lock": The Battle, the Strategy and the Tactics." The Siberian and the Kit-Cats 24.2 (1992): 150.