Not half so fix'd the Trojan could remain - The Rape of the Lock - The Uncovered English

Not half so fix'd the Trojan could remain - The Rape of the Lock - The Uncovered English

The Rape of the Lock

Alexander Pope

"Not half so fix'd the Trojan could remain,
While Anna begg'd and Dido rag'd in vain."
Canto 5

Bring out the significance of allusion.

The quoted lines are an allusion to one of the episods in Virgil's epic poem Aeneid which contains an account of the adventures of Anenes. The Trojan prince. Aeneas fled from the burning Troy and after various adventures reached carthage, where Dido the queen of Carthage fall in love with him. Aenes stayed at Carthage for some time but ultimately decided to leave Carthage under the order of Jupiter. Dido made a piteous appeal to him not to forsake her. But Aeneds remained fixed. Anna, Dido's sister also failed in her efforts to stop Aenes from leaving Carthage. At last Dido burnt herself to death.

The lament of Belinda had no effect on the Baron and failed to persuade him to return the lock of hair to Belinda. The Trojan prince. Aenes was not half so firm and determined in his purposes as the Baron proved to be. Thus Pope uses this allusion for a mock-epic effect.

Also Read


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Compare and contrast Sergius and Bluntschli - Arms And The Man - The Uncovered English

Epic Similes - Paradise Lost Book 1 - The Uncovered English

Imagery and Symbol in Mrs Dalloway - The Uncovered English