Research Paper on:
The Praise of Folly and Folly's Role

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
to point out inconsistencies and foolishness in life. He does this well in his work, "In Praise of Folly," which, on the surface, seems to compliment the idea of folly  - which is also synonymous with impetuousness, foolishness and light-heartedness. Beneath the apparently bright and complimentary words, however, lay a darker tone of writing - one that points out Folly  as not a benefit to human beings, but rather, a true danger to mankind. Erasmus does this by using the "tongue-in-cheek" method - in other words, he writes something, but  means the exact opposite. First of all, there is Erasmus regard of Folly as a woman, rather than a man - given  the time in which this was written (the early 16th century), when women were considered second-class citizens and somewhat foolish ones that that, this is not a great compliment to  the idea of Folly (or as women, for that matter). "If I shall seem to have spoken anything more boldly or impertinently than I ought, be pleased to consider that  not only Folly, but a woman said it . . ." These words are not exactly the most wonderful compliment in the world, and they dont speak too highly of  Folly as a being worthy of respect. Second, most of Erasmus paragraphs drip with irony as Folly speaks - while she casts  aspersions on the more sober, thoughtful men of the generation (she consistently warns of the danger of well-read, thoughtful men), she is, in fact, painting herself to be dangerous to  society of the times. In narrating Folly herself, Erasmus notes that she isnt exactly held in the best repute, but ". .