Thanks to Iain for these notes. Sorry, the bullets didn’t paste in…
Rape of the Lock Pt. II
Belinda is playing a card game that has become a war between spirits
The game has come down to one final hand
Belinda plays the King, and it looks like she’ll win
Now Belinda and her opponent are having coffee
The coffee helps make her opponent alert and he comes up with a plan to get the lock of her hair
Her opponent gets scissors from Clarissa’s purse and goes to cut Belinda’s hair
The spirits try to warn Belinda of what’s going to happen
The opponent (the baron) can’t cut her hair and decides to wait
Finally he goes to cut her hair, gets the lock between the scissor blades, goes to cut it, when the sylph goes between the blades to try and stop it but gets cut in half and he gets the lock
The sylph will become better and when Belinda finds her hair’s cut she’s upset and screams
The opponent then gloats
A nymph tries to calm things down but a battle cry follows it
the nymphs fight over the lock of hair
the fight becomes like the Trojan War
Belinda attacks the Baron for her hair
Belinda subdues him with one finger and her thumb
Then she throws “snuff” at him and he inhales it and he sneezes and his eyes get watery
She grabs an ornamental pin shaped like a dagger from her side
The Baron confesses his love for Belinda but he’s never acted on it
Belinda demands for her hair back
Everyone searches for the lock of hair for Belinda but no one could find it
Someone said it must be on the moon
There was a shooting star of hair and now Belinda’s name is inscribed in the stars, it will never be forgotten
Discussion Questions Response:
Summary of the card game: The Baron and Belinda play a fierce game of cards and Belinda’s Queen is lost and things are looking poor for Belinda. Up until that point Belinda was doing great and now she’s worried for the first time in the game. Then the game is left to a single hand, and Belinda then plays a King and wins the game. This entire game shows how Belinda and the Baron are sneaky, confident, independent, and very competitive.
The effect of Clarissa’s assisting the Baron: Clarissa helps the Baron cut Belinda’s hair and this results in a fight between Belinda and the Baron over the hair. Again Belinda wins in the end just like in the card game. Throughout the entire poem Belinda’s pride is on the line.[the outcome will also effect all the relationships, ie Belinda and Plume’s, Belinda and the Baron...]
