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Personification
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
Satire
Explanation and Analysis—The Humorous Gothic:
"The Canterville Ghost" is a satire of the Gothic fiction genre, whose prominent works include Dracula, Frankenstein, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and the collected works of Edgar Allan Poe, to name a few. Wilde's satire draws on certain distinguishing characteristics of the genre, including the personification of animals and natural phenomena, both of which are used to foreshadow supernatural events. In Gothic fiction, humans and supernatural beings take on certain roles within these genre tropes. Wilde generates a satirical commentary on the overwrought and overdramatic nature of the Gothic by subverting, or switching out, the roles of supernatural and human characters, having the American Otis family "haunt" the Canterville Ghost (as opposed to the other way around). The primary tool Wilde uses for this subversion is humor—he makes the genre farcical, drawing attention to the mechanisms whereby it operates.
Related Themes:
