“THIS LOCK, THE MUSE SHALL CONSECRATE TO FAME:” CLASSICAL RECEPTION IN ALEXANDER POPE’S THE RAPE OF THE LOCK

Abstract

This thesis examines reception of Classical authors in Alexander Pope’s The Rape of the Lock. The first chapter is concerned with the reception of Catullus 66 and the active character of Berenice II. The chapter also analyzes how Pope’s Belinda is a negation of Berenice II’s agency, making her a passive character and victim. Chapter 2 focuses on Pope’s use of Homeric type scenes and tropes as a more direct interaction with Classical epic. Through irony, he establishes the poem’s situation in which Belinda exists as an antihero. Chapter 3 examines Pope’s use of Virgilian epic reception to continue the characterization of Belinda as an antihero. By examining the Classical reception in The Rape of the Lock, Belinda’s character can be read as an antihero which reexamines her narrative of victimhood.