SUPERNATURAL ELEMENTS IN ‘RAPE OF THE LOCK’ By Alexander Pope A supernatural element is defined as an element that exists outside natural law, that is, it is beyond what we hold as natural. In some sociees, religious miracles are considered to be supernatural elements that are akin to spells, curses and divinaon. The supernatural machinery of the poem is derived from the Rosicrucian doctrine as formulated by Le Comte in Germany in the 17th Century. According to this theory, there are four elements- fire, water, earth and air. In most of the famous epics, “machinery” consists in supernatural beings like gods and angels who play a vital role in the poems thus showing that the human world is not independent and that supernatural powers have an important bearing in this world. Pope thought that his mock epic would be incomplete without machinery. The machinery of his poem comprises the sylphs led by Ariel. In the Rape of the Lock Pope explains that “machinery” is a term invented by the crics to signify the part which deies, angles, or demons play in a poem. He goes on to say that the machinery in this poem is based on the Rosicrucian doctrine of