SATIRE: An Introduction

1. SATIRE: An Introduction

2. Irony SATIRE Desire for reform or change Criticism

3. Components of Satire • Irony • Criticism • Desire to see reform or change All elements can exist separately, but when joined together, the result is satire.

4. Ironic Component to Satire • All humor has its foundation in irony. Therefore, satire will be ironic. • However… not all irony is humorous. • Neither is all satire! • Some of the most effective or memorable satires have been painfully serious.

5. Types of Satire • Horatian • Satires that are light and humorous • Named after Roman author Horace • Juvenalian • Satires that are dark, bitter, and often disturbing • Named after Roman author Juvenal

6. Subgenres of Satire • Parody – humorous imitation of serious subject • Caricature – humorously exaggerates a particular quality, feature, or characteristic of a person or a group • Burlesque – treats a trifling subject in a serious manner • * These terms may overlap! It is more important to recognize that an author is being satirical than to distinguish parody from burlesque

7. Satirical Characters, part one – pessimists • Pessimists: dissatisfied people who take a gloomy view and expect bad things to happen • Misanthropes: pessimists who despise the human race • Cynics: pessimists who distrust the sincerity and motives of other people

8. Satirical characters,part two – optimists • Optimists: cheerful people who generally take a hopeful view of things and expect good results • Philanthropist: one who loves the human race and works toward its betterment • Pollyanna: named for an eternally happy little girl from literature; example would be Little Orphan Annie (“The sun will come out tomorrow”)

9. Method used by Satirists • Wit: quick perception, especially of the incongruous, and verbal skill • Sarcasm: irony, used intentionally to insult and wound • Repartee: ability to answer quickly and pointedly, often with wit or sarcasm • Often employ allusion, understatement, hyperbole, and other forms of irony • The ability to recognize these techniques distinguishes the reader who “gets it” from the one who does not.

10. Killing the “Sacred Cows” • Although satire runs the risk of offending the audience, this does not deter serious satirists. • They believe unless the audience feels uncomfortable about the topic, they cannot achieve the goal of motivating the audience to some sort of improvement. • Because there is no topic off limits to a satirist, political and religious subjects are often found.

11. Timeliness and Topicality • Satire tends to be timely and topical… • What would be the point of a humorous criticism of some remote historical or social problem? • Satire is aimed at those who know something, and the uninformed audience will rarely, if ever, appreciate the achievement of the satirist.

12. Present-day Connections • Do you know of any famous satirists or their works? • Can you think of examples of modern satires (TV, movies, readings)? • What topics would you use if you were writing a satire?

13. How does satire relate to language and literature? • Language is a means of communication. • Writers either say what they mean (literal) • Or say something other than what they mean (figurative) • Literal language needs no special interpretation beyond comprehension.

14. Figurative Language • Unlike literal language, figurative language requires interpretation. • Comparative uses of figurative language include metaphor, simile, personification, allusion, synecdoche, metonymy, etc. • Some figurative language is not comparative but ironic. In this case we must examine what the author said and deduce what the author meant.

15. Three types of irony • Verbal irony – results from the discrepancy between what is said and what is meant • Dramatic irony – results from the discrepancy between what the reader knows is true and what a character believes is true • Situational irony – results from the discrepancy between what one expects will or should happen and what actually does happen

16. Sarcasm • Many rhetorical terms exist in rhetoric to distinguish between types of verbal irony. The most common term is sarcasm. • When a writer is being sarcastic, he is saying something other than what he means, but also with the special intent of causing pain. • Sarcasm comes from the Greek and means “to tear the flesh”

17. Emotional effect of irony • Important to note that irony usually has an emotional effect on the reader rather than an intellectual one. • Instead of causing us to think about what is being said, irony triggers an almost automatic emotional response, usually either laughter or tears.

18. Wit • Wit refers to quickness of mind and sharp verbal skill. • It incorporates the ability to comprehend, especially to note the incongruous, and to express oneself succinctly and accurately on a topic. • It is different from intelligence and knowledge, suggesting an intellectual brilliance and delight in its ability to entertain.

19. Famous wits • Winston Churchill • George Bernard Shaw • Mark Twain • Oscar Wilde • Moliere • Alexander Pope

20. Maxims • Maxims are short remarks, usually no longer than a sentence, that offer a bit of wisdom. • Many famous maxims illustrate a cynical view of human behavior. • Not necessarily examples of quick wit, but do offer keen insight. • Not always funny, but usually make us nod our heads in agreement.

21. Examples of Maxims • To refuse praise means that you want to be praised twice. • There are those who would never have been in love, had they never heard about love. • We are so accustomed to disguising ourselves from others, that we end by disguising ourselves from ourselves. • Ridicule hurts our honor more than does dishonor itself. • We admit our small failings in order to persuade other that we have no greater ones. • We easily forgive our friends those faults that personally do not touch us.

22. Epigram • An epigram is a short, comic remark, usually containing some surprise at the end (the surprise containing the humor). • Perfected by the Roman writer Martial in the first century. • Most of Martial’s epigrams were written to insult people. • In the original Latin, most of Martial’s epigrams were usually composed as elegaic couplets including puns

23. Examples of epigrams • Swans sing before they die – ‘twere no bad thing • Should certain people die before they sing! • Coleridge “On a volunteer singer” • God bless our good and gracious king, • Whose promise none relies on, • Who never said a foolish thing, • Nor ever did a wise one. • John Wilmot “Impromptu on Charles II”

24. Parody • Parody is the humorous imitation of a subject. • It provides satirists with one of the principal means of achieving the satirists goals – to illustrate and suggest correction of society’s flaws. • The imitation can be either subject matter or style, but to be a parody the writing needs the element of humor. • Colloquial synonyms for parody include spoof, take-off, and send-up.

25. Upon Julia’s Clothes By Robert Herrick Whenas in silks my Julia goes, Then, then, methinks, how sweetly flows The liquefaction of her clothes. Next, when I cast my eyes, and see That brave vibration, each way free, O how that glittering taketh me! Whenas in Jeans By Paul Dehn Whenas in jeans my Julia crams Her vasty hips and mammoth hams And zips-up all her diaphragms, Then, then, methinks, how quaintly shows (Vermilion-painted, like the rose) The laquefaction of her toes. Parody of a famous poem

26. Caricature • Caricature, popular in satire and in visual art, is a portrait characterized by a particularly exaggerated feature. • Often found in political cartoons, where artists highlight and distort one feature, a hairstyle, or another physical attribute, and the cartoon viewer is expected to recognize the subject through that one exaggerated feature. • Caricature is hard to see in short excerpts because a good novelist treats characters consistently, and so in prose, unlike in cartoons, the effect is usually cumulative rather than immediate. • A satirical writer will often sacrifice a realistic, balanced view of a character in favor of an exaggerated caricature in order to achieve the satire’s desired effect.

27. Burlesque • When we feel that a writer is not taking a subject seriously enough, or the converse, that the writer is mocking the subject by giving it more serious treatment than it deserves, we are usually observing a satirical technique called burlesque. • Found in Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Pirates of Penzance” or in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels.