Abstract
Webster's dictionary defines satire as "1. A literary composition, originally in verse and still generally so, holding up abuses, vice, etc., to reprobation or ridicule. 3. Keenness and severity of remark; trenchant wit; sarcasm.” |Satire, then, whether it be destructive only or destructive and constructive; whether it be bitter and personal or humorous and ironic, has one fundamental motive: It aims to reprimand. The object of attack is not always knocked down and then stepped on. Often the punishment consists of the knockdown only, or the object might be permitted to remain standing as a target for poison darts. Then, too, it is possible to elevate the object to platform level so that the audience can clearly see the cynosure of the satirist’s cynical laugh; but the fundamental motive is always present.