the character of Belinda

 

Sketch the character of Belinda.

 

Or. Discuss Pope's attitude to Belinda in "The Rape of the Lock".

 

Ans. Belinda is the principal charm of Pope's mock-heroic poem The Rape of the Lock". There are several aspects of her personality. In the poem she is portrayed not only as a goddess, or as a pretty spoiled child, but also as a flirt. She is a combination of all three, and yet much more than such a combination. She is presented as a coquette, an injured innocent, a sweet charmer, a society belle, a rival of the sun, and a murderer of millions. At the outset of the poem Belinda is portrayed as a lazy woman who continues to sleep till the hour of twelve in the day. When she does finally rise from bed, she goes through a love-letter. Soon she gets busy with her toilette which appears to parody a religious ritual Her dressing table is a kind of altar on which the cosmetic pots are set out like sacred vessels.

 

She made her toilette with the help of her maid servant, Betty. In order to adorn her, Betty opens a box which contains a number of different articles, like shining hair pins, puffs, powders, patches, Bibles and billet-doux. As the toilette proceeds, Belinda's beauty is increasing every moment. She is here compared to a warrior putting on his armour. But in this case, of course, it is a woman putting on her clothes in preparation for vying in the battle of the sexes.

 

When Belinda sets out by boat on the river Thames for Hampton Court Palace, "every eye was fixed on her alone". Her "lively looks and quick eyes command the attention and adoration of those who see her. Her glittering raiment includes a "sparkling cross," which she wears on her white breast." inspiring the worship of her admirers. Jews and infidels would willingly kiss the cross just to he. able to touch her breast.

 

Belinda is a perfect coquette. When offers are made to her, she rejects them. She ignores the advances made to her, but she does not express her disinclination in an offensive manner. In other words, she discourages her admirer from paving her too much attention in such a manner that it does not hurt him but attracts him all the more

 

Belinda is a hypocrite. She pretends to be considered virtuous but she is ready to have fun with the young folk. She loves the Baron at heart but rebukes and abuses him. When he tries to cut her hair, the sylphs frustrate his attempts three times. In a last-ditch effort to protect her hair, Ariel accesses her mind and is shocked to find an early lover lurking at her breast" Belinda's strong attraction to the Baron places her beyond Ariel's control, and he fails to protect her beautiful lock of hair.

 

When Belinda saw her lock cut off, she burned with indignation. She uttered screams of fear and distress. Later on, in the battle of the sexes, Belinda threw a pinch of snuff into his nostrils which made him sneeze and filled his eyes with tears. She made him surrender at the point of her hair pin and demanded her lock back. But the lock could not be found anywhere.

 

Thus, Belinda is, in some sense, a goddess, the personification Beauty. Her ravished lock attains immortality by being transformed into a shining star in the heavens. Yet, at a number of places she is less than a goddess, inasmuch as she is subject to human limitations. Thus, she fails to foresee and to foretell the ravishment of her lock and also fails to recover her lock even after her victory in the battle