What is the meaning of caricatures?
A caricature is an exaggerated verbal or visual portrait of a person, one in which the person’s most prominent characteristics are enlarged or distorted. Caricatures can be used to describe, mock and celebrate someone.HistoryCaricatures have existed in one form or another for centuries. The word “caricature,” deriving from the Italian word “caricare,” “to load,” first appeared in 1716 in Sir Thomas Browne’s book, “Christian Morals.”SignificanceA caricature can help shape how that person is perceived in public, affecting that person’s popularity and influence.TypesCaricatures can be painted or drawn as visual illustrations, or they can appear in the form of written words, such as with certain characters in the novels of Charles Dickens.EffectsHaving long been used to mock the powerful and the famous, Caricatures can have both social and political significance.
