This article analyzes, from a comparative perspective, the aims and the characteristics of two types of caricature: Honore Daumier's graphic caricature and Villiers de l'Isle-Adam's literary one. For the purposes of his satiric revenge on bourgeoisie, Villiers resorted, by means of irony, to Daumier's method, even trying to overshadow him. In their way of presenting the world of bourgeoisie and selected social groups (journalist and artistic ones), this draughtsman and this writer worked out their own means of the use of caricature. Without stopping stigmatising the vices of society, Daumier proposed a peculiar kind of caricature (in which an explanation played a secondary role) and developed the ludic aspect of his art, whereas Villiers was focused on mockery, even though his caricatures were often ambiguous. Villiers' caricature, which even became a literary genre, connects a distorted portrait with a linguistic and situational caricature, by which means it makes the sense, formed by Daumier's image, broader.
