The traditional epic was an extravagant tale, revolving around the ideal and mighty hero and his quest, always extending beyond the ordinary confinements of society. Alexander Pope used the very structure of the formal and majestic epic in his The Rape of the Lock, to underscore the ridiculousness of his society and their trivial practices and beliefs. In following the epic form, inventing his divine machinery, using a learned and stiff diction Pope effectively treats his trivial subject matter (the 'rape' of Belinda's most beautiful curl) in the most striking fashion. Pope further belittles the ideals of his society by introducing a voice of reason, in the character of Clarissa, towards the end of the poem who outwardly and blatantly ridicules the traditions of her contemporaries. In a perfect marriage of the trifling subject matter and the impressive epic form, Alexander Pope's truthful points are effectively relayed to his audience.
             The very first demonstration of the trivial in respects to the mighty is the very title of Pope's epic, The Rape of the Lock. Simply but allowing the heavy word rape to describe the marginal action of Belinda's dramatized haircut, reveals that Pope sees the 18th century's new endeavor, vanity, in a far less wondrous light than his contemporaries. Pope furthers places the ridiculous in perspective by mimicking the very form of the epic, traditionally used to tell tales of glory and wonder, to tell his melodramatic tale of a woman in love with herself. Invoking his version of the awesome, beauteous muse, John Caryll, Pope includes an essential element of the classic epic, of a, minimized, yet in conservative and common degree: "I sing –This verse to Carull, Muse!"(canto I, line3). The Rape of the Lock additionally parallels the traditional epic by following through with the conventional epic themes of love and war, but again, trivializing them to the ultimate end. Pope personifies gambling b...