Not so epic after all

The Rape of the Lock is a mock epic for sure. It takes trivial actions and makes them into epic events, similar to City Shower. In this poem, instead of wars being waged it is ladies and gentlemen that are the heroes and heroines, exchanging banter and in their salons. Sylphs and gnomes interfere instead of the gods and goddesses and the usual journey to the underworld is represented by a trip to the Cave of Spleen. The exaggeration of the everyday events makes them seem even more inferior and meaningless. The whole “epic poem” is set around beautiful backgrounds and objects, decorations and dainty little utensils. The poem highlights and makes fun of the vanity of that society and the little, worn out values they have.