Satire in Shakespeare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Satire in Shakespeare - Essay Example The true satirist is conscious of the frailty of institutions of man's devising and attempts through laughter not so much to tear them down as to inspire a remodeling" (Thrall, et al 436). There are many examples of satire in literature and media today. In literature, William Shakespeare has maintained a special place in satirical prose. He has satirized almost every folly and superficiality that he came to know of through his observations and interactions with people, yet his plays contain so many other features, that one couldn't label Shakespeare as a satirist. "There is satire, as there is everything else, in Shakespeare. The pseudo-statesman is satirized in Polonius, the courtier in Osric. Both Touchstone and Feste have caustic tongues. Malvolio shows that Shakespeare had no more liking for the Puritans than his fellow-players. Yet for all this, and for all that might be added, it would be absurd to rank Shakespeare among the satirists; and the same is true of the dramatists in general. Except when they fall into feud with one another, or with some class peculiarly obnoxious to them, they rarely make satire the staple of their plays". (Walker 114) "As you like it" is one of Shakespeare best comedies with a very high satirical tone. This play exposes the absurdity of human world, far more than any of Shakespeare's plays. In fact, it was first of its kind where the entire play 's main purpose was to ridicule certain people and situations. Pastoral romance is the focal point of his satire. On 1st July 1599, the government passed an order to suppress satirical work. This led to flaring struggles between the authorities and writers. Shakespeare closely observed this contest and created a satirical comedy on its bases. However, the dismayed and chaotic social conditions of England provided the main inducement for satirical work. In "As you like it", Jacques is the main character that fulfills the duty of a satirist. He belongs to the group of people who are discontent about life in general and are very vocal about their discontentment and dissatisfaction with life. He finds all happy people as foolish and so he finds all people in Arden and their happy temperaments as ridiculous. It includes some very hilarious pieces of prose, which are basically attempts at satirizing romance of country folk. Some of them are scenes such as those of heroine being kidnapped by robbers and saved in a heroic way by the hero and his brother. Some central characters of satire are Orlando who is a perfect lover, Rosalind and Celina who are perfect friends and Adam who is a perfect loyalist of conservative ideas. (Campbell, 44) Shakespeare in his play has tried to mock the romantic dreams of love-stricken couples, which take refuge in the countryside. However, when they reach there, they find that it is not so. In fact, it is far from the image, the people of city have of country. This is what Rosalind and Orlando had on their mind when they ran away from the injustices and atrocities of city, which were keeping them apart. Much to their surprise, they found out that this Forest of Arden was a land of terror. It wasn't where people who could live peacefully with each other in lap of nature. The country presented its own set of problems and challenges, in some cases more challenging than the city. Some characters were pure mockery of country folk, such as Silvius, Phebe, William and Audrey who are far from picture perfect image of their kind. The foolish,