Satire

1867 edition of the satirical magazine Punch

Satire is a form in art or writing which ridicules either a person, government, or an institution, often through the use of humour. Satire can either be in paintings, plays, books, songs, TV or movies. It also is used to stereotype people.

Satire was used long ago. It is a Latin word, though the plays of Aristophanes are often called satirical. Satire was widely known in Elizabethan times. Swift used it 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 silly the politicians of the time were. The German playwright Bertolt Brecht used a lot of satire, as did Peter Cook. Jon Stewart and other comedians use it frequently. A modern example of satire is the American cartoon South Park.

Satire often points out ironic or bad things that powerful people are doing. Its adjective is satirical.

Satire Media

A satire by Angelo Agostini to Revista Illustrada mocking the lack of interest from Emperor Pedro II of Brazil in politics toward the end of his reign
"Le satire e l'epistole di Q. Orazio Flacco", printed in 1814
Satirical ostracon showing a cat guarding geese, c. 1120 BC, Egypt
Figured ostracon showing a cat waiting on a mouse, Egypt
Pieter Bruegel's 1568 satirical painting The Blind Leading the Blind
'A Welch wedding' satirical cartoon c. 1780
A Victorian satirical sketch depicting a gentleman's donkey race in 1852
Benzino Napaloni and Adenoid Hynkel in The Great Dictator (1940). Chaplin later declared that he would have not made the film if he had known about the concentration camps.