Over centuries, literature has changed dynamically. From writing styles to different dialect, authors and writers have continued to mold literature as a whole. However, many writers still use the same literary devices as were used by our ancestors. One of which is satire. Satire is defined as “the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.” While holding this definition, satirical literature can often be categorized as either Horatian, Juvenalian, or Menippean (Holbert). Both Swift and Molyneux follow the guidelines of satire fairly closely, however, Swift uses a more Horatian style while Molyneux employs a more Juvenalian approach. 

In “A Modest Proposal”, by Jonathan Swift, the use of satire is overly evident. The satire in this piece correlates well with Juvenalian satire. Juvenalian satire is typically characterized by bitterness, ironic criticism of government, pessimism, and sarcasm (Holbert). Swift shows his disagreement of the opinions of institutions of the Republic and uses “A Modest Proposal” to attack them. Swift’s use of his work to attack the government is a perfect example of his use of Juvenalian satire. He also uses the work to abrasively ridicule society. He begins by talking about the common problems in Ireland such as poverty and overpopulation, which is normal among satire. His statement of the problems is heavily ironic, because he then proceeds to suggest eating children of poverty as a solution to the problems. Swift furthers his use of satire by offering a ridiculous solution to an openly known problem half-jokingly. He does this because the Irish government continues to talk about how the problems in their country must be fixed, while not giving any solutions. This follows the ideas of Juvenalian satire because Swift is indirectly attacking his government organizations by knowingly suggesting an unethical solution. The degree to which Swift seems to support his solution provides the work with a lack of humor. While humor is not necessary in satires, it is common in many examples such as Gulliver’s Travels, Parody songs, and political cartoons. However, Swift’s exaggeration of his support of this idea is another common characteristic among satires. Swift also uses tools such as apophasis to support exaggerating his solution. Swift does this when he says “I believe no gentlemen would repine to give ten shillings for the carcass of a good fat child, which, I have said, will make four dishes of excellent nutritive meat, when he hath only some particular friend, or his own family to dine with him.” (Swift). He says this suggesting the idea is completely ethical and is solely beneficial. An apophasis itself is basically just a kind of irony, which is standard in satire. However, the idea itself is actually absurd and would most likely be condemned as evil by the general public. Finally, Swift ends by saying “Therefore I repeat, let no man talk to me of these and the like expedients, ‘till he hath at least some glimpse of hope, that there will ever be some hearty and sincere attempt to put them into practice.” (Swift). By saying this, Swift assures the reader that he has no intention of selling or eating children, and that the piece was written in order to mock the Government about their lack of solutions. Also by stating this, Swift takes one last jab at the Government by basically saying that no man can claim his solution bad until they themselves suggest a better solution. Overall, “A Modest Proposal” follows the guidelines of satire very closely, while lacking humor, and is a classic example of the Juvenalian style of satire.

In “I am sorry that I didn’t write a comedy piece”, by Wendy Molyneux, the use of satire is also employed. Molyneux uses a more Horatian approach to satire rather than the Juvenalian that Swift used. Horatian satire is playfully criticizing some social vice through gentle, mild, and light-hearted humor (Holbert). It is commonly used to ridicule the dominant opinions of a population. Molyneux goes to great extent to make her statements blatantly sarcastic. She states, “I walked into my closet, which is gigantic because women love to wear lots of expensive clothes and shoes all the time, …” (Molyneux). When saying this, the tone used by Molyneux contains a lot of sarcasm, which is typically in satire. This style of satire is different from Swift’s because it is far more obvious and self-mocking. Molyneux also pointed out a common modern day female stereotype by saying “Stop signifying so loudly guys, I’m watching Grey’s Anatomy.” (Molyneux). Saying this implies that all women are especially concerned with watching their episodes of Grey’s. Later, Molyneux says “I guess my humor deficiency is one of those womanly crosses I have to bear, along with P.M.S., making seventy cents on the dollar, and paying for my own rape kit.” (Molyneux). Molyneux hits more of the modern female stereotypes by poking fun at herself. She goes on exaggerating her point by saying “I only say things like: ‘What are numbers.’” (Molyneux). She says this to further continue her attempt to highlight the ignorance of what she is actually saying. Molyneux is saying all of this to point out the idiocrasy of comments made by Christopher Hutchinson about the lack of comedic skills that woman possess. She follows a more Horatian style of satire rather than Juvenal by using mild self-humor to ridicule common female stereotypes.

In their writing, both Molyneux and Swift follow the guidelines of satire closely. Both use methods of irony, sarcasm, and exaggeration to help get their point across. The difference in the two however, is that Swift’s use of satire would be classified as Juvenalian while Molyneux’s would be Horatian. Swift is known for his use of Juvenalian satire as seen widely in Gulliver’s Travels. Swift does this because his intent is to attack the government and their lack of solutions to the problems he’s addressing. Molyneux on the other hand, chose to use the Horatian style of satire in order to exaggerate her sarcasm and bring humor into her words. Both writers chose their style of satire based on the purpose of what they were writing for. While the two pieces fit well into the form of satire and have many similarities, there are moments when Molyneux strays from the general conventions of satire. For example, when Molyneux says “Christopher Hitchens is a huge douche who runs a successful child pornography business and has an inability to get an erection unless he’s reading Nazi literature.” (Molyneux). This sentence is not so much satire as it is Molyneux’s way of just outright expressing her feelings towards Hitchens. This is significant because while employing the classic style of satire, she is able to put her own modern touch in her writing. Also, Molyneux writes as if she were writing in a diary. 

The literary device satire has long been a method used by writers to help get their point across. Satire has been used for many different reasons, ranging from attacking the government to voicing social vices. While separated by hundreds of years, both Jonathon Swift and Wendy Molyneux use satire in their work. As seen, both follow the standard guideline of satire fairly closely, with the exception of a few breaks in Molyneux’s piece. However, the major difference between the two besides the time they were written is the use of Juvenalian satire versus Horatian satire. Swift takes a more Juvenalian approach to satire by attacking his government, completely exaggerating his support for the “Modest Proposal”, and the lack of humor. Molyneux on the other hand models a Horatian approach to satire. She does this by expressing mild criticism through lighthearted humor and by being extremely sarcastic.  The style which each writer uses is the primary difference in the use of this ageless literary device.
