What is Satire in Literature? (Definition)
Satire is a mode of writing that uses humour, irony, ridicule, or exaggeration to expose and criticise the failings of individuals, institutions, or societies. Satire is rarely just mockery; the laughter is in service of an argument. The satirist asks the reader to look at something familiar—a political system, a social custom, a human vice—and see it as absurd or harmful.
Satire ranges from gentle (Austen's irony about marriage markets) to savage (Swift's proposal to eat Irish babies). Recognising satire requires distinguishing the writer's surface argument from their actual argument: a satirist may appear to recommend a course of action while in fact condemning it. Missing the irony means missing the point entirely.
Examples of Satire
Example 1: Satire in A Modest Proposal
Swift's satirical proposal that the Irish poor should sell their children as food to the wealthy is a savage attack on English economic policy toward Ireland. The calm, statistical tone is the device—Swift mimics the language of contemporary policy pamphlets to expose how those pamphlets already treated Irish people as economic units rather than human beings.
Example 2: Satire in Animal Farm
Orwell satirises the simplicity of revolutionary slogans by reducing the animals' political philosophy to a chant the sheep can bleat. The satire works because the slogan is genuinely absurd and genuinely effective—Orwell's argument is that real political slogans operate the same way, and crowds chant them just as mindlessly.
Example 3: Satire in Pride and Prejudice
Austen's opening sentence is satire of the marriage market: the 'universal truth' is in fact the calculation of mothers like Mrs Bennet, who treat eligible men as prizes to be won. By stating the assumption as a universal law, Austen makes its absurdity visible without ever directly criticising it.