What is satire?
Satire is writing, drawing or acting that uses humour to show the faults of people, ideas or society, and to push for change. A satirist laughs at a problem so that others can see it clearly.
Satire has three parts: a target (the fault, such as laziness, greed, lies), a tool (how the joke is made) and a message (what we should think or do). If there is only a joke and no message, it is just comedy. If there is only a message and no joke, it is a lecture.
The tools of a satirist
- Exaggeration (hyperbole): make a thing far bigger than real. A man who sleeps with three phones.
- Irony: say the opposite of what you mean. "What a lovely, quiet road," said the man in the traffic jam.
- Understatement: make a huge problem sound tiny. "A little late. Only three days."
- Parody: copy a serious style to make fun of it.
- Fable: animals act like people so we can see human faults safely. Humorous verse uses rhyme and rhythm to make the point stick.
Gentle or sharp?
The Roman poet Horace laughed at human weakness in a calm, friendly way: this is Horatian satire. Another Roman poet, Juvenal, wrote with anger about greed and corruption: Juvenalian satire. He is remembered for the phrase "bread and circuses", which mocks people who care only for free food and shows. Roman satire often looked at politics and everyday city life.
Famous satire since then includes Molière's play Tartuffe (about a hypocrite), Voltaire's Candide, Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal and George Orwell's Animal Farm. In Ukrainian literature, Ostap Vyshnia wrote short humorous sketches about daily life in the 1920s and after. In Hindi writing, Harishankar Parsai is known for satirical essays.
Satire and social criticism
Good satire aims at behaviour and ideas, not at people because of who they are. A fair rule: laugh at the powerful or at a bad habit, never at someone weaker. Satire works because the reader knows the real thing being copied, so it needs a clear target.
How to write one: (1) pick a real problem, (2) choose a tool, (3) write a short scene, (4) check that the joke points at the fault and not at a person, (5) end so the reader thinks.
Key formulas and definitions
- Satire = target + tool + message
- Tools: exaggeration, irony, understatement, parody, fable
- Horatian = gentle and amused; Juvenalian = sharp and angry
- Joke only = comedy; message only = lecture; joke + message = satire
Worked examples
1. Is this satire? "Our minister promises roads so smooth that cars will fly."
Yes. It exaggerates a promise (tool) to show that promises about roads are empty (message).
2. Name the tool: "What a quiet, peaceful road!" said the driver, stuck for two hours in a honking traffic jam.
Irony. He says the opposite of what is true.
3. Name the tool: "It is only a tiny leak," said the man as water flowed down the street.
Understatement. A big problem is made to sound small.
4. Write one line of satire about wasting food.
Example: "At the feast the host had so much food that the guests ate for an hour and the bin ate for a week." It exaggerates to show how much we waste.
5. Why is a fable a kind of satire?
Animals behave like people. We laugh at a proud fox or a lazy crow and see our own faults without feeling attacked.
6. How is Horatian satire different from Juvenalian satire?
Horatian satire is gentle and amused. Juvenalian satire is angry and sharp, aiming at corruption and cruelty.
Common mistakes
- Thinking satire is just rude: it must have a target and a point.
- Making fun of a person's looks, religion or background. Aim at behaviour and ideas.
- Forgetting the message. A joke with no point is only comedy.
- Mixing up irony and sarcasm. Sarcasm is a sharp, spoken kind of irony meant to hurt; irony can be gentle.