THE
RAPE OF THE LOCK
- ALEXANDER POPE
One
day, Belinda wakes up from her sleep when Ariel, her guardian sylph warns her
in a dream that some disaster may happen and also promises to protect her to
the best of his abilities. However, Belinda does not pay much attention to
Ariel's dream. She then travels from River Thames to Hampton Court Palace, an
ancient royal residence outside London where a group of royal young people have
gathered for a party. Among them was
Baron, who has already planned to cut a lock of Belinda's hair. When the people
were busy in playing cards, Baron takes up a pair of scissors to cut the lock. He
fails to cut the lock in the first two attempts but succeeds in the third try.
Belinda becomes enraged. Among them was a gnome, Umbriel, who then goes down to
the cave of Spleen to obtain a pack of sighs and a flask if tears which he presents
to Belinda to make the dangerous situation worse as she is really furious.
Umbriel is a mischievous character. Clarissa had helped Baron to commit this
crime. She then suggests Belinda to give up her anger in favour of good humour
and good sense, moral qualities which will last longer than her pride. But
Belinda did not give any attention to her words and declared a fight between
the gentlemen and the ladies. During the fight, Belinda tries to recover the
portion of lock which is lost during the battle. In the end, the poet solaces
her because she is sad by saying that it has been taken up into the heaven and
has become a constellation.
