Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The Rape of the Lock Canto 2 is by far the most important part of this mock-heroic epic. Pope introduces The Locks of Hair and their power. Canto 2 focuses on three major episodes, Belinda's river cruise, the Baron's altar of love, and Ariel's instructions to his troops. Most epic poems include a sea voyage, so Belinda’s traveling by boat emphasizes her role as a parody of an epic hero.
Canto 2 is 142 lines long, full of ironies, metaphors, and juxtapositions, and it contains enough mock-heroic elements. It clarifies that the meager act of stealing a lock of hair wasn’t just a playful mischievous act, rather, it represented a more explicit sexual conquest. Pope added sexually metaphorical words like ‘force’, ‘ravish’, and ‘betray’, which offer deeper meaning to the term ‘rape’ mentioned in the title.
Summary of The Rape of The Lock Canto 2
Lines 1-18
Pope begins by depicting Belinda’s beauty as brighter than the sunshine itself. In Canto I, Pope personifies Sol (the sun) who was so shy about peeping through Belinda's window curtains because Belinda's very eyes would rival his beams for beauty. The first three lines of Canto II continue the metaphor relating Belinda to the sun and mention her as "the Rival of his Beams." She is traveling on the silvery white waters of the river Thames on her way to a party at Hampton Court, a few miles upriver from her house. There are many other well-dressed beautiful women and men on the boat but Belinda outshines them all. She is the most beautiful and everyone acknowledges it. She is adorning the jeweled shining cross on her necklace that is resting on her ‘white breasts.’ Obviously, nobody is noticing the cross. Pope sexualizes the religious symbol and suggests that the cross can be adored by “Jews” and “Infidels” as readily as by Christians because that is hardly the centerpiece of attraction. Pope satirizes the societal trend of valuing carnal pleasure more than a moral lifestyle.
Belinda is socially good and charming for all, like the superficial sun, she shines her smile for everyone but shows no deep endearment to anyone. She often rejects the eye-contact with others but she hardly offends anyone because she is so beautiful that everyone forgives her if she accidentally hurts someone's feelings. Belinda values her looks but she is so graceful that she easily hides any pride with her sweetness. And even if she had some errors: "Look on her Face, and you'll forget 'em all".
Lines 19-28
A nymph is a mythological figure, a spirit of nature imagined as a beautiful maiden inhabiting river. In Canto 1, Pope described Belinda as a coquette, a woman who must attract a suitable husband but simultaneously refrain from so great an attraction that she compromises her virtue. In line 19, he addresses Belinda as a Nymph as the coquette is on the river Thames. This nymph is on a mission to destroy the man folk and enslave them. And to achieve her goal, she has nourished two locks of curled hair that hang at her back. Both hair locks have an equal number of curls that hide the shiny ivory-colored skin of the back of her neck. The party at Hampton Court appears to be a hunting trip for Bellinda who is all prepared for her hunt. Her hunting tools are those two locks of curled hair, the main subject of the poem.
These curled locks are not natural, rather, they are strategically planned and ‘nourished’. Belinda knows the importance of such niceties and how to use them. These curly locks are no less than unsolvable labyrinths where her loves often find themselves imprisoned and enslaved. And the men who are mighty enough to avoid the entrapment are chained by the locks. Pope offers metaphors for the locks which are "slender Chains" with the power to enslave. These locks are strategic tools for catching admirers, much like "Sprindges" (snares) or fishing lines that might catch a bird or a fish.
Lines 29-46
The Baron is introduced in these lines. He is one of the admirers of Belinda who is aware of the powers of her locks. He is the adventurous one who hopes to win those locks as a winning trophy. He has contemplated this task and knows it won’t be easy. However, he is determined to win Belinda anyhow, by hook or crook. And the way to win her is, he knows, to win her locks, her weapons. He has made up his mind to get those hairs as his and for this, he is willing to use ‘force’ to ‘ravish’ or ‘fraud’ to ‘betray.’ The Baron is planning to steal those locks for a long time and to add them to his collection of ‘trophies’ of his former loves’. The Baron isn’t a lover, he is rather a nymph hunter, a trophy collector. He has used force or fraud in past too as he has many trophies of former loves. But now he desires Belinda more than anything else. For him, means don’t matter as nobody asks if the success came through fraud or force.
Pope compares the Baron with Phoebus imploring Propitious for success in his endeavor. But as the war is of love, he makes an altar for Love and prays for his success. The baron has kept 12 French Romances thinly gilded with gold. Belinda had Bible and ‘billet doux’ on her dressing table, and the Baron has these 12 french Romances, trophies, and love letters from his former loves. Pope adds the ritual sacrifice scene to his mock epic as the Baron sacrifices three of the ‘billet-doux’ from his former loves and burns them to light a fire to please Love. His prayers are halfway granted. Belinda's doom is sealed.
Lines 47-72
Belinda’s vessel is gliding on the river Thames and it is perfectly secured at present. Ariel, the guardian sylph warned Belinda in her dream and requested her not to meet any men during this cautious period but she ignored his advice. She is en route to attend the party at Hampton court where there will be many men, along with the Baron. Ariel doesn’t know when and from where the danger will appear, but he knows it will and he is devoted to safeguarding Belinda. For this, he has summoned a huge army of Sylphs and Sylphids. These magical figures are no more in Belinda’s dream, but they are in the real presence. Yet, none other than Ariel can observe them because they are in so tiny and beautiful demeanor. When Ariel talks to these sylphs and they respond, it appears a light breeze is blowing. They are the ‘Denizens of Air,’ so light, translucent, or bright in color. Metaphorically, Pope gives these Sylphs the figure of butterflies and other beautiful colorful insects that surround the boat of Belinda. Ariel addresses all of them and they encircle their leader in the air, above the mast of the boat. The Sylphs are beautiful, colorful, and delicate, like a lot of butterflies.
