Don Quixote

Don Quixote is widely regarded as a major work of satirical literature. Like other satirical works, it uses humor and irony as tools for social critique, and the primary target of its satire is the tradition of chivalric literature that was popular in Cervantes’s day. In the Prologue, Cervantes comments upon the techniques and goals of his satire: 

You should also try to ensure that the melancholy man is moved to laughter when he reads your history, the jovial man laughs even more, the simpleton is not discouraged, the judicious marvel at its inventiveness, the serious-minded do not scorn it nor the wise fail to praise it. In short, always have as your aim the demolition of the ill-founded fabric of these books of chivalry, despised by so many and praised by many more; and if this is what you achieve, it will be no mean achievement.

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