Examine RAPE OF THE LOCK as a mock epic A mock-epic or mock heroic poem is a kind of narrative poem which deals with a very trivial theme in a lofty and grand style with a view to satirizing and reformation. It is considered to be a ‘Parody of the Epic’. Alexander Pope, the representative poet of the 18th century in England, brought mock heroic poem to its highest peak of perfection in his masterpiece The Rape of the Lock. A critical analysis of the theme and manner of the poem is necessary to justify how far The Rape of the Lock is a model of mock epic. The mock heroic quality of ‘The Rape of the Lock’ lies in the very beginning of the poem which parodies the conventional epic invocation that we find in Homer’s Iliad, Virgil’s Aenied and Milton’s Paradise Lost. The opening lines echo classical epic: ‘What dire offence from am’rous causes springs, What mighty contests rise from trivial things, I sing- This Verse to caryll, Muse! Is due;’ The statement of the central problem of