The Satirical Lens: 7 Classics That Mock and Amaze
Seven Classic Works of Wit, Parody, and Social CritiqueBy George Jean Nathan, Henry Louis Mencken, Elizabeth F. Guptill, Thomas Dekker
Length21h 54m
About this audiobook
The Satirical Lens: 7 Classics That Mock and Amaze gathers seven works in which ridicule becomes a mode of cultural diagnosis. Moving between dramatic invective, urbane criticism, social observation, and comic exaggeration, the volume reveals satire's ability to entertain while exposing pretension, hypocrisy, and public folly. Its range is especially striking: sharp theatrical energies and prose polemics coexist with more compact exercises in wit, allowing readers to trace changing techniques of mockery across distinct literary moments. The collection's standout appeal lies in the productive friction between bawdy theatrical satire and modern journalistic skepticism. The contributors bring together markedly different historical worlds. Thomas Dekker represents the restless commercial and theatrical culture of early modern London, where satire engaged urban vice, class performance, and spectacle. George Jean Nathan and Henry Louis Mencken, central figures in American criticism and letters, extend that adversarial spirit into the twentieth century through irreverent assessments of taste, politics, and convention. Elizabeth F. Guptill's presence broadens the anthology's conversation, emphasizing that satirical insight is not confined to one period, gender, or public idiom. Collectively, these voices situate satire within enduring traditions of social criticism and literary dissent. Recommended for students and general readers alike, this volume offers an unusually concentrated encounter with satire's many forms. It invites comparison across centuries, styles, and cultural assumptions while demonstrating how laughter can sharpen ethical and intellectual inquiry. Read together, these classics create a lively dialogue about authority, art, and the follies that persist beneath changing historical surfaces.
Audiobook details
GenreHumor, General Fiction
Length21 hrs 54 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateMar 4, 2025
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Satiro-Mastix; or, the Vntrussing of the Humorous Poet
19THE REVOLT AGAINST MARRIAGE
2Satiro-Mastix; or, the Vntrussing of the Humorous Poet
20FOR BETTER FOR WORSE
3EINLEITENDE BEMERKUNGEN.
21UNPOPULARITY OF IMPERSONAL VIEWS
4Satiro-mastix. (pt. 1)
22WHAT IS TO BECOME OF THE CHILDREN?
5Satiro-mastix. (pt. 2)
23THE COST OF DIVORCE
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6TEXT-NOTEN.
24CONCLUSIONS
7Heliogabalus (A Buffoonery in Three Acts)
25GETTING MARRIED (pt. 1)
8DRAMATIS PERSONS
26GETTING MARRIED (pt. 2)
9ACT I
27Misalliance (pt. 1)
10ACT II
28Misalliance (pt. 2)
11ACT III
29Fanny's First Play
12The Twins, and How They Entertained the New Minister: A Farce
30Preface
13ELIZABETH F. GUPTILL
31Induction
14The Academy Keeper
32Act I
15The Academy Keeper
33Act II
16DIRECTIONS
34Act III
17Getting Married
35Epilogue
18Getting Married
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