Satire
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Satire is a form in art or writing in which people are made to look stupid. Satire is humorous and makes people laugh, but it is not just for making people laugh. Satire makes fun of people’s faults. It shows that they are bad or stupid and makes the reader, viewer or audience laugh at them. Satire can be found in paintings, plays, books, songs, television or movies. Satire often uses irony to make its effect. Satire may be trying to change the way people behave by showing their weaknesses.
Satire was used long ago, even as long ago as the Ancient Greeks. It was widely known in Elizabethan times. Swift used satire in his book Gulliver’s Travels to make fun of people’s stupidity. Works like The Beggar’s Opera (1728) used satire to show how ridiculous the politicians of the time were. In modern times the German playwright Bertolt Brecht used a lot of satire in his plays.
Satire is not possible under dictatorships. It was not allowed, for example, in the Soviet Union. Anyone trying to make fun of Stalin would have been put to death immediately.
Satire often shows bad things that powerful people are doing. The adjective is satirical.
