What Is Horatian Satire? | Definition & Examples
Horatian satire is a form of satire that playfully criticizes human behavior through gentle and lighthearted humor. The main purpose of this literary device is to provide entertainment to its audience while also offering them useful insights into their own shortcomings.
Horatian satire can be found in literature, movies, cartoons, and television shows.
What is Horatian satire?
Horatian satire, named after the Roman poet Horace, is a gentle form of satire that mocks human nature and its flaws. Similar to other forms of satire, it is a form of social commentary meant to critique people, power, and society in an amusing way.
The goal of Horatian satire is to make the audience laugh at the absurdities of the world, but also at themselves. For this reason, it is often targeted at human types representing universal vices and follies, like vanity, greed, hypocrisy, etc.
To achieve this without losing its entertainment value, it employs a witty and indulgent tone that sets it apart from other forms of satire. While it may highlight flaws in society, Horatian satire tends to encourage moral reflection and improvement rather than bring about radical social transformation.
Horatian satire examples
Alexander Pope’s satirical poem The Rape of the Lock is a parody of epic poetry and satirizes a trivial dispute between two aristocratic families in 18th-century England.
The inciting incident is trivial: a young baron steals a lock of hair from a young aristocratic woman, Belinda, at a social gathering. Belinda is outraged, and the two families become estranged from their once-good friends.
“When those fair suns shall set, as set they must,
And all those tresses shall be laid in dust;
This lock, the Muse shall consecrate to fame,
And ‘midst the stars inscribe Belinda’s name!”
Pope’s intention is to hold a mirror up to his fellow members of society and show them that their “problems” are not problems at all and that they need to start worrying about more important things in life.
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde gently mocks Victorian society’s conventions through exaggeration and wit. In the following excerpt, two characters discuss honesty and deception while also poking fun at upper-class pretentiousness, such as literary expertise.
JACK. That wouldn’t be at all a bad thing.
ALGERNON. Literary criticism is not your forte, my dear fellow. Don’t try it. You should leave that to people who haven’t been at a University. They do it so well in the daily papers. […]
Horatian vs Juvenalian satire
Horatian and Juvenalian satire are the two most common forms of satire. Although the distinction between them is not always clear cut and some works contain elements of both, they do have distinct characteristics:
- Horatian satire is lighthearted and tolerant. It employs humor to reach the audience, and the primary goal is to elicit laughter while criticizing human behavior. Its gentle tone strikes a balance between criticism and entertainment. Television shows like Saturday Night Live and websites like The Onion fall under this category.
- Juvenalian satire, on the other hand, is meant to provoke anger and indignation in the audience toward social evil. It often targets powerful institutions or public figures, and although it can be funny at times, its humor is dark. Its scornful and bitter tone serves as a wake-up call that society must be changed. Novels like A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess and American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, which respectively critique forced conformity and materialism, are examples of Juvenalian satire.
In short, Horatian satire is meant to amuse rather than bring social change, whereas Juvenalian satire is meant to provoke outrage and incite reform.
Frequently asked questions about Horatian satire
- What is an example of Horatian satire?
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The movie Zoolander can be seen as an example of Horatian satire.
Using exaggerated characters and situations, the movie satirizes the fashion industry and celebrity culture but does so in a light-hearted and entertaining way. Although it touches upon serious issues, like the exploitation of underpaid workers, the goal of this type of satire is to make the audience laugh while prompting them to contemplate the seriousness of the topic at hand.
- What is the difference between Horatian and Juvenalian satire?
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Horatian satire and Juvenalian satire are two distinct types of satire that provide social commentary but have different characteristics and purposes.
- Horatian satire is more tolerant toward the absurdities in society and human behavior, and its primary goal is to amuse its audience.
- On the other hand, Juvenalian satire seeks to inspire social change by making the audience feel indignant toward social injustice, rather than simply entertaining them.
