The Game of Ombre

1
The Game of Ombre

• Canto 3 lines 18-100
• At the Hampton Palace

2
What is Ombre?

• Ombre (Hombre, or "The Man") is a trick-taking
  card game very similar to the modern games of
  Spades and Hearts. It is also a direct ancestor
  of the modern game of Bridge. It was very popular
  among the London elite in Pope's time, and the
  game that he describes in "The Rape of the Lock"
  obeys its rules perfectly.

3
The Rules

• The game is usually played with three players
  with a standard deck of cards that has the 8's,
  9's, and 10's removed. Each player is dealt 9
  cards, and the remaining 13 cards are placed in
  the talon.
• The players bid on who will be able to take a
  majority of the tricks (five of nine). The
  winning bidder becomes the declarer (the Hombre)
  and must play against both of the other two
  players.
• The winning bidder is allowed to declare which
  suit will be trump. ("Let spades be trumps she
  said, and trumps they were. Line 46).
• Each player plays a card in a counter-clockwise
  rotation. To win the hand, the declarer must take
  five tricks.

4
Important Terms

• Trump the dominant color of the hand. (??)
• Matadors the highest three cards in any game.
  The black aces are always Matadors.
• Spadille the Ace of Spades and always the
  highest trump card.
• Basta the Ace of Clubs and always the third
  highest trump.
• Manille the card that would otherwise be the
  lowest card in the trump suite.

5
The Ranking of the Cards

• Black and red suits have a slightly different
  ranking.
• If the the trump is a black suit (spades or
  clubs), the ranking of the suit is S 2 B K Q J 7
  6 5 4 3 (S Spadille, or the Ace of Spades B
  Basta, or the Ace of Clubs)
• If the trump suit is red (hearts or diamonds),
  the cards are ranked S 7 B A K Q J 2 3 4 5 6.
• Similarly, cards in the black suits (when not
  trump) are ranked K Q J 7 6 5 4 3 2 A and cards
  in red suits (when not trump) are ranked K Q J A
  2 3 4 5 6 7.

6
The Hands

• Belinda, by the help of the Sylphs, has the four
  highest cards in the game (both black aces and
  the 2 and king of the trump suit), she is
  guaranteed to win at least four hands. However,
  because she is the designated the Ombre, she must
  win five of the nine tricks to beat both of the
  other players.

7
Round 1 (lines 49-50)
( Winning Hand)
3rdPLAYER
BARON
Belinda (Ombre, or The Man)
8
Round 2 (lines 51-52)
3rdPLAYER
BARON
Belinda (Ombre, or The Man)
9
Round 3 (lines 53-54)
3rdPLAYER
BARON
Belinda (Ombre, or The Man)
10
Round 4 (lines 55-64)
3rdPLAYER
BARON
Belinda (Ombre, or The Man)
11
Round 5 (lines 65-74)
3rdPLAYER
BARON
Belinda (Ombre, or The Man)
12
Round 6 (lines 75-86)
3rdPLAYER
BARON
Belinda (Ombre, or The Man)
13
Round 7 (lines 75-86)
3rdPLAYER
BARON
Belinda (Ombre, or The Man)
14
Round 8 (lines 87-92)
3rdPLAYER
BARON
Belinda (Ombre, or The Man)
15
Round 9 (lines 93-100)
3rdPLAYER
BARON
Belinda (Ombre, or The Man)
16
The Significance of the Game

• The Mock-Heroic Battle Pope is suggesting that
  the energy and passion once applied to brave and
  serious purposes is now expanded on such
  insignificant trials as games and gambling, which
  become a mere front for flirtation.
• The fall of the Queen of Hearts Perhaps
  implicates the disgrace that Belinda later is
  going to face.
• The final Victory of the King of Hearts One way
  we can interpret is that the final victory of a
  male represents the success of the Barons
  attempt.
• But another way we see that hearts possibly
  echoes with line 144 of canto 3, when Ariel
  entered Belindas brain, that an earthly lover
  lurks at her heart.