英美文学导论

ⅡStylistic features:
The Rape of the Lock: It is a delightful burlesque of epic poetry and written in heroic couplets(英雄双韵体); Pope developed a satiric, concise, smooth and graceful style in The Rape of the Lock . However, it lacks of deep feelings. A battle sung by the muse: Its style is easy ,unlabored and familiar, but extremely vivid and vigorous. The structures are always well balanced and carefully planned. The author's meditation on human nature is specific, profound as well as comprehensive.
Why is Tom Jones proved to be a representative of mock/comic epic ?

The typical story: A battle sung by the
muse...
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Invocation of the Muse: In ancient Greece and Rome, poets had always requested “the muse” to fire them with creative genius when they began long narrative poems or epics, about godlike heroes and villains. If one wanted to write a great poem, play a musical instrument with bravado, or develop a grand scientific or philosophical theory, he would ask for help from a muse. When a writer asked for help, he was said to be “invoking the muse.”
The Rape of the Lock(夺发记):a poem written by
Alexander Pope
Plot summary: Lord petre had cut off a lock of hair from the head of the lovely Arabell Fermor and the action caused a bitter quarrel between two prominent Catholic families. It
Brief introduction : The Rape of the Lock is a fanciful and ingenious mockheroic work. Such a work parodies(仿作) the serious, elevated style of the classical epic poem–such as The Iliad or The Odyssey, by Homer–to poke fun at human follies.
ridicules the trivial incident and emphasizes the pettiness of the quarrel to satirize the foolish, meaningless life of the lords and ladies in the aristocratic bourgeois society of the eighteenth century England.



Analysis from two aspects:


Ⅰ Linguistic features :


A battle sung by the muse: Humorous satire ,witty and remarkable The sentences are always distinguished by logic and musical rhythm; It contains some theatrical devices such as suspense, coincidence and unexpectedness. It carries the readers along a turbulent river, with unexpected eddies and waves you can't escape . Eg1:A battle sung by the muse in the Homerican style and which none but the classical reader can taste.
Eg2:Mr Western had an estate in this parish; and as his house stood at little greater distance from this church than from his own, he very often came to Divine Service here; and both he and the charming Sophia happened to be present at this time.

The Rape of the Lock: Pope paid such strenuous attention to the perfection of his craft that The Rape of the Lock tends to lack spontaneity in language, such as coincidence, suspense and so on.