Eighteenth-Century Innovations

[But trust the Muse — she saw it upward rise]

Referencing the muse is another epic convention, and it lends some ironic gravitas to the conclusion of this ridiculous battle.

[Not fierce Othello in so loud a strain Roar’d for the handkerchief that caus’d his pain.]

In Othello, the titular character is convinced that his wife Desdemona is cheating on him when a handkerchief that he gave her winds up in the possession of Cassio. Iago manipulates him into thinking this, and Othello falls for the deception. This reference has the effect of implying that Belinda’s focus on the lock is like Othello’s focus on the handkerchief, and that she is allowing something trivial to occupy her mind.

In lines 77 and 78, the words that complete the heroic couplet, chagrin and spleen, at least with my American accent, don’t rhyme perfectly. The poem up until this point is almost perfectly sing-songy, so this moment stands out as a slightly jarring departure.

In humoral theory, the spleen was thought to be the organ that produced black bile, which made a person melancholic. Here, Pope creates the Cave of Spleen, which is probably a place of melancholy.

In lines 45-52, Pope utilizes the mock-epic style to its fullest extent. In these lines, Pope compares the perceivably petty battle between high society individuals of the time period as something comparable to the wars in Homer’s The Iliad, where Greek and Roman gods engage in a war. Pope makes sure to use something so extreme to ensure the mockery he is making of these high society people is perceived as even more ridiculous to the average reader.

Here, Pope reinforces his mockery of the obsession and superficiality of beauty in high society. In this line, Pope explains that what truly matters is good sense, as beauty may gain these women a lot temporarily, but it won’t keep around what good character can. It also feels like a commentary on women’s youth and how that is perceived in society. Once a woman “loses” her beauty when she ages, all she will have is good character. One could argue that Pope saying this is also a way to reinforce society’s obsession with looks, as he comments on the concept of beauty himself several times.

In lines 83-84, the Goddess of Spleen collects the force of “female lungs” which turn out to be sighs, sobs, passions, and the war of tongues. This reinforces a stereotype of the time period where women were viewed as emotional, unstable, and almost prone to tantrums. Pope writes this to mock and satirize the social norms of the period, by treating high society women’s emotions as something dramatized and blown out of proportion.

Again, Belinda is referred to in a way that has a sexual connotation. Being referred to as a “prude” typically refers to someone overly modest or proper. However, there is also the aspect of Pope mocking Belinda’s sorrow and anger at losing this lock of hair, as he sees it as something superficial. I feel like it is superficial, but not when looked through the lens of a loss of identity. Belinda feels as though something she holds so much value to was stripped from her by force, even if it was only one lock of hair.

This line establishes a pattern from canto II, where Belinda is talked about in an almost predatory way. She is referred to as “The Virgin”, making her “purity” the subject in this line rather than her name or another way to refer to her. Pope chooses the words he uses in lines with intention, as using any other word to allude to Belinda in this line would not have put this almost lustful image that the Baron sees of her into the reader’s attention.

Pope displays a pattern throughout the cantos of this theme of mockery of high society. The mock-epic itself, and then also the way he speaks about high society is satirical and critical. In this line, he refers to how gossip is so serious to the people of high society that it would cause the reputation of another to completely die in seconds. It creates a link to his personal life, as Pope details these well-off people gossiping and concerning themselves with the lives of others. Which, he dealt with himself throughout his life. Being catholic in a Protestant-ruled kingdom, and also living with a disability that changed his appearance.