Satire

the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and/or criticize people’s, institutions’, or trends’ foibles, stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.

What is this a Satire of?

Horatian Satire Horace, Roman Poet (65 – 8 BCE) Odes “playfully criticizes” social vices and foibles through “gentle, mild, and light-hearted humor.” The humor is often self-depreciating (the author shares the same foible or vice with the audience) The vice is seen as a “folly” rather than “evil” This kind of satire exposes certain vices but is also sympathetic toward the characters who experience these vices.

Juvenalian Satire * Juvenal (late 1 st century) * abrasive *aggressive attack on social evils * “savage ridicule” often marked by “dark irony” and sarcasm. * is unsympathetic