Satire in Moliere and Swift
The Oxford Dictionary defines Satire as “the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.” Satire is a literary way of providing possible change to humanity and its institutions. In Swift’s A Modest Proposal and Moliere’s Tartuffe, the two authors indirectly ridicule and criticize human characteristics and behavior but with the aim of trying to make them improve instead of demolishing them. In Swift’s A Modest Proposal, Swift through the fictional character satirizes the cruel behavior between Irish Catholics and English Protestants in the English led Ireland (Puchner eta al., 72). The proposal’s real horror is seen when the persona declares his plans of selling the children from low-income families to the wealthy, as a special …show more content…
In this piece, Swift uses satire to criticize the Irish and the incompetence of man in dealing with his issues whether they are rich, poor, white, black, English, or Irish. The play Tartuffe by Moliere focuses on religious hypocrisy. Tartuffe is the antagonist and hypocrite who represents the members of the clergy but does not live by the morals they try to preach. For example, in Act 3, Scene 2, Tartuffe shows his hypocrisy when he tells Dorine: “Cover your bust. The flesh is weak; souls are forever damaged by such sights when sinful thoughts begin their evil flights.” In this scene, Tartuffe preaches chastity, but later goes against the statement when he tries to pursue Elmire. Orgon is the character used as the channel for religious hypocrisy. He perceived to be very successful that’s why he could no longer participate in
The Oxford Dictionary defines Satire as “the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.” Satire is a literary way of providing possible change to humanity and its institutions. In Swift’s A Modest Proposal and Moliere’s Tartuffe, the two authors indirectly ridicule and criticize human characteristics and behavior but with the aim of trying to make them improve instead of demolishing them. In Swift’s A Modest Proposal, Swift through the fictional character satirizes the cruel behavior between Irish Catholics and English Protestants in the English led Ireland (Puchner eta al., 72). The proposal’s real horror is seen when the persona declares his plans of selling the children from low-income families to the wealthy, as a special …show more content…
In this piece, Swift uses satire to criticize the Irish and the incompetence of man in dealing with his issues whether they are rich, poor, white, black, English, or Irish. The play Tartuffe by Moliere focuses on religious hypocrisy. Tartuffe is the antagonist and hypocrite who represents the members of the clergy but does not live by the morals they try to preach. For example, in Act 3, Scene 2, Tartuffe shows his hypocrisy when he tells Dorine: “Cover your bust. The flesh is weak; souls are forever damaged by such sights when sinful thoughts begin their evil flights.” In this scene, Tartuffe preaches chastity, but later goes against the statement when he tries to pursue Elmire. Orgon is the character used as the channel for religious hypocrisy. He perceived to be very successful that’s why he could no longer participate in