Text

Rape of the lock

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The poem satirises a petty squabble by comparing it to the epic world of the gods. It was based on an incident recounted by Pope's friend, John Caryll. Arabella Fermor and her suitor, Lord Petre, were both from aristocratic Catholic families at a period in England when Catholicism was legally proscribed. Petre, lusting after Arabella, had cut off a lock of her hair without permission, and the consequent argument had created a breach between the two families. Pope wrote the poem at the request of friends in an attempt to comically merge the two. He utilised the character Belinda to represent Arabella and introduced an entire system of "sylphs or guardian spirits of virgins

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Availability

Detail Information

Series Title

Oxford student texts

Call Number

821.5 POP r

Publisher

Orlando : Oxford University Press., 2007

Collation

vi, 137 p. : ill. ; 20 cm.

Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

9780199116560

Classification

821.5 POP r

Content Type

-

Media Type

-

Carrier Type

-

Edition

-

Subject(s)

GURR, Elizabeth
POPE, Alexander.

Specific Detail Info

-

Statement of Responsibility

9780199116560.JPG.JPG

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