The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms - Ross Murfin 2018

Juvenalian satire

Juvenalian satire: A type of formal satire, characterized by its harshness and pointed realism, that denounces human vice and error in caustic, often scornful tones. Juvenalian satire is named for the early-second-century A.D. Roman satirist Juvenal (Decimus Junius Juvenalis), who sought to evoke contempt or indignation from the reader. It is distinguished from Horatian satire, the other major type of formal satire, by the latter’s witty, even indulgent, tone, which is aimed at evoking laughter rather than derision.

EXAMPLES: Juvenal’s sixteen Saturae (Satires) (c. A.D. 100—128), the sixth of which, a diatribe against women and marriage often entitled Against Women, poses a question long since removed from its original context regarding eunuchs and women: “sed quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” — “but who will guard the guardians themselves?” Other examples of Juvenalian satire include Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal (1729), in which Swift “proposes” that the starving Irish sell their children as “wholesome food” to “persons of quality and fortune through the kingdom”; Samuel Johnson’s “London” (1738), an imitation of Juvenal’s third satire; and Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange (1962).