What is the Purpose of Parody in Literature

In the English literature, parody refers to the art of presenting a literary work or a person character or societal culture in a humorous way. In simple terms, through parody the writer conveys the message on a serious subject in a lighter as well as in a humorous note which strikes the audience’s mind with right information. A parody can be excellent if it is not realized until the end.

Parodies have been widely used in the English literature. These are intended to entertain people, but all parodies are not always humorous. Sometimes parodies are used by new writers to convey respect for some renowned writers as well as showing the world that similar conventions exist. Apart from this, many writers try to use the style of the famous authors so as to capture the attention of the readers as well as to practice writing parodies.

Also parodies are used for comic relief or criticism. William Shakespeare was having mastery in using the parodies and this was reflected in the number of plays he has written and where he has very frequently used parodies. Some examples of parodies are as follows:

•    “Christmas afternoon” By Robert Benchley

•    “A Meditation upon a Broomstick” By Jonathan Swift

•    “The Great Dictator” by Charlie Chaplin ( He impersonated Hitler in the movie)

•    “Don Quixote” written by Miguel de Cervantes

•    “King Lear” by William Shakespeare

•    “Gulliver’s Travels” by Jonathan Swift

•    “The Lost Diaries” by Craig Brown.

Parody becomes more effective if the audience knows the original. Since the audience knows the original they would be able to make sense out of the imitation. Not all jokes are understood by all. If you do not know the pitch you won’t be able to understand the pun intended.

Parodies have names which are ambivalent on targets. These parodies are not only a mixture of sympathy and criticism but also an example of creativity where something gets created newly. The trick of writing a successful parody is to put more focus on how the object of the parody becomes an integral part of the parody. The main objective of writing parody is to raise questions or to criticize something in a humorous way rather than being aggressive. Through parodies, certain features, characters and plot points that sound silly, strange or weak are being criticized by the writer.