Satire - Meanness hidden in humor.
May the bird of Paradise …
John Dryden was not one to remain silent and was one of the best-known literary critics of his time. More on John Dryden. I have read that Dryden was considered England’s Poet Laureate under King Charles II. He is known for his plays, heroic poems, and his criticisms. So, by his own pronouncement, and the affirmation of his audience, Dryden became the expert on what is good or bad poetry and good or bad satire. John Dryden's Satiric Poetry Dryden considers Wit and Subtlety's essential characteristics in good satire and states that poorly written satire is when a writer is too bold that the insults hit the reader in the face like a rotten tomato. Contrarily, the insult can be so elusive that it overshoots and never hits its mark. If you are still confused as to what satire is, this teacher does a great job explaining it for me. Miss Herbertson's English Class.
Even so, Dryden’s good opinion has stained the reputation of Thomas Shadwell so deeply, that he remains ridiculed 200 years later. I argue that he claimed that satire must be subtle, but if he can give such an ill effect on one man in the minds of millions, that perhaps he was bolder than he claimed to be. Today’s satire is heavily confused with bad or ‘dirty’ comedy, and often comes in the form of a TikTok, Youtube video, or a late-night talk show host like Jimmy Fallon. The art of writing is not dead as the published news article, The Onion, is confused by some who question if the articles are truth or fiction. Added to this list are the politically motivated cartoons, memes, and comics which are an outlet for those with an artistic hand.
Across the globe, over spans of time, satire
has been a part of human interaction. It is a way for deeper opinions,
feelings, and agendas to find a voice in such a way that the designed offense
must be discovered, not outwardly handed over; not, at least, to the naked
heart. To be thoroughly effective, it must be well crafted and delivered in
such a way that when translated into any language every culture will be able to
comprehend the intended insult. A well-constructed joke is written to make you laugh, satire is written to cause one to think.
Writing is an outlet for creative people to release what would otherwise be pent up frustrations, emotions, and opinions over many taboo subjects such as politics and religion, which we are repeatedly told are to stay out of the conversations of every family reunion. But these are the two subjects that Must be talked about! Both are such a part of our daily lives that it seems like superficial talk to Not include them. Sadly, when we finally speak our hearts, instead of remaining the quiet “un-opinionated” one, many families and friendships are ruthlessly torn apart. We have lost the art of conversations where holding differing opinions is still acceptable. Instead, we are either trapped into silence, fumble over our poorly thought out responses, or use humor as a way to open our mouths and slyly find a route into the slowly opening minds of others. Then, when all else fails, in our anger towards others with differences, instead of blatant attacks, we still revert back to hostile ridicule, or ... satirical comments.
This phrase was also popularized by a song from Little
Jimmy Dickens. I hope you enjoy it!
Sources:
Ashley Marshall, John Dryden’s Satiric Poetry, https://www.bl.uk/restoration-18th-century-literature/articles/john-drydens-satiric-poetry
Biros, Sister Mary Bonaventure O.P., Dryden as a Political
Satirist In Absalom and Achitophel, http://hdl.handle.net/10429/454
Encyclopedia Britannica Contributor: James R. Sutherland, https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Dryden/Verse-satires
Little Jimmy Dickens, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v+zfYFx6MOTYU
Miss Herbertson’s English Class, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zfvtid-7VhE
Hi Carlie, your formatting looks very professional! I would suggest though that you space your text more consistently- it looks as if one of your paragraphs is single spaced while the others are double spaced. Also I'd recommend you integrate your hyperlinks better- rather than randomly placing them in the paragraph like the "More on John Dryden" or "John Dryden's Satiric Poetry" links which don't seem to be apart of any sentence, you could have, for instance, hyperlinked John Dryden's name in the first sentence for the "More on John Dryden" link.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I have already written my next post but will try that will future hyperlinks. As to the spacing, I have tried 50 different ways to change that but cannot figure out why that particular paragraph is smaller than the others. When I look at it even in Preview mode, it doesn't do that. Its only when the blog posts. Weird.
ReplyDeleteFun and engaging; everything a blog post should be.
ReplyDelete