Testimonials |
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I had heard of Pope's services before, and when two families I know began to quarrel about the misfortunes of a certain daughter, I knew right away where I would turn for help. We were all from a tightly-knit community, and I knew if someone didn't do something about this feud, our lovely town would fall apart. Pope agreed to write a satirical poem for the occasion, which would present the information in epic-style and put much greater importance on the silly events that occurred in order to make light of the situation. The young lady in question wasn't too keen on the idea of this story making light of her assault, but Pope assured her that "the character of Belinda, as it is now managed, resembles you in nothing but in beauty." [1]
Thank you, my dear sir, for your services for your aid in this uncomfortable situation. --John Caryll [2] "In 'The Rape of the Lock' Alexander Pope (1688-1744) employs a mock-epic style to satirise the 'beau-monde' (fashionable world, society of the elite) of eighteenth century England. The richness of the poem, however, reveals more than a straightforward satirical attack. Alongside the criticism we can detect Pope's fascination with, and perhaps admiration for, Belinda and the society in which she moves. Pope himself was not part of the 'beau-monde'. He knew the families on which the poem is based but his own parents, though probably comfortably off, were not so rich or of the class one would have to be in to move in Belinda's circle. He associated with learned men and poets, and there can have been little common ground between the company he kept at Will's Coffee House and those who frequented Hampton Court...Pope is showing us a profane world in which a man worships the woman, and the woman worships herself. --Ian Mackean [5] In response to what Mr. Mackean has stated, I feel that not only did Mr. Pope not admire me, but he rather poked fun at me and my female companions in this ridiculous attempt at humor. He wrote me a letter that assured me the character Belinda only resembled me in beauty, but I don't believe him for one second. And furthermore, is it such a crime to think oneself as a handsome woman? I have always been assured of my pleasant face and figure. I only speak the truth, nothing more. --Miss Arabella Fermor "Before the cutting of the lock, the poet shows Belinda, the innocent, in her boudoir, surrounded by her paints and perfumes, curling her dazzling hair. "What’s the song from the musical, ‘I feel pretty, oh so pretty— ’" Buck sings a snatch of the West Side Story tune. "Belinda loves looking in the mirror because she’s a little girl and she’s very pretty. She doesn’t make up in order to impress men. That’s not her motive at all. Belinda simply wants to be beautiful. So that at lines 51 to 2 of Canto Two, she’s floating on the Thames and everyone is looking at her: ‘Smooth flow the Waves, the Zephyrs gently play, / Belinda smiled, and all the World was gay.’ That’s what she wants. She wants to be radiant in a radiant world. It’s a perfect pastoral world in which inside and outside are completely continuous." --Nancy Marie Brown interviewing Professor John Buck about the Rape of the Lock. [6] |
I shall include both the positive and negative reviews of me, my writings, and my character so that you may judge for yourself the man you think I am.  |
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