Rosen 1

Jeremy Rosen
Professor Ian Newhem
English 102 Honors
14 May 2014
First Draft of The Rape of the Lock and A Modest Proposal: Parody vs. Satire
To many people, humans are inherently flawed. According to David Cody of Hartwick
University, the leading theorists of the Renaissance period disregarded this view in favor of one
in which people possess infinite potential for spiritual and intellectual growth. But by the late
1600s to the late 1700s, neoclassical thinkers argued that people are instead sinful and have
limited potential. As a result, these theorists emphasized order and reason above imagination and
innovation and believed that art, including writing, is valuable as long as it is useful. Two genres
of writing that were popular in the neoclassical age are the parody and satire. Maeve Maddox of
Daily Writing Tips defines parody as the imitation of a creative work. In other words, a parody
imitates the style of another work and often does so for humorous effect. As an example, Michael
Ian Weinfeld designed a witty version of President Obamas Hope poster featuring Pope
Benedict XVI (Maddox). On the other hand, a satire blends criticism, wit, and ironic humor to
ridicule a person or group of people (Maddox). Unlike a parody, which is supposed to entertain,
a satire is supposed to incite its audience to reform the satirized institution. In 1711, neoclassical
writer Alexander Pope composed The Rape of the Lock, An heroi-comical poem (Pope) and
parody of the epic genre. In this work, Pope writes of the Baron stealing a lock of hair from the
beautiful Belinda and of the preceding and ensuing events. Eighteen years later, fellow writer
Jonathan Swift wrote the satiric essay A Modest Proposal, which lambasts the English for
exploiting the Irish and the Irish for passively suffering at the hands of the English. In essence,

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Swift suggests that poor Irish parents should raise their infants for slaughter as a way to avoid
spending on childcare, make some money, and provide tasty meals for the upper classes.
Although critics overly quick to lump The Rape of the Lock into the genre of parody and A
Modest Proposal into that of satire ought to reexamine the works more closely, these works
nevertheless represent the two genres effectively because of significant differences in their form,
purpose, and tone.
Despite its categorization as a parody, The Rape of the Lock contains satiric elements.
Cody explains that Pope wrote the epic as a result of a real-life incident. In 1711, Lord Petre
furtively cut a lock of hair from the head of Arabella Fermor. She took offense, and her family
feuded with Petres. John Caryll, a mutual friend, suggested Pope write a lighthearted poem to
break the tension, and Pope agreed. However, The Rape of the Lock is so much more than a
comical parody; it is at once a satire on the trivialities of fashionable life and a commentary
on the distorted moral values of polite society (Cody). Critic Jonathan Szwec posits that Popes
mock-epic is in fact a Horatian satire because it gently rebukes the follies and vanities of the
upper classes and thus illustrates societys moral degradation. Critic Kimberly Pokin goes
beyond Szwecs assertion by claiming that the poem provides a serious and even stern judgment
on the values of society and the ways in which those values affect women and men. Pope writes,
Yet graceful ease, and sweetness void of pride, / Might hide her faults, if Belles had faults to
hide, (2.15-6) and then, Fair tresses mans imperial race ensnare, / And beauty draws us with a
single hair (2.27-8). In essence, many of those in Popes time too easily confused outward
appearance with inner virtue. Meanwhile, Swifts A Modest Proposal contains elements of
parody as well as of satire, for this work stylistically resembles a traditional argumentative essay.
According to Ian Newhem of Rockland Community College, an argumentative essay contains a

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thesis, concession, and points of proof. The thesis for A Modest Proposal is, I have been
assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child
well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed,
roasted, baked or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout
(262). Swift concedes that the number of people will be thereby much lessened in the
kingdom, but counters that this reduction is okay because Ireland will be better off with fewer
people (265). And the points of proof include the increased value of babies to poor tenants, the
numerous recipes that cooks will surely create, and the inducement to marriage due to the
competition to breed the fattest child (264). Meanwhile, Peter Briggs of Bryn Mawr College
notes that Swift was parodying the essays of pamphleteers of his time who valued economic
efficiency over potential human costs. While parody and satire are two different genres, there are
clearly cases in which parodies can also be satires and vice versa.
Having said all that, the differences between parody and satire, beginning with form, are
too great to ignore. Unlike a satire, a parody mimics a specific work in order to make fun of it. In
this way, The Rape of the Lock is an exemplar of parody, for it shares many of the same
characteristics as a classical epic poem. Here are some examples (Chapman): The poem is
divided into cantos. At the beginning of Canto I, Pope invokes the muse: What dire offence
from amrous causes springs, / What mighty contests rise from trivial things, / I singThis verse
to Caryl, Muse! is due (1.1-3). The Slyphs, Gnomes, Nymphs, and Salamanders represent the
gods and other supernatural figures who take part in epics. There is an arming of the hero: Now
awful Beauty puts on all its arms, (1.139) and a sacrifice to the gods: For this, ere Phoebus
rose, [the Baron] had implord / Propitious Heaven, and every power adored, / But chiefly Love
to Love an altar built (2.35-7). The gnome Umbriel descends into the Cave of Spleen (4.14-

