On Satire In Evelyn Waugh’s Novels

Evelyn Waugh（1903-1966）is one of the most famous satirical novelists in British literature in the 20 th century.Many of her novels have been named "100 Best English Novels" by Time Magazine.Evelyn Waugh was in the first battle and the Second World War,during which great changes had taken place in British society,politics,economy and culture.Therefore,Hence Evelyn Waugh’s early satirical novels from Decline and Fall,Vile Bodies,A Handful of Dust to after the Second World War,Revisit One’s Old Site,The Loved One,and The Sword of Honour.These works all showed his thoughts about the real British society,her criticism of the political system,and her satire on the disadvantages of the army and the church.Satire is a prominent feature in Evelyn Waugh’s novels,which has attracted extensive attention from British and international academic circles through her unique writing style.However,there are few scholars and articles studying Evelyn Waugh in China,and there is a lack of systematic research on satire in Evelyn Waugh’s novels.Therefore,this paper takes Evelyn Waugh’s three representative works after World War II Revisit One’s Old Site,The Loved One,The Sword of Honour as the research object.Centering on the problems existing in the novel.The author discusses their causes,techniques and themes,and analyzes the satirical art in the novel,trying to reveal the value and meaning behind the irony art.The first chapter focuses on the origin and evolution of Evelyn Waugh’s satire.The formation of satire in Evelyn Waugh’s novels is closely related to personal circumstances,social environment,English satire tradition and its theoretical support.Evelyn Waugh was deeply influenced by the family education of literary criticism,and she formed a preliminary cognition of satire.Then her rich life experience and the change of social environment also made the theme of her novels pointed to satire.In inheriting the British satire tradition and innovating the satire style,her satire skills and theme became more and more obvious.At the same time,the author sorts out the development and evolution of satire art in Evelyn Waugh’s novels.In her early stage of the works,the satire style is established with biting and sharp language,and in the later stage,the satire personality is presented with absurd and nostalgic tone,which highlights the maturity of satire skills and the diversification of satire themes.The second chapter mainly studies the satirical theme of Evelyn Waugh’s novels.The satirical themes in Evelyn Waugh’s novels are mainly divided into the decay of the army under the war environment,the decline of religion under the moral environment and the decline of capitalist society.It shows a reflection on the living state of British society.The decadence of military life under the background of war shows the author’s deep criticism of the formalism and loose style of life of senior officers.The decline of religion under the moral environment reveals the writer’s exposure to the ugly behavior of the Catholic Church and the priests in the army.The decline of capitalist society shows the writer’s regret for the decline of aristocratic families and the helplessness of the collision with traditional ideas,forming a rich satirical theme.The author mainly studies Evelyn Waugh’s satire techniques in the third chapter.Evelyn Waugh’s satirical skills are mainly demonstrated through language,plot and irony.It reflects Evelyn Waugh’s criticism and reflection on social life from different angles.The language mode of both seriousness and humor is highly personalized,which shows the writer’s real intention depending on the context of the text.The misplaced plot setting mainly shows the author’s attention to the reality under the humorous plot,which is an important way to form the tension in his novels.The rich and varied satirical techniques show the author’s ingenious conception of satirical novel creation,and the plot is fuller.The author in Chapter four mainly studies the value and significance of Evelyn Waugh’s satire art.From the perspective of literature,Evelyn Waugh fully explored the text function of satirical novels,innovated the theme and style of creation.The writer explored black humor,and enriched the form and effect of satirical art.From the perspective of society,Evelyn Waugh is good at entering the inner world of characters,revealing the spirit of the society at that time,highlighting the humanistic feelings,but also the outlook of people’s survival plight.From the aesthetic point of view,through the analysis of the novel’s language,structure and characterization,the aesthetic value of the art form of satirical novel is demonstrated.By analyzing Evelyn Waugh’s three representative works,Revisit One’s Old Site,The Loved One,The Sword of Honour,which shows the uniqueness of Evelyn Waugh’s satirical art.Evelyn Waugh showed her profound artistic foundation with her sharp and original views,unrestrained emotions and pungent and playful language,which is of great significance to the literature of later generations.