Fo's Use Of Satire In Act One

The arbitrary rule of authority is shown during the play in many forms, with the help of satire. The book starts with the discussion of the Maniac impersonating a psychiatrist. He uses a psychiatrist arbitrary power to charge an outrageous two hundred pounds for a session and receives positive feedback from his patient’s, regardless of the fact that he is not a psychiatrist, showing that these people with official positions can abuse their powers to do as they please. Fo exploits the abuse of these power in a few different institutions throughout his play.
One of the biggest criticisms was the abuse of the justice system’s power. In Act One, Scene Two, the Maniac impersonates a judge from the High Court. On page 30-31, Fo uses satire to criticize a judge’s unquestioned influence, when the “judge” is, successfully, talking the Superintendent and Inspector into the absurd idea of jumping out the window for the deeds they have committed. When Bertozzo figures out the true identity of Maniac, he tries to reveal it to the

One of the biggest scandals of the Church was mentioned on page 17, when the Maniac jokes about the Inspector rubbing his hand then mentions a bishop who “was a hypocrite…he was always rubbing his hand”. This is alluding to the child sexual abuse cases from the officials of the Church. The Church has used it powers and influence in the past to clear or cover-up some of these cases, despite have guilty clergy. The institution of the Church abuses their authority but so do the official clergy. This is shown when the Maniac reveals himself as a bishop and obediently receives kisses to his ring merely because of the superiority of the bishop. When the ring is offered to Bertozzo, who knows that the Maniac is pretending, he ends up kissing the ring. Overall this is criticizing the unreasonable influence that Church clergy has on society and its