“The Rape of the Lock” is a poem written by Alexander Pope that uses Horatian satire to satirize the banality of a lock of hair cut from a woman's head without of her knowledge. Pope writes the poem in a mock-epic style to trivialize this little incident. Pope uses the conventions and techniques of epic poetry in his mock epic. These techniques include elaborately depicted heroes, use of supernatural beings, and description of mundane things such as battles. Unlike most epic poetry in which males portray the heroes, Pope uses a woman, Belinda, as his heroine. Belinda is a very attractive woman who leads a luxurious life. Pope uses his mock epic to idealize seventeenth-century aristocratic society. He does this above all by idealizing Belinda, the heroine of the poem. Pope does this by placing Belinda at the center of the poem. The poem opens with Belinda waking up at noon and preparing for a party. Belinda's beauty is first admired by her "watchful spirit" Ariel (1.106) Ariel is the one who watches over Belinda and describes her as "[f]airest of mortals, thou distinguished care / [o]f a thousand bright inhabitants of the air!” (1.27-28) Ariel sets the tone for Belinda as a beautiful woman who has many waiting for her. Pope treats Belinda's preparations with the reverence that a goddess would receive, and the powders she uses are described as gifted of mystical powers, "[and] now unveiled, the toilet stands exposed, / [and] every silver vessel arranged in mystic order" (1.121-122) Pope describes the cosmetics he uses as mystical to further idealize Belinda and show her as the heroine. After many hours of preparation, Belinda is finally ready to enter society. Pope further demonstrates Belinda's great... half of the card... the ombat flies” (5:37-38). Pope uses the dramatization of war to make this trivial altercation seem more important than it is. Pope uses the faux-epic style of “The Rape of the Lock” to highlight the stupidity of feuds over the removal of a lock of hair. hair. Uses the conventions of epic poetry to further allude to the ridiculousness of the situation. Pope uses techniques such as idealizing a heroine, having supernatural beings, and dramatizing mundane things in terms of war to strengthen his mock-epic style and his satire of the incident. Using these techniques, Pope also alludes to epic poems having meaning. This allows the reader to see the contrast in the importance of things. Works Cited Pope, Alexander. The rape of the lock. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume C, 9th ed. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: Norton, 2012. 2686-2704.