Name: A Satire Anthology
Author: Carolyn Wells
ISBN: 978-1341927713

A Satire Anthology

By Carolyn Wells 1 Jul, 2020

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Satire, though a form of literature familiar to everyone, is difficult to define. Partaking variously of sarcasm, irony, ridicule, and burlesque, it is exactly synonymous with no one of these. Satire is primarily dependent on the motive of its writer. Unless meant for satire, it is not the real thing; unconscious satire is a contradiction of terms or a mere figure of speech. Secondarily, satire depends on the reader. What seems to us satire to-day, may not seem so to-morrow. Or, what seems satire to a pessimistic mind, may seem merely good-natured chaff to an optimist. This, of course, refers to the subtler forms of satire. Many classic satires are direct lampoons or broadsides which admit of only one interpretation. Literature numbers many satirists among its most honoured names; and the best satires show intellect, education, and a keen appreciation of human nature. Nor is satire necessarily vindictive or spiteful. Often its best examples show a kindly tolerance for the vice or folly in question and even hint a tacit acceptance of the conditions condemned. Again, in the hands of a carping and unsympathetic critic, satire is used with vitriolic effects on sins for which the writer has no mercy. This lashing form of satire was doubtless the earliest type. The Greeks show sardonic examples of it, but the Romans allowed a broader sense of humour to soften the satirical sting. and outstripping Lucilius, Horace is the acknowledged father of satire, and was himself followed, and, in the opinion of some, outstripped by Juvenal. Less

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