Lines 73-100
These lines are full of inflation and juxtaposition. Ariels address all his minions Sylphs and Sylphids and inform them about the hierarchy of magical figures including Fays, Fairies, Genii, Elves, and Daemons. One may find traces of a satirical take on Mlton's Paradise Lost. Ariel says that the purest Spirits top of the hierarchy remain in the aether and glitter in sunlight while some other have the job to regulate the celestial bodies. Some less refined spirits are assigned the job of hovering and catching the shooting stars in the moonlight. They remove the mists and pinup the rainbows, or bring fierce tempests, and bring rains. Some less refined spirits are tasked with observing the human race and guiding them in their actions. Of these lesser refined spirits, the top in the hierarchy have the job to take care of Great Britain and guard the British monarch, In comparison, Ariel and Syphs have got a humble job of tending and helping the fair sex. Ariel mentions that it is a pleasing task but it has no glory. He gives details: Sylphs help with hairstyles, makeup, and fashion, without the beautiful coquettes ever knowing it. Thus, Ariel and his Sylphs are assigned the realm of ridiculous.
Lines 101-122
In these lines, Ariel informs the Sylphs of the reason why they have gathered on the boat near Belinda. He warns "black Omens" threaten their Belinda, and that they all have to pull together to guard her against whatever terrible thing is about to happen to her. Pope introduces his sexual innuendos in these lines, "Whether the Nymph shall break Diana's law,/ Or some frail China jar receives a Flaw." Diana’s law is an allusion to the Roman Goddess of chastity, breaking Diana’s law suggests loss of virginity. Similarly, broken pottery is also used literally to indicate loss of virginity. However, it can be taken as a juxtaposition too, as if forcibly losing virginity is equivalent to breaking of a China jar. Ariel’s final anxiety is that Belinda might “stain her honor or her new brocade”. While the staining of Belinda’s honor is overtly sexual, the staining of her dress likewise has sexual implications, alluding both to female sexual maturity (menstruation) and to the tearing of the hymen (loss of virginity). Again, it can be seen as a juxtaposition, comparing the loss of honor with a stain on a new dress. Ariel’s other fear is Belinda’s lapdog whom she loves so much. It is a satirical commentary on the priorities of the society Pope lived in.
After expressing his worries, Ariel assigns various tasks to his minions for ensuring protection of Belinda. Ariel assigns to watch Belinda's fan to a Sylph named "Zephiretta.""Brillante" is assigned the task to keep an eye on her diamonds, and "Momentilla" will guard her watch. Another Sylphide is named Crispissa, a play on the Latin word meaning curl. Her job is to guard Belinda’s favorite locks while Ariel himself will protect Shock.
Ariel’s main worry is Belinda breaking Diana’s law and thus he assigns 50 sylphs of special notes, the job of protecting Belinda’s petticoat. Belinda is already careful about it as her petticoat is exceptionally strong and is made with hoops and whalebone. Yet, 50-strong Sylphs must protect it as Ariel has an inkling that someone will try to ‘ravage’ it forcefully and all of that construction might not be enough to keep out a persistent suitor. This part is full of double meanings. The guardian Sylph does know that something untoward is coming but he isn’t aware of what it might be and when, and he assigns an army of 50 sylphs to guard the petticoat of Belinda, which suggests that the two hair locks could be Belinda’s pubic hair, and thus, the theft of the lock represents a greater threat to Belinda’s virtue than the theft of her hair would suggest.
Lines 123-142
In these lines, Ariel warns the Sylphs of bitter consequences if they slack and fail in their jobs to ensure the protection of Belinda. Any spirit careless of her charge might find themselves stuck in small glass jars or poked with pins, dunked in cosmetic "Washes" (imagine someone drowned in liquid facewash), or stuck in a hairpin. A bodkin’s eye means a hairpin. Such a careless sylph may also get punished for being good up in hair gel and lotion (Gums and Pomatums), or they will shrink into nothingness. They will be punished so severely that even an astringnet-like alum won’t stop their bleeding. Such a slacking Sylph may also be drowned in a sea of hot chocolate, or imprisoned in a coffee grinder. There’s an allusion to the Classical Greek character Ixion, who was doomed to revolve on a wheel in Hades for eternity.
All Sylphs vow to be attentive for the protection of Belinda to avoid any such punishment and they move towards their posts. Some of the sylphs go to her petticoat while some others go to her curls and earrings. All of them are anxious and careful as they wait for the unknown danger to appear so that they may protect Belinda against it.
Pope begins Canto II with a description of Belinda’s beauty and vanity, parodying it as frivolous. He describes the mysteries of Belinda’s dressing table as an art, but then he draws a parallel between the Baron’s frivolous pyre and Belinda’s dressing table altar and suggests that the two as being morally equivalent in their frivolity. In Pope’s time, men were expected to be morally and intellectually superior to women. Pope suggests that Belinda’s beauty evens the playing field a bit at the patriarchal court. He further suggests that she is so careful about cultivating her beauty to escape unfair moral scrutiny.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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