Canto III is part of a poem written by Alexander Pope and published in 1714. The literary term that best describes the situation that occurs in Canto III when Clarissa hands the Baron pair of scissors (in the poem they are described as "two edge weapon") would be the one of satire.
A satire is a literary technique used by writers to expose and criticize the foolishness and corruption of a certain character or society by the use of humor, irony, exaggeration or ridicule.
In the poem, Pope used satire because he based that scene in a real life occurrence, in which a British Lord, cut off a lock of hair from the head of the beautiful Arabella Fermor. This incident set a battle royal between the families of the Lord and the family of Arabella.
