Alexander Pope vs

Advertising

Russo Ludovica, Testolin Francesca IV A

• In his mock heroic poem Pope celebrates aristocratic life, but his real aim is to blame it.

• The writer puts on the forefront the figure of an aristocratic lady, Belinda.

In particular, he focuses on her beauty BEAUTY is emphasized in advertising too.

THE RAPE OF THE LOCK AND MAKE UP-ADVERTISING

• Beauty is a weapon, like make up is an armour that Belinda wears in order to get ready to face the day.

• Aristocracy, comparable to the modern society, gives importance to worldly things, such as make up: it believes that they are the right “arms” (at line 19, The Rape of the Lock, Canto One) to fight in life.

BEAUTY IS ESSENTIAL BECAUSE APPEARANCE IS VERY

IMPORTANT

• Make up and beauty are emphasized by advertising and the aristocratic in the same way.

• Even mass medias exalt such aspects and aim at convincing people of their importance.

• For example, make up-advertising focuses on physical appearance and draws attention on it through effective devices.

THE COMPARISON AND THEOPINION OF POPE

• Life is compared to a “war” and society takes part in it people judge others according to their appearance.

• Make up is an important element to obtain a positive judgment by them who judge.

• Pope wants to criticize the exaggerated belief that the lady and the nowadays society have about external beauty.

• Indeed, a person does not face life by changing or improving his/her appearance, but by doing something concrete.

Therefore, Pope seems to celebrate that way of thinking, but as a matter of fact he emphasizes the lack of personality of people, in particular of them who believes someone is interesting and pleasant according to how they are displayed.

CONCLUSIONS