I need to find Poe's satires in his essay "The Spectacles" I also need to know what his rage and indignation was to write this satirical essay. This essay is not that popular because I can't find any criticism on it. If you know of any please e-mail me. Thanks

-- Anonymous, June 21, 2001

Answers

Dina,

First things first: 'The Spectacles' is not a satire, unless you believe it to satirize people who refuse to wear spectacles. (That would be an extremely weak argument!) The tale -- not 'essay' as you describe it -- is simply a comedy.

Your request, therefore, for Poe's 'rage and indignation' is therefore fruitless, and you should pursue another line of inquiry. On a side note, few satires need 'rage' to inspire them, the best are written very cooly (Swift being the example, par excellence).

The reason why there is little criticism of 'The Spectacles' is fairly straightforward: it is not very good. Poe's humorous tales were always a bit hit-and-miss, ranging from the funny ('Tarr and Fether') to the abysmal ('The Little Frenchman'). Let's face it: humor was not his strong point.

If you want to look for humorous satire, I suggest you start with the tale I just mentioned ('The System of Dr Tarr and Professor Fether') and see what you make of that.

-- Anonymous, June 22, 2001