In The Practice of Satire in England, 1658-1770, Ashley Marshall explores how satire was conceived and understood by writers and readers of the period. Her account is based on a reading of some 3,000 works ranging from one-page squibs to novels. The objective is not to recuperate particular minor works but to recover the satiric milieuto resituate the masterpieces amid the hundreds of other works alongside which they were originally written and read.The long eighteenth century is generally hailed as the great age of satire, and as such, it has received much critical attention. However, scholars have focused almost exclusively on a small number of canonical works, such as Gullivers Travels and The Dunciad, and have not looked for continuity over time. Marshall revises the standard account of eighteenth-century satire, revealing it to be messy, confused, discontinuous, and exhibiting radical and rapid changes over time. The true history of satire in its great age is not a history at all. Rather, it is a collection of discontinuous little histories.
Preface Acknowledgments A Note on Texts, Dates, and Money 1. Canonical and Noncanonical Satire, 16581770 I. The ""Definition"" Quagmire and the Problem of Descriptive Terminology II. Genre versus Mode III. The Modern Critical Canon and Its Implications IV. The Total Satire Canon and Its Economic Context The Production of Satire in England, 16581770 Price, Format, Dissemination, and Implied Audiences V. Some Issues of Coverage and Organization VI. The Uses of a Taxonomic Methodology The Varieties of Satire Forecasting Some Conclusions The Nature of the Enterprise 2. Contemporary Views on Satire, 16581770 I. Concepts of Satire ""Satire"" Definition by Contrast II. The Business of Satire The Opposition to Satire The Case for Satire III. The Practice and Province of Satire Acceptable and Problematical Satiric Methods Appropriate and Inappropriate Satiric Targets IV. Characterizing the Satirist V. Perceptions of Eighteenth-Century Satire Then and Now 3. Satire in the Carolean Period I. Some Preliminary Considerations II. Dryden, Rochester, Buckingham Carolean Dryden Rochester Buckingham's Purposive Satire III. Marvell, Ayloffe, Oldham Marvell as Polemical Satirist Ayloffe's Antimonarchical Diatribes Oldham's Juvenalian Performances IV. Hudibras and Other Camouflage Satires V. Personal and Social Satire: From Lampoons to Otway and Lee VI. Chronological Change, 16581685 VII. Issues Intensity Tone Presentation of Positives The Problem of Application VIII. The Discontinuous World of Carolean Satire 4. Beyond Carolean I. Altered Circumstances II. Dryden as Satirist, 16851700 III. Poetic Satire Tutchin, Defoe, and Political Satire Gould and Defamatory Satire Garth and Blackmore Brown, Ward, and Commercial Satire IV. Dramatic Satire Shadwell and Exemplary Comedy Mitigated Satire Harsh Social Satire V. The State of Satire ca. 1700 5. Defoe, Swift, and New Varieties of Satire, 17001725 I. Defoe as Satirist Attack and Defense Instruction and Direct Warning (Aimed at the Audience) Indirect Exposure and Discomfiture II. Religious and Political Satire Topical Controversy Monitory Satire in the Manner of Defoe Ideological Argumentation: Dunton, Defoe, and Others III. Social and Moral Satire Generalized Satire Didactic Satire in the Manner of Steele Particularized and Topical Satire Argument and Inquiry IV. The Alleged ""Scriblerians"" V. Swift before Gulliver Jokiness and Play Destruction and Negativity Purposive Defamation and Defense Indirection and Difficult Satire VI. Characterizing the Early Eighteenth Century 6. Harsh and Sympathetic Satire, 17261745 I. Pope and Swift among Their Contemporaries Political Commentary and Combat The Culture Wars Social Satire II. Pope, Swift, Gay Pope Swift Gay III. The Problem of Meaning in Gulliver's Travels IV. Fielding and the Move toward Sympathetic Satire Playful Satire and Entertainment Provocation and Preachment Distributive Justice Fielding's Concept of Satire Sympathetic Satire V. Alive and Well 7. Churchill, Foote, Macklin, Garrick, Smollett, Sterne, and Others, 17451770 I. The Rise of ""Poetic"" Satire Frivolity and Entertainment Moral Preachment Particularized Attack Poeticized Satire Churchill's Nonpolitical Satire II. Wilkes, Churchill, and Political Controversy in the 1760s The North Briton Churchill's Political Satire Visual Satire Wilkes's Essay on Woman III. Satire in the Commercial Theater Social Comedy Lightweight Afterpiece Entertainment Samuel Foote Charles Macklin David Garrick IV. Satire in the Mid-Eighteenth-Century Novel Smollett's Dark Satire The Late Career of Fielding Tristram Shandy and the Singularity of Sterne Charlotte Lennox, Oliver Goldsmith, Sarah Fielding V. Satire for a Stable Era Epilogue I. Motives and Modes II. Remapping English Satire, 16581770 Appendix Notes Bibliography Index
""Broadening the notion of satire to include more works, more kinds of works, and a wider range of satirical motives and effects, [Marshall] offers an account of eighteenth-century literature more amenable to contemporary sensibilities than those of previous proponents and detractors of satire.""
