1. Background on Alexander Pope’s “The Rape of the Lock”

2. Self-taught to a great extent A diligent scholar from a very early age
On Pope:
Roman Catholic living during a time of Protestant consolidation in England
Self-taught to a great extent
A diligent scholar from a very early age

3. 18th-Century Poetry Neoclassical
Valued poetry with many allusions to classic works of antiquity
Works were often morally charged and often politically engaged
Many poems privileged satire as their dominant mode

4. “The Rape of the Lock”
One of the most famous English-language examples of the mock-epic
Published in 1712, when Pope was only 23 years old
Poem served to Pope’s his reputation as a poet; remains his most frequently studied work
Poem inspired by an actual incident among Pope’s acquaintances in which Robert, Lord Petre, cut off a lock of Arabella Fermor’s hair, and the young people’s families fell into strife as a result

5. Device: Satire
The strategy of Pope’s mock-epic is not to mock epic poetry
Mocks Pope’s society in its very failure to rise to epic standards
Meant to expose pettiness by casting events against the grandeur of the traditional epic subjects and the bravery and fortitude of epic heroes

6. Terms to Know
“Rape” has several meanings in this era, and in Pope's time the most common meaning was something like "kidnapping"
Sylph: is a mythological creature in the Western tradition; a “invisible spirit of the air”; in Pope’s poem, they are guardian spirits of virgins
Nymph: is a minor female nature deity typically associated with a particular location or landform