Belinda is presented by Pope in "The
Rape of the Lock"
as a bundle of contradictions. This makes her not just a more interesting
character, but also a reflection of the society in which she lives. First and
foremost, Belinda is a ravishingly beautiful young lady, her beauty a source of
wonderment and admiration to men and women alike. Her very name comes from the
Latin for "lovely to behold." Pope often describes Belinda in gushing
superlatives such as "the brightest fair" and "the fairest of
mortals."
Belinda is acutely aware
of her extraordinary beauty and the equally extraordinary effect it has on
people. She is the center of attention wherever she goes, most notably during
her pleasure ride down the Thames, her bright smile and eyes shining like the
sun:
Bright as the sun, her eyes the gazers strike,
And, like the sun, she shines on all alike.
And, like the sun, she shines on all alike.
Not surprisingly, with
all this natural beauty and the attention it brings, Belinda is a rather vain,
superficial young lady. She worships at the feet of beauty, and, as she's the
very embodiment of the beauty, she worships herself as intently as everyone
else does. Though self-assured, Belinda's value system seems more than a tad
confused. She ostentatiously keeps a copy of the Bible on her dressing table
along with all her powders, creams, and hairbrushes. It's as if Belinda treats
the Word of God as just another fashion accessory, a means of showing off to
people how devout she is. But placing a Bible next to a pile of love letters
indicates just how shallow this attachment to religion really is.
Belinda's childishness, vanity, and superficiality come out even
more strongly when the Baron relieves her of one of her pretty locks. Belinda
lives by the code of beauty; her whole life is utterly devoted to it. Without
her lovely lock of hair she feels no longer beautiful. It is then, however,
that Belinda undergoes a stark transformation. In her implacable wrath and
thirst for vengeance, she's no longer innocent; no longer a goddess walking
upon the earth, but a real human being: fallen, vulnerable, and subject to the
vicissitudes of everyday life.
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