ROTL CANTO 1 - lesson #2

Context

Pg. xiii  on your own, at some point, please read this that talk about how ROTL is Pope's own version of the Homeric Epic* 

Mock epic – shrinks immense scale to domestic size

Today we started by talking about the story:

Setting 
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The action takes place in London and its environs in the early 1700's on a single day. The story begins at noon (Canto I) at the London residence of Belinda as she carefully prepares herself for a gala social gathering. The scene then shifts (Canto II) to a boat carrying Belinda up the Thames. To onlookers she is as magnificent as Queen Cleopatra was when she traveled in her barge. The rest of the story (Cantos III-V) takes place where Belinda debarks–Hampton Court Palace, a former residence of King Henry VIII on the outskirts of London–except for a brief scene in Canto IV that takes place in the cave of the Queen of Spleen.  
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Characters 
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Belinda Beautiful young lady with wondrous hair, two locks of which hang gracefully in curls.  
The Baron Young admirer of Belinda who plots to cut off one of her locks. 
Ariel Belinda's guardian sylph (supernatural creature). 
Clarissa Young lady who gives the Baron scissors. 
Umbriel Sprite who enters the cave of the Queen of Spleen to seek help for Belinda.  
Queen of Spleen Underworld goddess who gives Umbriel gifts for Belinda. 
Thalestris Friend of Belinda. Thalestris urges Sir Plume to defend Belinda's honor. 
Sir Plume Beau of Thalestris. He scolds the Baron. 
Sylphs, Fairies, Genies, Demons, Phantoms and Other Supernatural Creatures

Group 1 summarize Canto 1; Group 2 summarize Canto 1.  Write on board.  Compare.

One of the Summary's: Belinda's guardian sylph sends her a dream warning of the dangers of vanity and man. Belinda wakes up and completely disregarding the dream, puts on makeup and makes herself beautiful.

Highlights of Canto 1:
-divine intervention by Ariel and sylphs
-personification in line 13
-allusion to Arabia on page 49
-page 49:  list
-repetition on page 47
-alliteration on top of 47
-epithets line 48-51 "beautious mold, soft transition..."
-opens in media res
-metaphor on page 49, line 138
-line 120 alliteration
-personification on page 46 & 49
-hamartia: lines 125-127 (hubris=vanity)
-line 113 warning of Ariel
-Theme is introduced at the beginning- 2nd line "What mighty contests rise from trivial things?"
-list on page 45, lines 28-34
-personification on same page!
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In pairs, assign one page and look for examples of epic poem devices and poetic devices (2 or 3 of each).

Opposing concepts are constantly set against each other either in the paired lines or in the halves of a single line. Alexander Pope is the reigning king of the heroic couplet and he uses it masterfully in The Rape of the Lock, enhancing the obvious distinctions between the trifling and the substantial. In Canto I, for instance, he likens Belinda's beauty regimen to a religious ritual, mocking her self-importance and pride with the comparison: "And now, unveil'd, the Toilet stands display'd / Each silver Vase in mystic order laid" (121-122). Placing these lines together in a rhymed couplet makes the opposition glaringly apparent.


In addition to placing opposites together in a rhymed couplet, Pope also puts rival ideas next on one another within the halves of a single line. The pause, induced by the placement of the caesura, dramatically pits the two notions against one another. For example, the first lines of The Rape of the Lock explicitly state the conflict that will continue throughout the entire poem. This is especially apparent in line 2: "What mighty contests rise from trivial things." The caesura occurs in between the words "rise" and "from," leading to a stark contrast between might and trivial. If a person reads the line aloud they will also notice that their tone of voice falls sharply after the caesura. The first half employs a rising meter with a heroic tone while the second half falls and tapers off. It should be obvious to the reader that "mighty" should be taken in an ironic way.
-http://voices.yahoo.com/how-alexander-pope-uses-form-promot

Listen to streamed reading of Canto 2 together as precursor to the weekend's homework.