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What does Pope's "The Rape of the Lock" reveal about 17th century England?

First, we should note that Alexander Pope's "The Rape of the Lock" doesn't tell us about life for most people in England of the period, but only about the lives of the very wealthy and fashionable. It doesn't describe working conditions for peasants or craftspeople or even the lives of the servants who keep the court functioning. In a sense, though, this absence itself is informative in that it gives us a sense of the distance between the lives of the wealthy elites and most of the population.


Next, we get a sense that this is a very status conscious society, in which maintaining "face" or appearances is very important. 


The society has a strong element of gender inequality and double standards concerning sexual conduct. Men gain status by promiscuity or sexual conquest and women lose status by it. 


As a satire, it comments on what Pope exposes as the vanity and worldliness of the upper classes. 

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