There are four main techniques used in satire:
- exaggeration
- reversal
- incongruity
- parody
If you look for these, you will see the satire more clearly.
For example: there are many examples of reversal. Here is one: when Algy (as Ernest) is explaining to Cecily why he has to leave before Jack returns, he says he has a business appointment he is anxious to miss. She asks him why he can't miss it there - why he has to go back to London. He says it's because the appointment is in London. This of course is nonsense - it's a reversal of the usual situation - and it satirises the upper classes of the time and their scornful attitude towards business, or 'trade' as they would call it. They were far too good for sordid things like money or business.
Another example of satire occurs during Lady Bracknell's interrogation of Jack: she asks him if he smokes. He says he does.At this point we would expect her to disapprove (she seems to disapprove of everything else). Instead she says, 'I am glad to hear it. A...
(The entire section contains 2 answers and 729 words.)
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