Time to talk seriously about those Sylphs. Did we just say that? Yes, we did. As silly and frivolous as the Sylphs and Gnomes are in The Rape of the Lock, they still perform some very important functions for Pope. They raise the whole question of agency: i.e., to what degree are the people in the poem responsible for their actions, and to what degree can we point to the Sylphs or the Gnomes and say, "look, it's not Belinda's fault—it's the Gnomes who did that."
By putting mock-epic "machinery" (remember Pope's dedicatory letter?) into the poem, he not only glams up the whole thing by giving it a huge powdering of fairy dust (another nice thing about those Sylphs), but he also entertains the question of responsibility.
Questions About The Supernatural
- In what ways does the presence of the Sylphs lend importance and even glamor or glory to the relatively mundane things that happen in the poem (like putting on makeup, or playing cards, or simply changing one's mind)?
- Are Belinda and the Baron to be held responsible for their actions? Why or why not?
- How much power do the Sylphs and Gnomes actually have over the situation of the poem? How do you know?
Chew on This
Pope's Sylphs and Gnomes add to the overall meaninglessness of the poem, as they have no real power over anything in it.
Women are the only ones who are susceptible to the manipulations of the Sylphs and the Gnomes; men are impervious to them.