Why is the 18th century often called an age of satire?

Satire can be described as the literary art in verse or prose, the function of which is to expose the vices or follies of some person or persons, with the purpose of ridiculing or bantering. The objective of satire is critical, but a good satire, as noted by Dryden, has clinical and corrective effects too.

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Why is the 18th century often called an age of satire?

The 18th century is essentially an Age of Satire. Judging and condemning became common to the society of this age, and this habit naturally gave birth to the spirit of satire. Actually in the 18th century satire is everywhere in the air. There is satire in poetry, in drama, in prose, as well as in the essay and novel. Indeed it is a great age of Prose-Satire, and Jonathan Swift, the greatest of prose Satirists in English, belongs to this period. Addison and Steele are the other remarkable prose satirists of the century. So Satire is the predominant form of literature of the 18th century and Swift, Addison and Steele used this powerful weapon in their famous work.

Discuss 18th century as the age of satire.

Ans: 

         Satire can be described as the literary art in verse or prose, the function of which is to expose the vices or follies  of some person or persons with the purpose of ridiculing or bantering. The objective of satire is critical, but a good satire, as noted by Dryden, has clinical and corrective effects too.

                    The 18th century is essentially an age of satire. Judging and condemning became common to the society of this age and this habit naturally gave birth to the spirit of satire. Actually, in the 18th century Satire is everywhere in the air. There is satire in poetry, in drama, in prose as well as in the essay and novel. Indeed, it is a great age of prose-satire and Jonathan Swift, the greatest of prose satirists in English, belongs to this period. Addison and Steele are the other  remarkable prose satirists of the century.

                   Jonathan Swift is the prince of English satirists. Every kind of affection, hypocrisy,folly,vices, pretension etc comes under his lash. His contribution to English literature is immense and he stands out primarily as an innovator in his prose  satire. As an author of prose satire, he is remembered particularly for a number of works including The Battle of the Books, The Tale of a Tub and Gulliver's Travels.

                 The Battle of the Books is a quite engaging work, where the satire is both personal and general.It is a highly successful exercise in Belittlement.  Swift's purpose here is to expose and ridicule modern literary men and life under the cover of an ingenious allegory of the fable of The Spider and The Bee.

                   The Tale of a Tub is a virulent satire on the three principal forms of religion. Here he lashes at the follies and corruptions of religion.

                    Gulliver's Travels is a sort of allegory in which the author's purpose is satirical. Swift, here under the cloak of fantastic stories, satirises the politics of his days, the religious quarrels, the worse  of ambition, the lubrications of science, as also the very nature of man and of the whole human species. The allegorical element is presented in an entertaining way and the moral aspect is nowhere  rudely pushed forth.

                 In the late 17th and early 18th century, we find Dryden, Swift and Pope satirizing their personal and political enemies, though when at their best, they rise from the personal to the impersonal. Politics and literary  rivalry  are all transformed by them into genuine Satire and we get a general view of the follies and vices of the period.

              In the satirical literature of England, Dryden remains an unforgettable name. He is given a dignified place in the temple of poetic fame for his principal satires - Absalom and Achitophel, The Medal and Mac Flecknoe.

              Satire predominates in the work of Pope. The Rape of the Lock, The Dunciad, Moral Essays, Satires and Epistles of Horace. Imitated Epistles to Arbuthnot are the best of his Satires.

              Dr. Johnson is another verse satirist. His two verse satires are London and The Vanity of Human Wishes.

               The English satire developed more powerful in prose literature of the 18th century also. Swift,Addison, Steele are the remarkable prose satirists of the age. Swift's Gulliver's Travels, The Tale of a Tub, The Battle of the Books etc are noteworthy. The tatler and The Spectator are remarkable prose works of Addison. As Satire is the predominant form of literature of the 18th century. Swift, Addison and Steele used this powerful weapon in their famous works.The Satire note is also seen in Fielding's novels like Joseph Andrews and Tom Jones. After all, the New Classical age was an age of Satire and there was satire everywhere.

Why is the 18th century often called an age of satire?
18th century as the age of satire

 Honours in English, NU,BD

When did the age of satire begin?

Eighteenth Century: The Age of Satire. Following the eternal conflict between aestheticism and didactic arts, satire has been problematized time and again, still always finding a place in literature. As early as in the 4th century B.C.

What are the characteristics of Elizabethan satire?

The racy, humorous style of the Elizabethan satirists like Wyatt, Spenser and Donne suited best in an age of excellence and creativity. Spenser established the heroic couplet as the standard metre of the English verse satire, though he was rather mild in his criticism of the soldiers, courtiers, and clergymen.

What is an example of satire in the enclosure movement?

The time suited satire to emerge as a pamphleteering device; Dryden's MacFlecknoe and Absalom and Achitophel can be taken as examples. The enclosure movement led the country folk to immigrate to towns. Filthy and overcrowded, they became the warrens of poverty, disease and death.

What did George Meredith say about satire?

George Meredith saw the satirist as 'a moral scavenger, working on a storage of bile'. James Sutherland blamed that a satirist 'destroys what is already there…and he does not necessarily offer to fill the vacuum that he has created [English Satire].

Why 18th century called the age of satire?

Satire was very popular in eighteenth century Europe. “In England, 'this golden age' of satire” included Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift (Applebee 584). “The eighteenth century was dominated by satiric poetry, prose, and drama.

Why the 18th century called the Age of Reason?

The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, was an intellectual and cultural movement in the eighteenth century that emphasized reason over superstition and science over blind faith.

Which Age is referred to as the age of satire?

The 18th century is essentially an age of satire. Judging and condemning became common to the society of this age and this habit naturally gave birth to the spirit of satire.

Why is the 18th century known as the neoclassical age?

The period is called neoclassical because its writers looked back to the ideals and art forms of classical times, emphasizing even more than their Renaissance predecessors the classical ideals of order and rational control.