The Rape of the Lock

by Alexander Pope, Aubrey Beardsley (Illustrator), Sophie Gee (Introduction)

Overview

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY SOPHIE GEE

A hideous crime is committed at a fashionable London society gathering. The victim is the beautiful, innocent Belinda, her attacker is the dastardly Baron, and his weapon of choice is a pair of scissors...

Pope's mock-epic is the sharp and witty tale of the most famous bad hair day in the history of literature.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781409059974
Publisher:	Random House
Publication date:	11/30/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	96
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Alexander Pope was born on 21 May 1688. He was brought up a Roman Catholic at a time where the laws of England were prejudicial towards Catholics. He suffered tuberculosis as a child and as a consequence never grew taller than 4'6". He first published The Rape of the Lock when he was twenty-three years old in 1712. Its success made him a celebrity in polite society. He later added to it in 1714 and 1717. It was written to reconcile two families who had fallen out over a similar incident where a Lord Petre had cut off a lock of hair from Arabella Fermor's head. Pope went on to translate the works of Homer and produce The Dunciad and An Essay on Man. He died on 30 May 1744.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION, NOTE ON TEXT, KEY TO NOTES, THE RAPE OF THE LOCK: An Heroi-Comical poem in five Canto’s APPENDICES A THE RAPE OF THE LOCKE (I7I2 VERSION) B SYLPHS C THE HEROIC COUPLET D THE LIFE OF POPE

Editorial Reviews

Reprints the text of Pope's classic poem, both the five-canto 1714 version and the facsimile of the original 1712 version, together with a broad selection of documents putting the poem in the social and historical context of Pope's 18th century. Selections include correspondence, poems, broadsides, reviews, and parodies. Documents focus on Pope's life and career as well as on 18th-century poetic traditions and innovations, social habits, historical events, and political implications. Includes a general introduction on historical and cultural background, a chronology of Pope's life, an introduction to each thematic group of documents, headnotes, and b&w illustrations. Distributed by St. Martin's Press. No index. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

EBOOK COMMENTARY

Reprints the text of Pope's classic poem, both the five-canto 1714 version and the facsimile of the original 1712 version, together with a broad selection of documents putting the poem in the social and historical context of Pope's 18th century. Selections include correspondence, poems, broadsides, reviews, and parodies. Documents focus on Pope's life and career as well as on 18th-century poetic traditions and innovations, social habits, historical events, and political implications. Includes a general introduction on historical and cultural background, a chronology of Pope's life, an introduction to each thematic group of documents, headnotes, and b&w illustrations. Distributed by St. Martin's Press. No index. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews

"Brilliant . . . triumphant. Never has so great a poem emerged from so trivial a cause."  —Peter Ackroyd

From the Publisher