two mock-heroic elements of the poem?

"Rape Of The Lock"
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Q1. Discuss two mock-heroic elements of
the poem?
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Answer: One epic element of the poem is the
involvement of capricious divinities in the
lives of mortals. All of the following
classic conventions appear in Pope’s
poem as well: the ambiguous dream-
warning that goes unheeded; prayers that
are answered only in part, or with different
outcomes than anticipated; a heavenly
being’s renunciation of a human after
pledging to protect her; mischievous
plotting by deities to exacerbate situations
on earth. All of the manifestations of
these in Pope’s poem evoke the world of
Greek and Roman gods who displayed
malice as often as benevolence, and a
susceptibility to flattery and favoritism. A
second mock-heroic element is the
description of games and trivial
altercations in terms of warfare. First the
card game, then the cutting of the lock,
and finally the scuffle at the end, are all
described with the high drama attending
serious battles. Pope’s displays his
creative genius in the dexterity with which
he makes every element of the scene
correspond to some recognizable epic
convention. He turns everyday objects—a
petticoat, a curl, a pair of scissors, and a
hairpin—into armor and weapons, and the
allegory reflects on their real social
significance in new and interesting ways.
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Q: 2. What are some of the images that recur
through the poem, and what significance
do they have?
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Answer: One of Pope’s primary images is the sun.
By comparing Belinda’s radiance to solar
radiance, he makes fun of her vanity and
her pretensions. The sun marks the
passing of time in the poem and
emphasizes the dramatic unity of the
story, which takes place all within a single
day. Further, it forms part of the celestial
framework of heavenly actions with which
Pope surrounds the parallel earthly action,
and the early allusions to the sun balance
the ending in which the lock of hair
ascends into the heavens as a
constellation. Another image that recurs in
the poem is that of china. Delicate dishes
that are beautiful, fragile, and purely
luxurious form a fitting physical
counterpart to a world that is, in Pope’s
depiction, almost entirely ornamental. The
danger of broken china also stands for the
fragility of female chastity, or of a
person’s reputation. Pope also draws
heavily on images of silver and gold
(sometimes in solid form, sometimes as a
gilded surface to another element), as
appropriate to a poem that asks us to
consider the real value underlying glittery
and mesmerizing surfaces.