What is satire exactly? From the Latin satura lanx, meaning “medley, dish of colourful fruits.” William Thrall in A Handbook to Literature says it is a “literary manner that blends a critical attitude with humor and wit to the end that human institutions or humanity may be improved.”
Examples of satire date as far back as the second millennium BC, but satire is usually seen as a product of Greco-Roman culture. Horatian was named for Roman satirist named Horace. His tone was critical yet playful and relatively mild, often sympathetic. He used tactics of wit and humour. Juvenalian satire was named after Juvenal, another Roman satirist. His tone was darker, pessimistic, sometimes without humour. Often, his tactical approaches consisted of showing scorn, outrage, and sharpness.
It characterized a lot of texts. Writers weren’t writing as isolated artists, but they were involved in the community and felt a sense of morality or civic duty. There were huge rivalries fought over endless pages. Some famous examples included John Dryden (1631-1700) who wrote A Discourse concerning the Original and Progress of Satire (1693). Instead of calling someone an idiot, he demonstrates how absurd they are through words. “Had I ranted, I would have been called out”- very strategic on how you would say something. This shows how satire be used as a weapon.
Alexander Pope wrote The Rape of the Lock (1712) and The Dunciad (1728). He talks about women’s breasts as being “udders.” He doesn’t talk about female writers’ work, instead preferring to discuss her in a lewd manner. In turn, he was satirized as being caricatured as a monkey. Depicted as a pope monkey with a donkey, this symbolized the stubbornness and stupidity of animals. This was essentially a parody of a parodist.
Graphic Satire was focused on common topics like politics, manners, mores, fashion, etc. At the time, France was a thorn in the side of England, and it was believed that French influence was too strong. James Gillray parodied this as England being “Frenchified” and fed French influence. At the time, France had a notion of illicit sex. Literature played well into it, because amatory fiction originated in that country. French fashions could be attractive but seen as too risqué. Elaborate hairstyles were parodied by artists as being too high and heavy.
Satire was both used as a way of commenting on the elements of society and as a method of criticism of the problems affecting society by injecting it with humour and wit. It was to provide a social commentary on what was good and what could be improved.
