Alexander Pope Versus Aphra Behn: Critical Commentary Comparing Two Extracts Of Eighteenth-Century Literature

This assignment will outline the basic overview of the texts History of the Nun and The Rape of the Lock as well as the underlying subtext reading. It will also display some of the authors biographies and their careers as writers writing in the eighteenth century. Lastly, it will outline the ways in which the certain extracts given are similar, and the differences conveyed.

The History of the Nun or The Fair Vow Breaker by writer Aphra Behn is an amatory fiction novel published in 1689 about a protagonist named Isabella who to uphold societal virtues and keep her situation a secret kills both her husbands. As Pearson states, ‘The History of the Nun explores moral paradoxes as a virtuous woman becomes an oath-breaker, an adultress, and a murderess, and it places the female narrator in assured control of these paradoxes’.[footnoteRef:1] Moreover, Caballero states the novel ‘moves away from the prevailing current of anti-Catholic sentiment to promote alternative values. Through the remarkable female agency of its protagonist Isabella, the text explores a more feminocentric perspective as opposed to the traditional patriarchal worldview and hierarchical structure.’[footnoteRef:2] This statement highlights the agreeable feminine perspective the novel advocates as Aphra Behn herself was a female activist and a catholic too, who spent her life projecting the importance of female rights. On the other hand, The Rape of the Lock by also a writer Alexander Pope is a mock-heroic narrative poem which was first published anonymously in 1712 in two cantos. Then went onto a revised edition by Alexander Pope himself following in March 1714 as a five-canto version. This poem satirises a small incident that has happened when the protagonist Belinda’s hair is cut off at a social-gathering by Baron without permission arousing argument between families and comparing it throughout to the epic world of the Gods. However, just as these prose and fictions depict a basic overview reading, there is also a way in which these texts can be read in contextual ways regarding the circumstances at the time they were writing in which was the eighteenth century, that started in the seventeenth hundreds. [1: Jacqueline, Pearson., ‘Gender and Narrative in the Fiction of Aphra Behn’. The Review of English Studies, 42, no. 165 (1991), 40-56. Accessed November 9, 2020. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/516920.

] [2: Juan De Dios Torralbo Caballero., ‘Murderess of Two Husbands: Female Agency as Female Loyalty in the History of the Nun’. Gender Studies, 17 (2018), 20-44. Accessed 6th November 2020. Available at: Downloads/Murderess_of_Two_Husbands_Female_Agency_as_Female_.pdf ]

Both texts have underlying subtext agenda. In the eighteenth century there was two groups of writers, one named as Grub street who wrote to earn a living and were lower culture writers and the others were the Scriblerians, who were higher culture writers and celebrities. Alexander Pope was among the Scriblerians and he wrote rich texts that were formed for the educated, upper class people. Pope wrote The Rape of the Lock directly mocking the Grub Street writers as they mocked his writing. Furthermore, the storyline of Pope’s heroic poem was based on a true event as Hyman explained ‘Lord Petre had cut off a lock of Arabella Fermor’s hair and refused to return it, and the incident had caused bad feeling between two families. Pope’s friend Caryll who was friendly with both families, Pope told Spence “desired me to write a poem to make a jest of it, and laugh them together again”.’[footnoteRef:3]In comparison, Aphra Behn’s text was also an attack but not on writers but Royals. Also, it was more discreet as she used her characters to jeopardise the Royals as Arnaldo was James II and Villenoy was William III. Furthermore, Pearson suggests, ‘History’ may be the locus of a specifically male authority’.[footnoteRef:4] This implies, Aphra Behn wrote the novel to some extent to free the females from socially patriarchal cultures such as being dominated by the male figures. [3: Stanley Edgar Hyman, ‘The Rape of the Lock’. The Hudson Review 13 No. 1 (1960): accessed 6th November 2020,https://www.jstor.org/stable/3847965?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents ] [4: Jacqueline, Pearson., ‘Gender and Narrative in the Fiction of Aphra Behn’. The Review of English Studies, 42, no. 165 (1991), 40-56. Accessed November 9, 2020. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/516920.]

Aphra Behn’s descriptive style of writing disputed certain ideas such as from the scene where Arnaldo was murdered and Villenoy fell for his death:

“Stay my dear, some of his clothes hang out, which I will put in; and, with that, taking the pack needle with the thread, sew’d the sack, with several strong stitches, to the collar of Villenoy’s coat, without his perceiving it..[…]Soon arriv’d[…..]both the live and dead Man falling into the River, which, being Rapid at the Bridge, soon drown’d him, especially when, so great a weight hung to his neck; so that he dy’d without considering what was the occasion of his Fate.”[footnoteRef:5] [5: Mrs. A. Behn., The History of the Nun or The Fair Vow-Breaker (London: Ric. Pocock, 1688), accessed 3rd November 2020, https://www.dropbox.com/sh/71drlvosekb9asm/AAAt4LhxRLkDOc3hh7jWzcQla?dl=0&preview=Behn_Aphra-The_history_of_the_nun_or_The_fair-Wing-B1737-121_03-p1to81.pdf ]

This extract did not portray history as James II never died, he left Britain to go to France and William III did indeed become King. However, it may convey that Aphra Behn was trying to direct history as she is contemplating that if Britain does not want James II to be King as he kept disappearing, do they really want William III to take over? James II had a sister named Mary who was married to William III, why could she not be the Queen in her own right which engaged in women empowerment. Furthermore, Aphra Behn did predict a significant element of the future as Queen Anne did rule in her own divine right in 1703-1713 even though her husband was Prince George of Denmark. This projects the upholding views that Behn had towards the male figures as Kings and the explicit patriarchal society she was attacking while standing in defence for the female figures. Moreover, the use of alliteration “several strong stitches” portrays a more poetic style of writing than novel as Aphra Behn originally wrote poems and only stopped once she spoke against James II who made sure she would never be in theatre again. History of the Nun was her first and last novel. Similarly, in The Rape of the Lock’s the descriptive analysis is used of Belinda’s awakening and her accessories in her room such as:

