Female temptation and devastation through hair in epic poetry
this extended, almost Homeric metaphor, as the prey is ensnared by ‘fair tresses’, an adjective n ormally applied to a beautiful maiden rather than a snare, and the masculine yet vulnerable ‘mighty hearts’ are ‘held in slender chains’, with ‘slender’ suggesting a fragility and perhaps femininity and once again flipping the gendered power dynamic. Here, scepticism and suspicion of womanly beauty and desire is once again evoked, with the dichotomized imagery of brilliant, personified ‘Beauty’ incarnate, and the terrible theme of the perilous and devious snares and traps presenting the female figure as bipolar and dishonest, purely through the relation to the woman’s hair and the metaphor of entrapment . However, the granting of female agency through the active, restraining actions of the metonymical hair is arguably positive as despite being ‘slender’ and ‘slight’, ‘Man’s Imperial Race’ is tricked and triumphed over, lending more credibility to the text as a more pro-feminist mutation. In Pope’s poem, Belinda’s lock, with its virginal, pure, and here, even celestial qualities, is the undeniable and sought-after subject of the story. The theft of such a lock is presented ironically on a truly epic scale, being compared to the fall of the ‘Imperial tow’rs of Troy ’ (iii. 174). This is an allusion to Homer’s Iliad, both the foundation of the genre Pope satirizes and arguably of western literature, and the comparison to a benign theft of a single curl of hair heavily criticizes eighteenth-century vanity and elitist self-importance. The conclusion of the poem appears to elevate Belinda and her hair to a godlike st atus, as the ‘Muse shall consecrate’ her ‘Lock’ to ‘fame’ (v. 149). The ancient link is reinforced with the appearance of a ‘Muse’, often appearing as an inspiration or audience to ancient Greek and Latin poetry and literature, and here both divining Belin da’s hair and perhaps Pope’s poem as an Epic. The godlike appearance of the tresses continues from earlier, with the illustration of a ‘radiant trail of hair’ (v. 128) continuing the celestial theme as well as alluding to the classical god Apollo, perhaps even acting as a comparison. The hair holds beautiful, divine qualities almost justifying its theft by the Baron, as ‘not all tresses . . . shall draw such envy as the lock you lost’ (v. 144 -5). In both Milton’s and Pope’s epic poems Paradise Lost and The Rape of the Lock, the trope of a sly, rebellious and often characteristically beautiful woman is reinforced. They are often metonymically reduced to their hair, which in itself can be personified and granted qualities seen in the women, as well as being quintessentially feminine and fertile. However, the often active nature of the hair is both troublesome and empowering, being seen both to conceal potential sins or ensnare a naïve admirer. Nevertheless, the presentation in both poems is overall endearing, as the divine attractiveness of the figures are emphasized and accentuated to often be the subject of destructive desire on the part of male pursuers.
Bibliography
Fish, S.E. (1998 2 ) Surprised by Sin. Cambridge, Ma. Hall, J. The Works of Joseph Hall. 5 th edition. London Milton, J. (1667) Paradise Lost. 2000 edition. London Pope, A. (1712) The Rape of the Lock. 2007 edition. London
3
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs