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''The Rape of the Lock'' is a mock-heroic narrative poem written by Alexander Pope, first published anonymously in Lintot's ''Miscellaneous Poems and Translations'' in May 1712 in two cantos (334 lines), but then revised, expanded and reissued in an edition "Written by Mr. Pope" on 4 March 1714,〔Halsband, Robert. '' "The Rape of the Lock" and Its Illustrations, 1714–1896'', Oxford University Press, 1980, p. 1.〕 a five-canto version (794 lines) accompanied by six engravings. Pope boasted that the poem sold more than three thousand copies in its first four days.〔Sherburn, G., Ed. ''Correspondence of Alexander Pope'', Oxford University Press, 1956, I, 201.〕 The final form of the poem was available in 1717 with the addition of Clarissa's speech on good humour. ==Description== The poem satirises a minor incident by comparing it to the epic world of the gods. It was based on an actual incident recounted by Pope's friend, John Caryll. Arabella Fermor and her suitor, Lord Petre, were both from aristocratic recusant Catholic families at a period in England when under such laws as the Test Act, all denominations except Anglicanism suffered legal restrictions and penalties (for example Petre could not take up his place in the House of Lords as a Catholic). Petre, lusting after Arabella, had cut off a lock of her hair without permission, and the consequent argument had created a breach between the two families. Pope, also a Catholic, wrote the poem at the request of friends in an attempt to "comically merge the two." He utilised the character Belinda to represent Arabella and introduced an entire system of "sylphs," or guardian spirits of virgins, a parodised version of the gods and goddesses of conventional epic. Pope derived his sylphs from the 17th-century French Rosicrucian novel ''Comte de Gabalis''. Pope’s poem uses the traditional high stature of classical epics to emphasise the triviality of the incident. The abduction of Helen of Troy becomes here the theft of a lock of hair; the gods become minute sylphs; the description of Achilles’ shield becomes an excursus on one of Belinda's petticoats. He also uses the epic style of invocations, lamentations, exclamations and similes, and in some cases adds parody to imitation by following the framework of actual speeches in Homer's ''Iliad''. Although the poem is humorous at times, Pope keeps a sense that beauty is fragile, and that the loss of a lock of hair touches Belinda deeply. As his introductory letter makes clear, women in that period were essentially supposed to be decorative rather than rational, and the loss of beauty was a serious matter. The humour of the poem comes from the storm in a teacup being couched within the elaborate, formal verbal structure of an epic poem. It is a satire on the contemporary society which showcases the lifestyle led by some people of that age. Pope arguably satirises the society by being a part of it rather than standing outside and looking down on the fellow beings. Belinda's legitimate rage is thus alleviated and tempered by her good humour, as directed by the character Clarissa. Three of Uranus's moons are named after characters from ''The Rape of the Lock'': Belinda, Umbriel, and Ariel, the last name also (previously) appearing in Shakespeare's ''The Tempest''. It is one of the most commonly cited examples of high burlesque. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Rape of the Lock」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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