Taking Laughter Seriously: The Superiority Theory By John Morreal

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John Oldham once said “I wear my Pen as others do their Sword. To each affronting sot I meet, the word is Satisfaction: straight to thrusts I go, and pointed satire runs him through and through.” Satire works as a weapon to challenge ideas in society. Satire is the use of humor, irony, or exaggeration to uncover and criticize absurd ideas in society that people might not otherwise question. Confronting an issue with satire makes the audience more aware and open to new ideas, making them more likely to agree with the author. Satirizing an issue helps to reduce the tension that it may otherwise cause. People use satire to touch upon many controversial issues in society. One aspect that it touches upon is abortion. For decades, there has been
In the text, it states “what makes a person laughable, according to Plato, is self-ignorance.” (Morreal 4) People tend to laugh at things that they feel are less superior to them. People are laughed at by others because they are imprudent and oblivious. People find humor in situations that are strange and are looked down upon. This is all because of the superiority theory mentioned by John Morreal. The superiority theory states “that laughter is an expression of a person’s feelings of superiority over other people.” (Morreal 4) People tend to laugh at circumstances that are considered ignorant and stupid by society. They laugh because they somehow feel superior to that situation. Relating back to Johnathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland, from Being a Burden on Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick, people thought it was humorous because they felt superior to the parents and children mentioned in the text. They felt superior because they are probably well off and can support their families, unlike the families mentioned in the text who were struggling to make ends meet. Readers felt superior to the idea of killing and eating children. They found it to be humorous because they would never kill or eat children. Readers thought that they were far better than them. The main message from the theoretical text was women should not abort their unborn babies because it is not ethical. Johnathan was able to get this message across by using humor and wit. The humor and wit in the text opened readers’ minds and persuaded them in to

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