Stephen Leacock's Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich

Stephen Leacock's Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich

Jonathan Swift has suggested that "Satire is a sort of

Glass, wherein Beholders do generally discover every body's Face

their own; which is the chief reason...that so few are offended

with it." Richard Garnett suggests that, "Without humour, satire

is invictive; without literary form, [and] it is mere clownish

jeering." (Encyclopaedia Britannica 14th ed. vol. 20 p. 5).

Whereas Swift's statement suggests that people are not offended

by satire because readers identify the character's faults with

their own faults; Garnett suggests that humour is the key element

that does not make satire offensive. With any satire someone is

bound to be offended, but the technique the author uses can

change something offensive into something embarrassing.

Stephen Leacock's Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich is

a nonthreatening, humorous, and revealing satire of the moral

faults of upper class society. The satire acts as a moral

instrument to expose the effect money can have on religion,

government, and anything within its touch. Writing about such

topics is hard to do without offending people. Leacock's

technique combines money with humour, and accompanies his moral

message with ironic characters; their exaggerated actions, and a

constant comical tone to prevent readers from being offended.

Leacock's utopian world is filled with humorous labels that

represent the "Plutonian's" personalities. "Ourselves Monthly"; a

magazine for the modern self-centered, is a Plutonian favourite.

To fill their idle days, the Plutonian women are in an endless

search for trends in literature and religion. Without the

distractions of club luncheons and trying to achieve the "Higher

Indifference", the women would have to do something productive.

Readers that identify themselves with the class of people the

Plutonians represent would be embarrassed rather than offended by

Leacock's satirical portrayal of them.

"The Yahi-Bahi Oriental Society" exaggerates the stupidity

of the Plutonians to a point where the reader laughs at the

character's misfortunes. The con men give ridiculous prophecies

such as "Many things are yet to happen before others begin."

(Leacock 87), and eventually take their money and jewelry. The

exaggeration increases the humour while the moral message is

displayed.

The characters of the novel are ironic in the sence that

they percieve themselves as being the pinicle of society, yet

Leacock makes the look like fools. For someone who prides

themself on being an expert on just about everything, Mr.

Lucullus Fyshe's (as slimmy and cold as his name represents)

perceptions are proven false. Mr. Fyshe makes hypocratic

statments about ruling class tyranny, while barking down the neck

of a poor waiter for serving cold asparagus.

Leacock exposes the whole Plutonian buisness world to be