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20), which represents the underworld. And finally, after a great battle (5.37-102), the dead hero
ascends to the heavens: This Lock, the Muse shall consecrate to fame, / And midst the stars
inscribe Belindas name (5.149-50). That being said, The Rape of the Lock is a parody of an
epic rather than simply an epic because despite its epic characteristics and the high formal
diction, as in, Close by those meads, for ever crownd with flowrs, / Where Thames with pride
surveys his rising towrs, / There stands a structure of majestic frame, (3.1-3) the subject matter
is trivial and ridiculous. Instead of an actual rape, this poem details the rape of a lock of hair. On
the other hand, a satiric work does not need to mimic anything else. Rather, satire uses mockery
to make a point about society. According to Cody, the English exiled Swift to Ireland when he
would have rather lived in England. As a result, he felt the English had wronged him, which
intensified his anger at how England mistreated Ireland. This anger motivated him to write A
Modest Proposal, in which he suggests sarcastically that the Irish turn the infants of poor
parents into tasty dinners. He structures his proposal with a context-providing introduction, a
persuasive body, and an insightful conclusion, in which he claims that he must be sincere for
the following reason: he has no financial stake in the matter because all his children are age nine
or older (266). Thus, this work does take the form of a well-thought-out essay, but an essay,
unlike an epic poem, is a conventional form in which to make an argument. The emphasis is on
the argument, not the form, meaning this essay is essentially a satire.
In addition to differences in form between parody and satire, there are differences in
purpose. Unlike satire, which is supposed to bring about a change in an institution, parody is a
form of entertainment that does not attempt to engender social change. The reader of The Rape
of the Lock can laugh at the foolishness and vanity of the upper classes when Belinda undergoes
the sacred rites (1.128) of dressing up and later feels anxious cares, (4.1) secret passions,

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(4.2) and rage, resentment, and despair, (4.9) all from losing a chunk of her hair. The ending is
also humorous, for Belindas hair ascends to the heavens, and furthermore, Not all the tresses
that fair head can boast, / Shall draw such envy as the Lock you lost (5.143-4). In other words,
she should be happy because her hair will attract much more envy in the sky than it ever could
have while it was on her head. Ultimately, Popes initial inspiration for The Rape of the Lock was
to make fun of a family feud in order to lessen the tension (Cody), unlike that of Swift, who
wrote A Modest Proposal because of the indignation he felt at Irelands oppression (Cody).
During Swifts time, Ireland was an English colony that was dependent on England politically,
militarily, and economically (Cody). Because England believed a weak Ireland would be less of
a threat and more of a profit-generator, England kept Ireland in poverty by controlling the Irish
legislature, sabotaging Irish industries, owning most of the good Irish land, and heavily taxing
the Irish people (Cody). Swift was furious at the English and the Irish, the latter for becoming so
used to their situation that they seemed unwilling to fight for social change (Cody). At the
beginning of the essay, he writes, It is a melancholy object to those who walk through this great
town or travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads, and cabin doors, crowded with
beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags and importuning
every passenger for an alms (261). Once he explains that the solution to Irelands problems is
cannibalism, the reader should know this essay is a satire, but before the thesis, Swift describes
genuine problems like the ones above in great detail. Later in the essay and cloaked in sarcasm,
he even provides real solutions: of taxing our absentees at five shillings a pound: of using
neither cloaths, nor household furniture, except what is of our own growth and manufacture: of
utterly rejecting the materials and instruments that promote foreign luxury (265) and of doing

