MOCK HEROIC EPIC

 MOCK HEROIC EPIC

      "What dire offense from amorous causes springs,

      What mighty contests rise from trivial things,

      I sing”            ALEXANDER POEPE

INTRODUCTION:           Mock epic is also known as Mock Heroic Epic. It is a type of poem written in the epic style but aims to ridicule at the follies or vices of the society. Mock epics are full of satire. This kind of poetry became popular during the Neo-Classical age of Alexander Pope.

DEFINITION:          Mock-epic is a long narrative poem written in mock-heroic style, intended to be humorous. It is a parody of the epic style in which trivial subjects are treated seriously.

FEATURES OF MOCK HEROIC EPIC:          

1. Invocation in epic tradition.
2. Elaborate descriptions of battles, warriors and their weapons.
3. Use of supernatural elements.
4. Long speeches.
5. Use of grand and exalted style of the serious epic.
6. Use of epic or Homeric similes or elaborate comparisons
7. Division of the work into books and cantos.

1.   Imitation and mockery of the conventional epics

2.   Trivial subject matters treated in a highly elevated style.

3.   Use of satire, sarcasm, exaggeration.

HISTORY OF MOCK EPIC:

Mock-epic flourished and developed in England during the late 17th and early 18th-century Neo-classical period as a reaction against the traditional epic poetry. This form of literature was used by the Neo-classical poets to expose the follies and vices of the contemporary English society.

 

John Dryden (1631–1700) is one of the earliest poets to popularize this genre with his Mac Flecknoe (1682). This poem is a direct attack on Thomas Shadwell (c. 1642–1692), a major contemporary of Dryden.

Alexander Pope is considered as the greatest exponent of the Mock Epic during the 18^th century. His The Rape of the Lock (1712 and 1714) is deemed to be the finest example of mock-epic in English literature. The poem presents the story of the stealing of a lock of hair of a pretty young lady that resembles the kidnapping of Helen of Troy portrayed in The Iliad. In this poem Pope did superbly well in handling a trivial subject in the dignified style of a traditional epic. He has used almost all basic conventions of an epic, including the formal invocation, the supernatural machinery, a journey on water, a visit to the underworld, the arming of the epic hero, description of weapons, and a heroically scaled battle.

The ‘Dunciad’ is another famous mock-epic by Pope having many qualities of an epic.

During the 18^th century several prose works were also written in this style. Henry Fielding's ‘Joseph Andrews’ (1742), is also described as “a comic epic …in prose.”

 During the 19^th century (Romantic Revival) Lord Byron wrote his long narrative poem Don Juan (1819–1824), which is also considered a mock-epic to some extent. By employing wit, humor, irony, exaggeration, etc. he exposed and satirized the hypocrisy and the corruption of higher society.

EPIC Vs MOCK EPIC

EPIC	MOCK EPIC
The hero and major characters come from upper class or royal families.	The hero often comes from  lower social class, though sometimes upper class characters are also chosen.
Subject matter is high serious and universal.	Subject matter is silly and trivial with personal interest.
Heroic deeds of the major characters are presented in an elevated style so as to inspire the whole humanity.	Sins and malpractices of the major characters are exposed so as to mock at them.
Consists of several volumes and much longer in length.	Consists a fewer volumes and usually much shorter than the traditional epic.

CONCLUSION:                In this way, we may sum up by saying that Mock Heroic Epic is a type of poem which imitates the style and features of epic poem but aims at laughing at the society. Full of satire and irony, mock epics were popular during the 18^th century in English literature. Following remark rightly concludes the features of mock epic:

“...the very greatest satire, I came to think -- the kind that lives forever -- ultimately grew out of a debunking attitude toward the self. To see the world mock-heroically was necessarily to engage in a sort of preliminary self-burlesque. You couldn't take yourself that seriously. You were part of it. All the Lilliputian preening and pomposity was, at bottom, one's own.” ― Terry Castle, The Professor and Other Writings