British satire  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions is an 1884 novella by Edwin Abbott Abbott, still popular among mathematics and computer science students, and considered useful reading for people studying topics such as the concept of other dimensions. As a piece of literature, Flatland is respected for its satire on the social hierarchy of Victorian society.

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satire, British caricature

Swift and Defoe

Jonathan Swift was one of the greatest of Anglo-Irish satirists, and one of the first to practise modern journalistic satire. For instance, his A Modest Proposal suggests that poor Irish parents be encouraged to sell their own children as food. In his book Gulliver's Travels he writes about the flaws in human society in general and English society in particular. Swift creates a moral fiction, a world in which parents do not have their most obvious responsibility, which is to protect their children from harm. Similarly, Defoe presents a world in which freedom of religion is reduced to the freedom to conform. Swift's purpose is of course to attack indifference to the plight of the desperately poor, and Defoe's to advocate freedom of conscience.

Satire in Victorian England

Satire, Victorian England

Novelists such as Charles Dickens often used passages of satiric writing in their treatment of social issues. Several satiric papers competed for the public's attention in the Victorian era and Edwardian period, such as Punch and Fun.

Perhaps the most enduring examples of Victorian satire, however, are to be found in the Savoy Operas of W. S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan. In fact, in The Yeomen of the Guard, a jester is given lines that paint a very neat picture of the method and purpose of the satirist, and might almost be taken as a statement of Gilbert's own intent:

"I can set a braggart quailing with a quip,

The upstart I can wither with a whim;

He may wear a merry laugh upon his lip,

But his laughter has an echo that is grim!"

Examples

Disrespect to members of the establishment and authority, typified by:

• Beyond the Fringe, stage revue (1960–1966).
• That Was the Week That Was (TW3), late night TV satire on BBC2 (1962–1966).
• Private Eye, satirical magazine (1961–).
• Not the Nine O'Clock News, satirical sketch show, notable for launching the careers of Rowan Atkinson, Griff Rhys Jones, Pamela Stephenson and Mel Smith on BBC2 (1979–1982).
• Yes Minister, political sitcom on BBC2 (1980–1988).
• The Young Ones, a cult sitcom starring Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmondson, Nigel Planer and Christopher Ryan on BBC2 (1982–1984).
• The Comic Strip Presents..., a series of short satirical films on both BBC2 and Channel 4 (1982–2012).
• Discworld, comic fantasy book series written by Terry Pratchett; heavy with irony criticising various aspects of society (1983–2015).
• Spitting Image, TV puppet comedy lampooning the famous and powerful on ITV (1984–1996).
• Drop the Dead Donkey, Channel 4 sitcom recorded close to transmission that satirised the weekly events (1990–1998).
• Have I Got News for You, a satirical panel game originally on BBC2, now on BBC1 (1990–).
• The Day Today, Nineties TV satire (1994).
• Brass Eye, a controversial alternative prime-time show on Channel 4 (1997–2001).
• The Armando Iannucci Shows, satirical TV show on Channel 4 (2001).
• The Thick of It, satirical political sitcom (2005–2012).
• Mock the Week, a satirical current affairs panel game on BBC2. (2005–).
• Time Trumpet, Noughties TV satire (2006).
• The Last Leg, Channel 4 (2012–)

Bibliography

1. English Satire and Satirists by Hugh Walker; 1925
2. English satire by James Sutherland - 1962 -

See also

• Rolliad
• Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires Preserved in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum