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Belinda and her Beloved Lock

--Essay Draft---

Referenced Works: "The Rape of the Lock" by Alexander Pope

Sometimes it is difficult for us men to understand why women get attached or get so obsessed with something they have; especially when it comes to their physical appearance and most often than not their hair. In Alexander Pope’s “The Rape of the Lock” he focused in just that questioning in a epic-mocking way why women during the 18^th Century English society were obsessed with such thing as a piece of hair and even were willing to risk losing their “honour.”  Pope in his poem mocks the lengths people would go to protect their honor, especially Belinda that can be contra productive in a moment of rage and despair.

The super natural come to warn Belinda in her dreams about a possible danger that she might be facing in the near future.  Ariel the overseer of the sylphs comes to Belinda when she is dreaming and tells her that the heavens have told him to warn her and says, “Beware of all, but most beware of man!” (I, 27).  Here Pope brings the super natural protection that “women” need to have in order to keep their honor and to be warned of any dangers they might face and he does it in a very symbolic form by presenting this in a dream like that of a vision that many Christians would have understood to be an allusion in the bible; when Joseph was having a dream with an Angel telling him that they were coming for them and Jesus to be killed and he took his family out of harm’s way right away.  This is another example of Pope’s mocking of the beliefs and reasons behind things happening in order to protect the honor of a woman.  Ariel also in the dream assured Belinda that the sylphs would protect her no matter what and that they were at her disposal if needed.  Pope here points out that they would only protect her chastity and nothing more.  I think this is another good topic to discuss as to why sylphs were so important and what their intentions really were, but for now I think they symbolized the moral concepts of the 18^th Century English society and they were there to guard it.  In Canto II Pope goes more in depth with sylphs and her role in Belinda’s life.

Ariel and his group of sylphs gather to plan the security measures that would ensure Belinda protection and care. Here we can imagine how the sylphs would gather around like an army and form in order to get ready for battle with their chief Ariel at hand explaining to them how important it was to protect Belinda, he says to them “This day, black omens threat the brightest fair That e’er deserved a watchful spirit’s care; Some dire disaster, or by force, or flight; But what, or where, the Fates have wapp’d in night” (II, 30).  Ariel once again warns about the eminent danger but in this case to the group of sylphs that are ready to protect Belinda.  This scene somehow reminds of the movie “300” when the oracle spoke of the upcoming dangers and everyone got prepared for the war and even knowing that they would lose.  In Ariel’s speech we can also see the urgency for the care of Belinda and also the despair of not knowing when or how it is going to happen. Like the fate of many oracles that can just see the result of an event but not knowing how it is going to happen.  Here Pope is once again mocking how ridiculous is to think that a group of super natural beings are all watching after us, especially to a naïve human like Belinda. Ariel assigns an extensive troop of bodyguards. Brillante is to guard her earrings, Momentilla her watch, and Crispissa her locks. Ariel himself will protect Shock, the lapdog. A band of fifty Sylphs will guard the all-important petticoat. We can see how the way Ariel assigns duties to the sylphs are as mundane and not really task for super natural beings that they are, and all for the protection of Belinda.   We once again can see the references to the bible and other religious beliefs that try to put a super natural spin on how things are. For example people ask a Saint to protect their house from thieves or when mothers ask souls to watch over their daughters when they are late and have not come home yet.  We can imagine that during Pope’s time this sort of practice was more predominant and he used that to mock their beliefs and how fruitless they were when it came to protect honor, in this case the honor of Belinda.

