World lit masterpieces

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The Role and Purpose of Satire in Erasmu 's The Praise of Folly

As the best-known masterpiece of Renaissance ' greatest humanist Erasmus of Rotterdam , The Praise of Folly remains as one of the world 's classics which perfectly displays satirical wit and candid analysis of wrong doings of the people which are still eminent even until now

During the Renaissance period (1375-1550 ) which was considered as the period of rebirth and new ideas especially in arts and literature , the idea

on recognizing the mistakes , wrong doing , corruptions and the like that had been accepted as truth in the society was a new theme which became popular for most reformists like Martin Luther , Lorenzo Valla and Desiderius Erasmus (Rees 29 . As one of the greatest humanists during that period , Erasmus exhibited his remarkable Renaissance talents for satirical wit and analysis of the human imperfections during that time through his classic entitled The Praise of Folly

The Praise of Folly is a perfect example of Erasmus ' fine technique in diagnosing the moral and religious condition of the society during that period . In this work of art , he uses the character of Folly , a Greek goddess which came from Plutus and Youth , who gives the mode and tone for humor and sarcasm in the whole story . In order to support his ground of the benefits of foolishness or folly , Erasmus uses classical examples , biblical quotations and folk wisdom . Erasmus likewise divides this work into...