In an early 1700’s newspaper, The Spectator, the author Joseph Addison creates a diarist of the upper class. The fabricated author shows off the lavish lifestyle of the affluent back then in an attempt to connect with the common rich citizens reading the paper. On the outside that is how it may appear, however, being a clearly satirical piece the real aim is at making fun of these people’s lifestyles and the sheer pointlessness of the lifestyles. The diarist goes through almost an entire week of his life with such precision, giving off the facade of importance when it really just goes to show the lack thereof. The author’s use of detail and repetitiveness, along with an overarching theme of satire creates a piece as a whole which has no point,
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The author’s description of this type of person is very simple. They eat, sleep a lot and go to the men’s club over and over. The repetitive lifestyle in and of itself, no matter how lavish, is useless to anyone besides the people living it. And even then there is a question pertaining to their purpose as they serve no service to the community. Because they inherited most of their money, they don’t work and help others by doing so. This is evident by the diarist not mentioning work once and even more obvious when he mentions the amounts of times he went to the coffee house and club (four and five times respectfully). The most intriguing use of repetition lends itself to creating a perfect satirical view. From the first time it mentions, “Grand Vizier strangled.” it doesn’t let go of the seemingly innocuous occurrence. Yes, the killing was a big deal, but it barely affected the diarist whatsoever. Being English, the death of an Officer of the Ottoman Empire had little impact on his daily life. Yet, the murder of the Grand Vizier was all the diarist had on his mind according to the very detailed diary entries. Six times he mentions the Officer, either being part of his discussions or in his dreams. The most satirical part, maybe of the entire piece, is that with nothing better to do with his life and time he concerned
The author’s description of this type of person is very simple. They eat, sleep a lot and go to the men’s club over and over. The repetitive lifestyle in and of itself, no matter how lavish, is useless to anyone besides the people living it. And even then there is a question pertaining to their purpose as they serve no service to the community. Because they inherited most of their money, they don’t work and help others by doing so. This is evident by the diarist not mentioning work once and even more obvious when he mentions the amounts of times he went to the coffee house and club (four and five times respectfully). The most intriguing use of repetition lends itself to creating a perfect satirical view. From the first time it mentions, “Grand Vizier strangled.” it doesn’t let go of the seemingly innocuous occurrence. Yes, the killing was a big deal, but it barely affected the diarist whatsoever. Being English, the death of an Officer of the Ottoman Empire had little impact on his daily life. Yet, the murder of the Grand Vizier was all the diarist had on his mind according to the very detailed diary entries. Six times he mentions the Officer, either being part of his discussions or in his dreams. The most satirical part, maybe of the entire piece, is that with nothing better to do with his life and time he concerned