Belinda loses her honor and her loyal sylph at the fall of her lock.  When Belinda is playing a game of “ombre” with Baron and other man she gets the upper hand and wins. Pope describes this scene as that of a war fought on the table as it was a war field and he gives very deep descriptions of how Baron is looking at Belinda’s hair lock all the time as if stalking his prey.  The sylphs kind of feel it and rush to Belinda protection but it is too late, because as the maids are serving coffee Baron asks Clarissa for scissors…  “The Peer now spreads the glittering Forfex wide, T' inclose the Lock; now joins it, to divide. Ev'n then, before the fatal Engine clos'd,  A wretched Sylph too fondly interpos'd; Fate urged the Sheers, and cut the Sylph in twain, (But Airy Substance soon unites again)” (iii, 35). Pope uses images like these to describe in a dramatic way how the scissors are cutting the lock and even with the “protection” of the sylphs they are unable to protect Belinda’s “honour.”  Many of the sylphs were frustrated and did not understand what happened, but Ariel did when he tried to warn Belinda and saw inside her soul her desire to be “violated by the man” and decided that it was time to leave and the sylphs “with-drew right away” leaving Belinda to protect herself.  Pope here shows that even with “super natural” or “divine” protection there is nothing to do when a woman loses her honor or chastity.  When Baron cut the hair lock it was like a symbolic gesture to separate the super natural protections that Belinda had in order to give in to another super natural forces like that of passion, love, and hate.

Umbriel seeds passion and hate into Belinda’s soul that is already fertile for this and furthers more the breaking of her honor.  After her lock was cut Belinda begins to rage all over and now that the sylphs have left there is no one to calm it.  Umbriel after having returned from the “Cave Spleen” pours a bag of “sighs, sobs, and passions” that fuel her anger and despair.  By her side is her friend Thalestris that encourages her to avenge the Baron and ask for the help of Sir Plume.  All this in the name of protecting Belinda’s “fame” or honor as her friend Thalestris points out.   When Sir Plume arrives to where Baron is and takes a look at the box where the hair lock is says, “My Lord, why, what the devil... damn lock! ’fore Gad, you must be civil!... Give her the hair” (IV, 39).  Here Pope brings up morality once again with Sir Prime asking Baron to be civil as a gentleman should behave. But Sir Prime is unsuccessful with his request and last protection of Belinda is gone. When all the protections from Belinda are gone she falls into deeper despair and with the return of Umbriel once again does one of his tricks and breaks the vial of “sorrows” and “self-pity”.  She cries and mourns the loss of her lock and her soul gets covered with hate and anxiety to get it back.  Here Pope is mocking the whole notion that we as humans have evolved enough to not recur to the salvage methods that we had in the past, and points out that it is all a mask and when we are faced like in the case of Belinda to extreme circumstances everything will change even if it is for the sake of a hair lock.

Belinda loses it and goes after her perpetrator with fury and idiotic actions that end up breaking her honor once and for all.  Clarissa steps in and tries to stop her from doing something she might regret and says, “But since, alas! frail Beauty must decay,  Curl'd or uncurl'd, since Locks will turn to grey” (V, 41). Meaning that even she is going to get old and her curl will turn grey even if she goes after it.  Clarissa seems to be the person with more moral in the poem since her words are much different than Belinda’s friend and that of the others around her.  Pope used Clarissa to show in some way how ridiculous it is to fight for a piece of hair that sooner or later would be old and worthless, and even more over there is no way to “put it back” to where it was.  Pope has a delightful scene when Belinda is confronting the Baron and how everything is quickly breaking what little “honour” Belinda had and it ends with the lock being lost.  After everything and it was lost, he concludes that it might have been ascended to the heavens to make an allusion to Jesus. This  was brilliantly written because he is able to mock everything all the way to the last word and making us the readers get out of it if it was really worth the trouble to get the lock and not to have it at the end.

The “honour” of Belinda that everyone fought so hard to protect was destroyed by her impulsive actions and her trust on the super natural to warm her of the dangers ahead and even when she was warned it all went out of the window when anger and self-pity overpowered her soul.  Pope excellent mocking of the thinking that “honour” can be protected by just a few useless rules and social norms that are thrown aside when other interest come into play.

Joaquine 2011 Copyrighted. (You may use this essay to reference some stuff, but remember you can't use it as it is for class and it will probably get you in trouble. Good luck with your research and your journey of learning.)