Wollstonecraft VS The Rape of The Lock

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Reading the first three Cantos of The Rape of The Lock immediately after finishing Wollstonecraft's Vindication, I started to see a lot of similarities and parallels in the two works. In the first Canto, Pope highlights women's "joy in gilded chariots" and "love of Ombre", which makes me think back to Wollstonecraft roasting Rousseau's take that all women are incredibly wrapped up in materialism and love to dress up. This theme also seems to be reflected in Belinda sitting at her dressing table, but I am not really quite sure of what the true symbolism behind this setting is. Canto 2 seems to also harp heavily on womanly attributes of beauty and appearance. The second Canto also made me think a lot about how much society has always had a misconception paired with an infatuation with love. The Baron (at least to me) is a representation of seemingly all men, willing to give up anything and do whatever it takes to chase a woman. Where the Baron varies from other men is how deeply he allows his desire to affect his actions- he wants Belinda's locks, and sacrifices his own reputation and any hope of future normal social interactions to get the locks.

Overall this is really weird reading but I think there's a lot to it and am looking forward to getting a better grasp on it after class discussion.

Edit: I commented on Jamie and Eliza's posts.

Comments

Rebecca Belew said…
I loved the connection you made between Wollstonecraft and Pope's works! I agree with you on the idea that Pope seems to objectify women as one that enjoys pleasantries rather than realistic ideas and reasoning. Everyone seems to have a different understanding of the way Pope flows with Wollstonecraft, but I completely agree with your ideas on this one.
November 10, 2019 at 2:27 PM
Jamie Peters said…
I, too, am still trying to figure out the symbolism in this work. With all of the flowery language we have to fight through to get to the good stuff, it is almost impossible for a person to get a good read on it after one read through. I also saw a lot of similarities between Wollstonecraft and Pope, and I think they would have gotten along. Pope seems to have apologized in his dedication for portraying women like this, but he did it nonetheless.
November 11, 2019 at 9:44 AM
Rachael Gregson said…
I agree, Drew. I feel like the symbolism was too all over the place to actually enjoy the assignment. But anyways, yes! I basically interpreted the same from the read, especially about the gilded chariots and the love of Ombre, and I'm so glad someone else made the Wollstonecraft connection. Pope and Wollstonecraft were surely cut from the same cloth.
November 11, 2019 at 10:20 AM
Madison Flowers said…
I am with you about struggling with to figure out the symbolism in this story. There is so much of it and I know I missed half of it. I am excited to see who caught what while reading through the story.
November 11, 2019 at 4:08 PM
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