Pope and Swift, contemporaries of one another in the eighteenth century, both used their famous works to satirize the society they lived in. However, the two writers used different styles of satire to address their appointed audiences.
Pope uses Horatian satire, which is a form of mild satire that teases the follies of individuals as part of the whole of society. Pope executes this through the mock-heroic form of The Rape of the Lock, his poem based on true events amongst his friends. Mock-heroic poems ridicule the heroic style and characters of classical epics. In the poem, we see members of high society engaging in a battle of cards, surrounded by many spirits, called sylphs, who encourage the intense emotions of the heroine, Belinda, and her antagonist, the Baron. Pope dramatizes the Baron’s petty prank of cutting off Belinda’s hair lock, escalating the feud to a battle of sylphs and catty insults. By poking fun at the individuals at this party, Pope is making a light-hearted commentary on the social customs of society as a whole. The audience finds themselves laughing both at the characters and themselves.
Jonathan Swift, on the other hand, is using the more caustic Juvenalian satire in his novel Gulliver’s Travels. Juvenalian satire is used to vehemently criticize an individual or institution. Unlike Pope’s light-hearted commentary on social customs, Swift is criticizing the England’s political structure and national attitude. Gulliver’s Travels is a parody of travellers' tales, a popular subgenre of the day. As Gulliver travels to various remote locations, Swift explores the many vices of the institutions around him, from political parties to societal entitlement. By attacking society as a whole, Swift aims to anger his readers and spur action for change.
Both writers encourage change in society by looking at the flaws of their contemporaries; however Pope mildly teases the individual to speak to the whole while Swift bitterly criticizes the whole to speak to the individual.
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