Satire Found in Candiate by Voltaire, Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervates, and A Modest Proposal by Jonathon Swift

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We often see satire in our everyday lives such as on televisions, novels, and music; but why is satire used? Satire is a form of writing used to denounce human vice, giving readers an insight on the flaws that the author sees in society. There are two different types of way to present satire: horation and juvenialian. In the three works: Candide by Voltaire, Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes, and A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift all demonstrate the use of satire. However, Don Quixote presents only horation satire and A Modest Proposal uses juvenalian satire, while Candide uses both types of satire. By combining both horatian and juvenilian satire one’s piece is able to present social criticism more effectively than only using one.
Don Quixote demonstrates horation, but the attack on society backfires and is too mild for readers to truly notice the flaws in humanity. Horatian satire gently pokes fun at social vice through light-hearted humor. In Don Quixote, the author mocks the society he lived in: people lacking the manners of knights. In the story, Don Quixote unhappily witnesses a boy being abused by a farmer, who he believes is a knight, the farmer promises no further injustice to the boy and “swears to [Don Quixote] by all orders of knighthood” and Don Quixote, believing in the word of knights, leaves the farmer flogging the boy even more severely (1542). Don Quixote believed “such was the manner [of]...the valorous knight, which only brought more pain; contradicting the author’s wishes to demonstrate that the ways of the knights were better (1543). Cervantes satirizes on men not being able to keep their word but presents this too gently and is overshadowed by the ignorance of Don Quixote.
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...ults in society. Voltaire spares no religion in criticizing them “Jew should have for himself...and the Inquisitor” (18) regarding the use of Cunegonde, he attacks both Jews and Catholics and later on other religions as well, then generalizing that many a part of religions are hypocrites not following the laws which they admonish. By the impartial use of satire Voltaire allows readers to understand that not only one religion is at fault, but all religions have errs in their ways.
In life, balance is always needed; as in writing the use of two types of satire are a must for the piece to be the most effective. This is seen from the satire pieces of Candide, Don Quixote, and A Modest Proposal which use the horation, juvenlian, or both. By combing both horatian and juvenilian satire one’s piece is able to present societal flaws more effectively than only using one.

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