Explain the following lines from The Rape of the Lock: "How vain are all these Glories, all our Pains, Unless good Sense preserve what Beauty gains:"

The following lines appear in "The Rape of the Lock",
Canto Five, lines 15-16:

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How vain are all these Glories, all our
Pains,
Unless good Sense preserve what Beauty
gains:

The lines refer to the
fact that beauty is questioned in regards to its being honored by the "wise Man's
passion" and the "vain Man's Toast." This is compounded on when the questions arises
about women being compared to angels in regards to their beauty alone- men do not
compare women to angels because of their minds or
morality.

The lines above refer to the fact that vanity,
above all else, seems to be on the minds of men. The women find it unsensible that
beauty alone holds men and that good sense does not factor into the equation at
all.