“puff’s, powders, patches, Bibles, billet-doux.”[footnoteRef:6] [6: Alexander Pope., The Rape of the Lock (London: Bernard Lintott Cross-keys Fleet, 1714), accessed 4th November 2020, https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lc4yleqmhxax1ij/AABOLo1w6xwsChAbD_IenjBCa?dl=0&preview=Rape+of+the+Lock+1714.pdf ]

The Alliteration of ‘p’ is all about her face and her beauty accessories. However, it then goes onto making her look innocent and religious as it talks about the “bible” and the “billet-doux” which she can put in the holy book to attract who she desires. This partly conveys that fashion is a religious concept for Belinda and as being wealthy she has time for this. The last bit of this specific Canto raises another contextual discourse:

“And Betty’s praised for labours not for her own.”[footnoteRef:7] [7: Alexander Pope., The Rape of the Lock (London: Bernard Lintott Cross-keys Fleet, 1714), accessed 4th November 2020, https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lc4yleqmhxax1ij/AABOLo1w6xwsChAbD_IenjBCa?dl=0&preview=Rape+of+the+Lock+1714.pdf]

The maid is not praised for making Belinda ‘beautiful’ as Belinda is seen to be pretty already, so the process is erased just as in Behn’s piece Isabella is not fully blamed for being under societal pressure and killing both males, “his fate” which displays that it was written for him. This raises the question of whether Belinda’s face is a product for Empire or is it an attack ironically against them. Sennholz mentions, ‘Around the 1820′s England was practically the only colonial power. … Capitalism fundamentally began to transform Empire into a market economy.’[footnoteRef:8] I believe this statement supports my opinion of this extract referring to the diverse marketing that Empire brought as it began to start in 1714. However, soon problems occurred. As the Chinese were addicted to opium so could have tea. This was because they did not realise it could be grown in India. Moreover, India slowly colonized, and cultures hybridised to culture. Furthermore, Africa was the source to slave trade. All of this is important to highlight that what is enhancing Belinda’s beauty are objects from the other side of the world such as “India’s glowing gems”[footnoteRef:9]. This Alliteration conveys an 18th century Pietre Dure box which has an inlaying of semi-precious stones which were used for the Taj Mahal. So, was Alexander Pope displaying that hope is being celebrates or was he just being ironic? Moreover, this conveys that the products Belinda had were indeed very high culture and expensive just like the Scriblerians. [8: Hans F. Sennholz, last modified October 28, 2020, https://fee.org/articles/the-myth-of-capitalist-colonialism/#:~:text=Capitalism%20Transformed%20the%20%20Empire,practically%20the%20only%20colonial%20power.&text=Capitalism%20fundamentally%20began%20to%20transform,independent%E2%80%94enjoying%20a%20dominion%20status ] [9: Alexander Pope., The Rape of the Lock (London: Bernard Lintott Cross-keys Fleet, 1714), accessed 4th November 2020, https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lc4yleqmhxax1ij/AABOLo1w6xwsChAbD_IenjBCa?dl=0&preview=Rape+of+the+Lock+1714.pdf]

To conclude, Alexander Pope’s text is similar to Aphra Behn’s in terms of both are using basic storylines to disguise their underlying agenda which for Pope is mocking the Scriblerians and for Behn is attacking the Royals. Moreover, The Rape of the Lock being a poem has as much descriptive techniques as the novel The History of the nun.

Bibliography

Primary Reading

1. Behn, A. Mrs. The History of the Nun or The Fair Vow-Breaker.London: Ric. Pocock, 1688. Accessed 3rd November 2020. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/71drlvosekb9asm/AAAt4LhxRLkDOc3hh7jWzcQla?dl=0&preview=Behn_Aphra-The_history_of_the_nun_or_The_fair-Wing-B1737-121_03-p1to81.pdf
2. Pope, Alexander. The Rape of the Lock. London: Bernard Lintott Cross-keys Fleet, 1714,. Accessed 4th November 2020. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lc4yleqmhxax1ij/AABOLo1w6xwsChAbD_IenjBCa?dl=0&preview=Rape+of+the+Lock+1714.pdf

Secondary Reading

1. Caballero, Juan De Dios. ‘Murderess of Two Husbands: Female Agency as Female Loyalty in the History of the Nun’. Gender Studies, 17 (2018), 20-44. Accessed 6th November 2020. Available at: Downloads/Murderess_of_Two_Husbands_Female_Agency_as_Female_.pdf
2. Hyman, Stanley Edgar. ‘The Rape of the Lock.’ The Hudson Review 13, no. 3 (1960): 406-12. Accessed November 6, 2020. doi:10.2307/3847965.
3. Pearson, Jacqueline. ‘Gender and Narrative in the Fiction of Aphra Behn.’ The Review of English Studies 42, no. 165 (1991), 40-56. Accessed November 9, 2020. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/516920.
4. Sennholz F. Hans. ‘The Myth of Capitalist Colonialism’. Last modified October 28, 2020. https://fee.org/articles/the-myth-of-capitalist-colonialism/#:~:text=Capitalism%20Transformed%20the%20%20Empire,practically%20the%20only%20colonial%20power.&text=Capitalism%20fundamentally%20began%20to%20transform,independent%E2%80%94enjoying%20a%20dominion%20status