Abstract:
Humour in Addison’s essays, especially in Sir Roger at Home and Sir Roger at Church is chiefly ironical and satirical. Humour and Wit are related very closely in his essays. Most of the time, it is seen, where humour is expressed, he expresses that ironically. Moreover, his laughter is intended to mend, correct and rectify follies and absurdities. Irony in his essays is one of the best weapons of satire and it is a chief ingredient of humour. Courthope says, "The essence of Addison’s humour is irony." But he is more concerned with instructions and reforms than with pure entertainment. This paper aims to explore Joseph Addison’s use of wit and humour in two of his essays – Sir Roger at Home and Sir Roger at Church and what he intends to indicate with their usage.

Keywords: Joseph Addison, Richard Steele, The Spectator, Wit and Humour in 18th century England

Paper:
"Nothing is so much admired, and so little understood, as Wit," writes Joseph Addison in 1711 (Spectator 1: 217)
The Spectator series centres on the figure of the Spectator as the authoritative observer of the society within which he moves. In fulfilment of the educational role of the periodical essays, the Spectator figure uses reason, rationality and a sense of moral purpose to study human characteristics and manners and to deliver judgments on the same. The first-person narrative voice adopted for each of the essays in the series is never beset by doubt regarding the legitimacy of this “voice”. Using a combination of wit and an elegant, controlled prose style, the Spectator operates as the eyes and ears of 18th-century English middle-class members of society to sharpen their senses and make them more wholesome as social and moral beings.
In his essays (especially in Coverley Papers), Joseph Addison presents a notable character named, Sir Roger de Coverley, a character possessing vice and virtues at the same time, who had no physical presence but a symbolic existence. And to maintain the special
technique, Addison sometimes praises the character outwardly but inwardly these praises become witty, satiric and humorous as well.
However, Sir Roger de Coverley essays, considering its subject and matter, can be called a eulogy of Sir Roger. But after a deep critical reading, it can be found that these are humorous expressions of Addison about Sir Roger and Sir Roger is criticized ironically many times. Addison shows that though Sir Roger is a lovable and honourable man, he has a comic side. And everything is delineated very sharply in the essays.

But the irony in the De Coverley essays is not in the least offensive or hurtful. The oddities and eccentricities of Sir Roger are ironically conveyed to us, but irony is employed most humorously. The reader may laugh at Sir Roger's absurd behaviour at the church, but the reader will also develop feelings of respect and love for him because of his humanity, charity and generosity. Ridicule (by means of irony) is combined with wit and respect in the portrayal of Sir Roger. Humour abounds in Sir Roger at Church. Here most of the time, humour is expressed in the form of irony. The follies, and oddities of Sir Roger are the chief elements of humour. His authoritative power sometimes leads him to become a funny man. Addison shows that Sir Roger is eccentric to some extent. In this essay, we find its full expression. In this essay his eccentricities and oddities are seen in which he exercises his authority. He wanted that his tenants should behave well in the church. He allowed nobody to sleep in the church during sermons but he did so. Sometimes when everybody is up on their knees, he would stand up and start counting the number of the tenants. Here Addison says, ‘As Sir Roger is landlord to the whole congregation, he keeps them in good order and will suffer nobody to sleep in it besides himself’. Moreover, he ‘sometimes stands up when everybody else is upon their knees, to count the congregation, or see if any of his tenants are missing’. As he is the landlord, he doesn't care about anybody. It creates humour and we laugh at his peculiarities. Addison presents these things ironically.
Then again Addison says about Sir Roger that when he is pleased with a matter, he pronounces the word ‘amen’ for several times. Addison says. ‘...half a minute after the rest of the congregation have done with it; sometimes when he is pleased with a matter of his devotion, he pronounces amen three or four times to the same prayer’. People generally do not do any job during the time of congregation. But sometimes Sir Roger gets asleep during that time and if by chance he sees anybody is dozing, he wakes him up or sends his servants to him. Sometimes he shouts at somebody and tells them not to disturb the congregation. These eccentricities make the reader laugh. Even Sir Roger leaves the church first after finishing the congregation and no one dares leave the room before him. He goes out dividing the people into two rows and he follows the chancel between these two rows. These actions of Sir Roger in Sir Roger at Church add to the humorousness of the character presented by Joseph Addison. Apparently, Addison tries to amuse the reader through the above humorous expressions but actually, he satirizes the vices of Sir Roger, as sleeping in the church during sermons is a humiliation to the Christianity/church affairs.

The essayist continues his “endeavour to enliven morality with wit, and to temper wit with morality” (Joseph Addison) in his essay Sir Roger at Home. After getting an invitation from Sir Roger to stay some days in his (Sir Roger’s) country house, Addison as Mr. Spectator went to his country house. The village people went to see Addison, but Sir Roger thought it would be a disturbing act. So he forbids the country people not to get closer to Addison. Addison says, ‘As I have been walking in his fields, I have observed them stealing a sight of me over a hedge, and have heard the knight desiring them not to let me see them, for that I hated to be stared at.’ Moreover, in this essay, we meet with a character named Chaplain who ‘lives in the family (of Sir Roger) rather as a relation than a dependent’. He has a great proficiency in Latin and Greek. Besides, he was a good preacher possessing a clear voice. In brief, he was a good person both intellectually and morally. But his master, Sir Roger was ‘afraid of being insulted with Latin and Greek at his own table’, because he doesn't know these languages. Then again he gives suggestions to the clergyman to be instructed by the Bishop of St. Asaph and Dr. South. It is also humorous because it is not the proper way to develop a clergyman's creative faculties. So, undoubtedly we can say that Addison's essays are abound with humour. And humour is expressed in the form of irony mostly. By the works and attitudes of Sir Roger, Addison expresses these humours. But his ultimate aim is not to make the readers laugh, but rather to correct us and to instruct society.

According to Addison, wit and humour may properly entertain a “good or prudent man”; and raillery in writing, under the regulations of “discretion, or morality,” “carries on the same design that is promoted by Authors of a graver turn, and only does it in another manner”. This easier manner followed by both Joseph Addison and Richard Steele freed readers from “severe Contemplations” and they could reach a much wider audience to expose their vices and follies; that is, to effectively improve their morale.

Dr. Johnson for the first time mentioned Addison’s style to be ‘middle style’. He says well“His prose is the model of the middle style; familiar but not coarse, elegant but not ostentatious: on grave subjects not formal; on light occasions not grovelling, but without scrupulosity, and exact without apparent elaborations; and always equable, and always easy, without glowing words or painted words or pointed sentences.’’

Conclusion:
By using the language of the clubs and coffee houses, brevity, lucidity, wit, and humour and by avoiding vulgarity in their writings, Joseph Addison and Richard Steele, both endeavoured to refine the English language so that they could write with well-bred ease. The Spectator essays stand as an account of the 18th century British society so much so that critics have termed them as “the social chronicle of the times”. Through his essays, Sir Roger at Church and Sir Roger at Home, Addison uses the figure of Sir Roger to satirize the country's mannerisms, political ideology and relationship with the Church by exposing the rural Tory party and promoting Whiggish politeness. Moreover, than their political affiliations, Addison and Steele, took the task to enlighten the masses about social etiquettes and moral values by creating essays in a periodical which could be understood and discussed by people of different social strata. Through the observations of Mr. Spectator, Addison and Steele attempted to usher in a complicated yet subtle change in the English language and society.

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