Belinda by Alexander Pope: Summary

Belinda is an extract taken from the mock epic 'The Rape of the Lock' in which the main character Belinda is doing her make up before going to a place where all the high-class people chat, gossip and drink tea and coffee.

First of all, Belinda dressed in white robes and bareheaded, worships with concentration the deities who preside over the art of makeup. Thus, she looks at her own reflection in the mirror. The reflection reveals to her heavenly beauty. Therefore, she looks for the details of her make-up and embellishments.

She stoops down to examine the lower portion of her body right, and then she looks again at the reflection in the mirror. The inferior priestess stands by the side of the sacred table. She is there to assist Belinda in her make-up and dressing, and trembling with fear for the best she begins the ritual of dressing up her proud mistress. Numerous caskets are opened, each of which contains precious presents from different parts of the world. From each casket, Betty, the inferior priestess, takes out skillfully and with exact care some bright and precious things to adorn the Goddess (Belinda).

From one casket she picks out the most brilliant pearls and diamonds of India, and from another she takes out the best perfume of Arabia. Next, she takes up the spotted combs made of tortoise shells, and the milky white combs made of ivory. Then she uses the rows of shining pins, hairpins, puffs, powders, patches, bibles and love-letters.

The awfully beautiful Belinda now puts on her different ornaments and cosmetics to add still further to her beauty. Her entrancing beauty appears to greater advantage with every adoring piece of jewels. Her smiles become more attractive and her graces more important with the use of cosmetics and jewels. All the wonders of her face area roused when her cheeks are artfully roughed. Her eyelashes and eyelids are delicately colored so as to give to her eyes the brightness of the lighting.

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Sharma, K.N. "Belinda by Alexander Pope: Summary." BachelorandMaster, 20 Oct. 2013, bachelorandmaster.com/britishandamericanpoetry/belinda.html.