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many other things as well. Like a typical satire, A Modest Proposal expresses the writers
concerns and strives to convince the audience of the validity of those concerns.
In addition to that, many literary critics believe that there is a pronounced difference in
tone between The Rape of the Lock and A Modest Proposal. In short, they claim that Popes
tone is much milder than Swifts, which is downright brutal. Szwec writes that Pope is
delicately chiding society in a sly but polished voice by holding up a mirror to the follies and
vanities of the upper class. Pope does not vilify the self-important pomp of the British upper
classes but presents the epic in such a way that the reader can see this pomp for the silliness that
it is (Szwec). For example, Pokin notes the lines, This erring mortals Levity may call; / Oh
blind to truth! the Sylphs contrive it all (1.103-4). According to her, it would be redundant for
Pope to call attention to the Sylphs yet again after describing their duties in great detail in the
preceding lines. Thus, his tone must be ironic, and he must really be blaming the women
themselves for their foolishness (Pokin). Regardless, Szwec believes that this critique is
extraordinarily gentle compared to those in A Modest Proposal. He calls Swifts work a
quintessential Juvenalian satire that reveals the abuses of British colonialism through savage
ridicule and disdainful contempt. Swifts tone is at once detached as a result of the logical
nature of his arguments and much more acerbic than Popes because of the nature of Swifts
solution (Szwec). As a matter of fact, Swift had to publish the essay anonymously at first because
his tone was so ironic and cynical that he risked severe personal implications (Szwec). The
cynicism in A Modest Proposal is blatant when Swift writes, For this kind of commodity will
not bear exportation, and flesh being of too tender a consistence, to admit a long continuance in
salt, although perhaps I could name a country, which would glad to eat up our whole nation
without it (265). He is so indignant at Britains behavior that he cannot keep up his veneer of

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detachment. Because writers, as in this case, compose satire to call out a person or group of
people, their tone is at times harsher that that of writers composing parody for comical purposes.
In essence, there are noteworthy differences in the form, content, and tone of Popes The
Rape of the Lock and Swifts A Modest Proposal. Whereas Pope mimics the epic form in great
detail, Swift sticks to a conventional argumentative essay template. Pope wrote The Rape of the
Lock to poke fun at a family conflict while Swift wrote A Modest Proposal to attack the British
for their abuse of the Irish people and to incite social changes. And according to a large number
of critics, Popes tone is significantly milder than Swifts, which is harsh and biting. Thus, there
are critical differences between the two genres these works represent, parody and satire. Parody
focuses on mimicry, but satire seeks to arouse disapproval in its audience so that individuals and
organizations will conclude that they must make reforms. And while parody often maintains a
humorous tone, satire does not need to be funny at all. It must simply point out the flaws of the
contemporary society for its audience to see. If the neoclassical perspective of human nature is
accurate, there will always be a place for satire and for parody as well because people will not be
able to master completely their shortcomings. As a result, it will be the job of writers like Pope
and Swift to point those inadequacies out to society as a whole.

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Works Cited
Briggs, Peter M. John Gaunt, Sir William Petty, and Jonathan Swifts Modest Proposal. Bryn
Mawr College. 2005. Web. 14 May 2014.
Chapman, Wes. Some Epic Conventions in Rape of the Lock. Illinois Wesleyan University.
Web. 14 May 2014.
Cody, David. Alexander Popes Rape of the Lock: An Introduction. Hartwick College. July
2000. Web. 14 May 2014.
---. A Modest Proposal: An Introduction. Hartwick College. July 2000. Web. 14 May 2014.
---. Neoclassicism: An Introduction. Hartwick College. July 2000. Web. 14 May 2014.
Maddox, Maeve. Satire, Parody, and Other Forms of Ridicule. Daily Writing Tips. Web. 14
May 2014.
Newhem, Ian. Keyhole Essays. Rockland Community College. Web. 14 May 2014.
Pokin, Kimberly. From Belinda to Clarissa: The Mockery and Redemption of the Female in
Pope's The Rape of the Lock. Knox College Common Room. 10 January 1998. Web. 14
May 2014.
Pope, Alexander. The Rape of the Lock. Things Unattempted Yet in Prose or Rhyme. Ed. Ian
Blake Newhem. United States of America: University Readers, Inc., 2012. 266-76. Print.
Swift, Jonathan. A Modest Proposal. Things Unattempted Yet in Prose or Rhyme. Ed. Ian
Blake Newhem. United States of America: University Readers, Inc., 2012. 261-6. Print.
Szwec, Jonathan J. Satire in 18th Century British Society: Alexander Popes The Rape of the
Lock and Jonathan Swifts A Modest Proposal. Student Pulse. 2011. Web. 14 May 2014.