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Pathos
Definition of Satire
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of satire, but satirists can take... read full definition
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of... read full definition
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians... read full definition
Key Examples in Edward II
Act 1, Scene 4
Explanation and Analysis—The Catholic Church:
The return of Piers Gaveston to England becomes an immediate point of contention in the English court, as he his regarded by virtually all of the nobility as a scheming and socially ambitious commoner. The King soon finds that his decision to lift Gaveston's exile is also opposed by the religious authorities of his nation, as the Bishop of Coventry, a powerful figure in the Church, travels to London in order to petition against Gaveston. The King responds with a lengthy diatribe that satirizes the Catholic church:
Why should a king be subject to a priest?
Proud Rome, that hatchest such imperial grooms,
For these thy superstitious taper lights,
Wherewith thy antichristian churches blaze,
I’ll fire thy crazèd buildings and enforce
The papal towers to kiss the lowly ground,
With slaughtered priests make Tiber’s channel swell,
And banks raised higher with their sepulchres.
Related Themes:
