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The Garb of Medieval Satire

The Garb of Medieval Satire

By Borçin Erol

Hacettepe Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, Vol.5:2 (1988)

Introduction: Medieval satire was directed mainly at the ill practices in the society. As the society was perceived in fixed classes with fixed functions forming a whole, with various duties distributed to certain sects, satire took the form of an ‘estates satire’. In the medieval context ‘estate’ implied status, standing, position in the world, degree of rank and occupation. It was used to group the society with reference to the occupations and the social standing of the constituents. in such a classification Women formed a separate class and a further sub-classification according to their marital status, that is, as maid, wife, and widow was possible. The perception of the society in various sub-groups. as the estates led to the criticism of the society to be formulated according to these estates. The satire aimed at the malpractices of these estates could take a definite form embodying various characteristics.

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