The Rape of the Lock as a Comic Epic

"The Rape of the Lock" is a mock-epic poem that humorously satirizes the conventions of epic poetry by applying them to a trivial subject. This essay discusses the characteristics of an epic, the use of mock-heroic style, the employment of epic methods, the use of heroic images, the presence of humor, and the moral aspects in Alexander Pope's poem. 1) Characteristics of an Epic According to Aristotle, an epic involves a prominent individual who faces adventurous events and experiences a tragic downfall due to some error in judgment, known as hamartia. While death is not essential, the subject matter of an epic is grand and is typically written in a bombastic language using heroic couplets. "The Rape of the Lock" deviates from this convention by treating a trivial subject—a love dispute between a lady and a gentleman—with an epical scale, making it a mock-epic. 2) Mock-Heroic Style The style of "The Rape of the Lock" is mock-heroic, employing bombastic and…