Why did Alexander Pope write The Rape of the Lock?

Alexander Pope wrote his mock-epic poem, The Rape of the Lock, primarily to reconcile two Catholic families who had become estranged following a social incident.12

The conflict arose when a young man stole a lock of hair from a young woman, sparking a dispute between their respective families. Pope chose to address this trivial event by framing it with the grand, elevated language typically reserved for epic subjects, such as the legendary quarrel between the Greeks and the Trojans in Homer’s works. By applying such "pomp and circumstance" to a minor social disagreement, Pope used wit and irony to highlight the absurdity of the situation and the superficial values of the society in which these families lived.12