The Review of English Studies Advance Access originally published online on December 25, 2006
The Review of English Studies 2006 57(232):684-700; doi:10.1093/res/hgl122
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press 2006; all rights reserved
Alchemies of Satire: A History of the Sylphs in The Rape of the Lock
School of English, University of Leeds
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Abstract |
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Alexander Pope's dedicatory letter to Arabella Fermor on the publication of the five-canto version of The Rape of the Lock (1714) introduces the poem's new cast of sylphs and cites as their origin a French alchemical satire, the abbé de Villars's Le Comte de Gabalis (1670). Gabalis, in its various editions and continuations, is not often read nowadays; yet it is an engaging and allusive text. As one of Pope's main sources for the sylphs, it deserves re-reading, and this article offers a critical discussion of the relationship between Gabalis and The Rape. In so doing, it (i) suggests that, contrary to Pope's own assertion, Gabalis is not ‘Rosicrucian’, but rather based on the writings of Paracelsus; (ii) identifies how Gabalis adapted Paracelsian elemental theory for its own satiric ends; (iii) considers how the satiric-sexual themes of Gabalis might inform modern critical judgements of The Rape; (iv) comments on the role of the sylphs and representations of women's souls and deaths in the poem. Generally, the article situates Gabalis in relation to Pope's work and argues for The Rape as a highly sexualised piece, linking it to Pope's youthful would-be rakish persona and to Scriblerian satires.