cult of beauty
DESCRIPTION
Cult of Beauty. Rape of the Lock. Say, why are Beauties prais'd and honour'd most, The Wise Man's Passion, and the Vain Man's Toast? (Pope ln. 9-10). The Cult of Beauty. Cult: zealous obsession directed at a particular figure or object; fetishized ideology; irrational reverence - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
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CULT OF BEAUTY
Rape of the Lock
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Say, why are Beauties prais'd and honour'd most, The Wise Man's Passion, and the Vain Man's Toast? (Pope ln. 9-10)
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Cult: zealous obsession directed at a particular
figure or object; fetishized ideology;
irrational reverence
Pope asks, what is the cult of beauty doing to our world?
THE CULT OF BEAUTY
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The cult of beauty is a social paradox because it simultaneously bestows and undermines the
power of people
THESIS
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“Arming” Scene rife with ritual:
“The inferior priestess, at her altar’s side, / Trembling begins the sacred rites of Pride.”
(ln. 127-128)“Now awful Beauty puts on all its arms.” (ln.
139)“Puffs, powders, patches, Bibles, billet-
doux.” (ln. 138)
BEAUTY BESTOWS POWER
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“Fair nymphs and well-dressed youths around her shone, / But every eye was
fixed on her alone. / On her white breast a sparkling cross she wore, / Which Jews might kiss, and infidels adore.” (Pope
Canto 2, ln. 5-8)
BEAUTY BESTOWS POWER
Cult:
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MODERN EXAMPLE
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“Methinks already I your tears survey, / Already hear the horrid things they
say, / Already see you a degraded toast, / And all your honor in a
whisper lost!” (Pope Canto 4, ln. 107-110)
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(Degraded Toast)
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Baron cutting lock undermines Belinda’s power:
Oh, had I rather unadmired remained / In some lone isle, or distant northern land; / Where
the gilt chariot never marks the way, / Where none learn ombre, none e’er taste bohea! / There kept my charms concealed from mortal eye, / Like
roses that in deserts bloom and die. (Pope Canto 4, ln. 153-158)
BEAUTY UNDERMINES POWER
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“Oh, hadst thou, cruel! Been content to seize / Hairs less in sight, or any
hairs but these!” (Pope Canto 5, 175-176)
Because beauty was what had defined her, she easily fell from her pedestal - her altar
- into devastation.
BEAUTY UNDERMINES POWER
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• Not chronological (empower, then undermine)
• In “Arming scene,” Belinda empowers herself and undermines herself
simultaneously• Getting beautiful, but wasting time
• Power doesn’t come from self, but from outside
BEAUTY BESTOWS AND UNDERMINES AT THE SAME TIME
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We can’t fix it.Everyone knows the solution, but no one
does it
SO WHAT?
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Have some toast!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!