Rape Of Lock

 The Rape of the Lock was written by 

Alexander Pope

 first published in 1712, then reworked and published again in 1714. The poem is a mock-epic that satirizes the upper-class in London at the time.The story focuses on the central character, Belinda, whose lock of hair is cut off at a social gathering. Although trivial to most, Belinda is outraged that her lock of hair has been cut by the Baron. In the Rape of the Lock, Pope uses Belinda and the Baron to mock two of his acquaintances, Arabella Fermor, and Lord Petre. The poem follows the events of the night, leading up to Belinda’s “horrific” loss.

1) what is beauty?

  A combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight.

who is the Protagonist of the poem?

Pope has presented Belinda as a complex character. He has presented her in different roles and under different shades, some are satirical others ironical but all entertaining. The character of Belinda has created much controversy since the publication of the poem. Some critics consider her treatment fair while others as unfair.

So, According to me Belinda is the Protagonist of the Poem

Pope's The Rape of Lock , isessentialy a Social Satire. The poem exposes in witty manner the follies and aburdities of the aristocratic life of the 18th century England. The principal targets of satire in the poem are the woman and men of the time. In this poem, pope reveals himself essentially as the Spokesman of his age.  

metaphysical poetry

 Metaphysical poetry

introduction 

a group of poets emerged in the begining of seventeenth century. England who inclined to the personal & intellectual , complexity and concentration . which is displayed in poetry of 

john donne 

the chief of the metaphysicals.

other 

henry vaughan 

andrew marvell

john Cleveland 

abraham cowley 

their work is,

blend of emotion intellectual ingenuity.

characterized by conceit or "wit".

metaphysical poetry is less concerned with expressing feeling than with analyzing it,  with the poet exploring the recesses of his consiousness.

 the boldness of the literary devices used,

obliquity

irony

paradox

are often reinforced by a dramatic directness of language and by rhythms derived from that of living speech.

metaphysical poetry stood higher in 1930 and 40`s largely because of 

t.s.eliot's 

"The Metaphysical poets"

history of metaphysical poetry 

the word

Metaphysical 

was used by writers such as John Dryden and Samual Johnson in regards to the poets of the seventeenth century.

"The poets are noted for their unnaturalness."

Johnson wrote in lives of the most eminent english poets in the late 1700s, that "a race of  writers " had appeared that might be termed

 "Metaphysical poets" 

The term was likely taken from  Dryden who had described John Donne as affecting "Metaphysics" in his satires and his "verses". It was not until the twentieth century that many poets were adequately recognized for their talent and originality.

Eliot is one of  twentieth - century literary critics who helped to establish the well- deserved reputation that writers such as,

John Donne 

Andrew Marvell 

both held.

who were the Metaphysical poets ?

The best known Metaphysical poet is,

John Donne

He is followed by other such as 

Henry Vaughan 

Andrew Marvell

George Herbert

Donne is most often cited as the best of his shortlist of writers and the originator of the basic tenants of the Genre. It is because of his writing that many writers who often took on some or all of the features of Metaphysical writing.

Characteristics of Metaphysical Poetry

Spoken quality 

Colloquial diction

philosophical exploration

New and original cenceits

Irony 

Relaxed use of method

Poets whose works have been categorized as "Metaphysical " often seek out the answers to questions such as,

Does God exist ?

Does humankind really have free choice ?

What is the nature of reality ?

Example of Metaphysical Poetry

The Flea‘              

_John Donne

The Flea’ by John Donne is the poet’s most famous poem. In it, he uses one of his brilliant conceits to convince his love to sleep with him.

In the very first line of ‘The Flea,’ the poet-lover asks his beloved to observe the flea carefully. She should notice that first, it sucked his blood and then hers, and in this way, their blood mingles in its body, as they do in sexual intercourse. The flea has enjoyed union with her, without any courtship or marriage. Yet this is not considered any loss of honour; there is neither any sin, nor shame, nor loss of virginity in it. In this respect, the flea is superior to them. She can do, i.e. enjoy the pleasure of physical union, which the lovers cannot enjoy prior to marriage.

post Truth

post-truth 

the word of the year -2016

post-truth is an adjective defined as relating to or denoting circumstances in which objectives facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.

what is post truth?

Post-truth is a philosophical and political concept for "the disappearance of shared objective standards for truth" and the "circuitous slippage between facts or alternative facts, knowledge, opinion, belief, and truth".

post- truth and politics

  A political culture in which debate is framed largely by appeals to emotion disconnected from the details of policy, and by the repeated assertion of talking points to which factual rebuttals are ignored. Scholars and popular commentators disagree about whether post-truth is a label that is newly generated but can be applied to phenomena such as lying in any historical period; or whether it is historically specific, with empirically more recent observable causes.

Post-truth politics is a subset of the broader term post-truth, which has historical roots prior to the recent focus on political events. Post-truth differs from traditional contesting and falsifying of facts by relegating facts and expert opinions to be of secondary importance relative to appeal to emotion. While this has been described as a contemporary problem, some observers have described it as a long-standing part of political life that was less notable before the advent of the Internet and related social changes. However, academic development of post-truth as a concept does not entirely reflect the Oxford Dictionaries' original emphasis on "circumstances" where appeals to "objective facts" fail to influence as much as "appeals to emotion and personal belief." The "circumstances" noted by the original dictionary definition have been expanded to denote a historical period, defined by clear historical shifts in communication and media institutions (for example, "gatekeeping" and "agenda-setting," as well as fragmentation of "mass audiences" into segmented markets, receiving different information) spectrum of political actors, and resources available to them (for example "big data" analysis, use of cognitive science to persuade), and an empirically documented rise of massive social distrust.While the term "post-truth" had no dictionary entry before Oxford Dictionaries' entry in 2016, the Oxford entry was inspired by the outcomes of the Brexit referendum and the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign; it was thus already implicitly referring to politics.