How does "The Rape of the Lock" reflect 18th century society?

"The Rape of the Lock" offers a window into upper-class society in the early 18th century. At this time, England was rising as an empire and on the brink of becoming a world power. Wealth from various colonies, especially colonial outposts in India, flooded into the country, most of it to be captured by the upper classes. 

In this poem, we see a very wealthy upper class enjoying leisure and trivial pursuits. They go to...

"The Rape of the Lock" offers a window into upper-class society in the early 18th century. At this time, England was rising as an empire and on the brink of becoming a world power. Wealth from various colonies, especially colonial outposts in India, flooded into the country, most of it to be captured by the upper classes. 

In this poem, we see a very wealthy upper class enjoying leisure and trivial pursuits. They go to balls, visit each other, gossip, drink tea, and play cards. The poem mocks  them for their idleness and their tendency to exaggerate issues that don't matter into "epics" or "dramas" of grand proportions. Today, we might call them "drama queens" or say they make mountains out of a molehill. 

As Pope writes, the rich focus on the following:

Who gave the ball, or paid the visit last;
One speaks the glory of the British Queen,
And one describes a charming Indian screen;
A third interprets motions, looks, and eyes;
At every word a reputation dies.

The "Indian screen" represents the many coveted objects from India coming into England, expanding a mercantile or trade-based culture. Tea drinking represents wealth, as the tea imported from China was very expensive in the early 18th century (the cost would fall over the course of the century), and thus a status symbol. "At every word a reputation dies" suggests that upper-class people engaged in petty and destructive gossip rather than building a strong community.

The poem reflects anxieties that the British upper class lacked the courage, virtues and abilities of the men and women in the Greek and Roman world. By framing the poem as a Classical (Greco-Roman) mock epic, Pope highlights how trivial and misguided upper class pursuits had become in comparison to the real probems the Greeks and Romans faced. If a war were to come, could the British upper classes lead armies effectively? Could a group focused on card playing, gossip, flirtations, and balls manage the growth of England into a world power? At this time, England looked to Rome with great admiration as a model of how to run an empire: the poem calls out to people to note what is lacking in the English and to become more serious.