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.
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