Abstract The paper tries to determine Swift's political stance by looking at his personal goals as reflected in his writings. The paper further inspects his religious and political writings and tries to determine if he adhered to the Tory or Whig vision of church and state. The paper concludes with an examination of the reason and driving force behind Swift's political behavior and how it affected his writings.
From the Paper "To put it simply, party politics in England during the 18th century were practiced in two different camps - Tory and Whig. Globally, the differences of opinion between the two were based on three key topics - (1) the origin of government, (2) the position of the Church in society and (3) the role England was to play in Europe. Thus, the Tories were the high-church party, which upheld the divine rights of kings, defended Anglican orthodoxy and negotiated the peace treaty of Utrecht that ended the Spanish War. The Whigs were the low-church party, supported the theory of contract between rulers and ruled, and decried the Utrecht treaty, which they attempted to block through their majority in the House of Lords. The early ministry of William III was predominantly Tory but it was gradually replaced by the Whigs. Later on, Queen Anne dismissed some Whig ministers, replaced them with Tories and created new Tory peers in order to stop the War of the Spanish Succession. From 1714 on, the Whigs gained in influence and the governments of Walpole and Pelham called themselves "Whigs". However, during the period 1714 - 1760 the Tories retained a considerable presence in the Commons."
Abstract A discussion of satire and Jonathan Swift. This paper argues the modesty of 'A Modest Proposal?' It studies how irony works and the similarity to the arrogance of most colonizing races in this book and in the entire world. Finally it concludes that the proposal displays pretentious and idle pomp, through the use of witty ridicule, it is the iconoclast protest against the exploitation of the Irish by the English.
From the Paper ""A modest proposal", first published in 1729, is claimed to be one of Jonathan Swifts most drastic satirical pieces , where he suggests that Irish children be fed to wealthy English aristocracy. Swift immediately creates sombre and depressing surroundings caused by begging women and thieving children. From the first paragraph we imagine poverty and famine, which can only be escaped when one emigrates or turns into a professional thief. Before Swift makes the actual proposal, he overemphasizes this state of poverty and the effects it will have on society."
Abstract This paper examines Jonathan Swift's satiric treatment of war in his novel, "Gulliver's Travels" and targets of his satire including political and religious institutions and aspects of human behavior, with numerous examples from the text
From the Paper " In Gulliver's Travels Jonathan Swift launches an elaborate satire on many aspects of human behavior as well as against the political and religious institutions of his day. His assaults against thinly veiled and therefore easily ..."
Tags: Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift, war, satire
Abstract The paper analyzes James Joyce's short story "Araby" and Jonathan Swift's essay "A Modest Proposal" as substantively different in both tone and subject matter, yet maintains that there is an important link between the two. The paper explains that in each work the author relates a voyage of disillusionment.
From the Paper "James Joyce's short story "Araby" and Jonathan Swift's essay "A Modest Proposal" are substantively different in both tone and subject matter and yet there is an important link between the two. In each work the author relates a voyage of disillusionment, in each tale he presents us with a story of despair."
Abstract This paper analyzes Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" and how it is an indictment of humanity. The paper explains that, in "Gulliver's Travels", Swift seeks to condemn human nature as being a state that is assimilated by all in terms of unthinking servitude to individuals' own desires and needs, which conflict and contrast to create a sort of messy chaos that is not ruled by reason or logic. The paper relates that Swifts condemnation of human nature is not light satire. Rather it is a general indictment of humanity as being naturally loathsome and horrible to behold. That is, Swift does not see any saving grace in civilization, but instead concentrates on the innate debasement of humanity.
From the Paper "When the narrator accepts that the horses are his social superiors and masters, he does so after some amount of discussion, having learned their language enough to give a rather proud account of his native land, which is summarily dismissed by the horses as being typical of Yahoo behavior. The horses remark that it is not unheard of in their land to also see Yahoos squabbling and killing each other over certain minerals, and that the dominant Yahoo is also surrounded by fawning subservient attendants who herd female
Yahoos into his camp and help to clean the lead Yahoo's feet and behind."
Abstract This paper discusses the misanthropic (people-hating) tendencies of Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope through the use of Swift's works "Gulliver's Travels" and "A Modest Proposal" and Pope's "The Rape of the Lock". The paper examines the reflection of English society in Gulliver, as well as points out Swift's hatred towards England in "A Modest Proposal". The author also discusses Pope's more subtle misanthropy as seen in certain portions of "The Rape of the Lock".
From the Paper "?[I] strove to conceal my antipathy against humankind, although it often broke out? (2468) This from Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, a book in which it is obvious that the narrator directly reflects the author's feelings in many of its passages. Swift and another author of the time, Alexander Pope, often wrote with a penchant for social commentary. While many authors (I daresay most authors) write with a certain amount of political or ideological undertones, Swift and Pope were fairly blatant in their dislike of humanity and its morals (or lack thereof). At least, this seems to be the case in all of the works, by these authors, that I have read thus far. It is not coincidental that Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope were both misanthropic?they were fairly close friends. In a letter to Pope, Swift is said to have wrote that he hated: ""that animal called man" in general, and offering a new definition of the species as not animal rationale ("a rational animal") but as merely animal rationis capax ("an animal capable of reason"). This, he declared, is the "great foundation" on which his "misanthropy" was erected." (2299) Swift and Pope have very different writing styles, but both are extremely critical of mankind. Swift's Gulliver's Travels and "A Modest Proposal" and Pope's "Rape of the Lock" are each ripe with scathing social commentaries. These works are particularly illustrative of their respective authors? misanthropic mindsets."
Abstract The neo-classical age in which both John Dryden and Jonathan Swift penned their most noteworthy prose is often also called ?The Age of Reason.? However, although this valorization of reason and rationality may be a fair characterization of much of the Age of Human Enlightenment, Dryden and Swift do not deploy nor valorize reason in the same fashion. This paper shows that, for Dryden, reason is the key to humanity's connection with the Divine and political freedom. In comparison, it shows that, in Swift's social and religious satires, human confidence in its rationality is just as absurd as overconfidence in human religious, political, and social institutions to create just and fair societies.
From the Paper "Again, reason is the highest and best form of creation, and the parallel political figures satirized and defamed within the poem are those who are irrational and bad, rather than irrational and good. Dryden has faith in the concrete actions of God, where, ?Heav'n punishes the bad, and proves the best.? (44) In the Biblical account of King David the poet dramatizes in the poem, the justice of God is rational, and thus good, as opposed to the irrational modes humans deploy on occasion to understand God, and the irrational and lustful actions of some Biblical figures. Ultimately, in the last sentence of the poem, David is restored to the throne because he is "God-like" in his goodness.?"
Abstract This essay explores Jonathan Swift's use of satire as exemplified in several of his works. The author proposes that Swift used satire in order to criticize the aristocrats and governments prevalent within early 18th century England and Ireland. Also considered are Swift's personal background, his emotional state and the historical context in which he lived and their contribution to his sardonic style.
From the Paper "By definition, satire; as it pertains to literature, is a work in which wickedness, vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit (American Heritage Dictionary). However, after reading the quote I have provided on the title page, you can see that Swift's view of satire embodies a complexity that our modern day dictionaries simply cannot encapsulate. Swift's famous quote on satire challenges people to think of the ways in which we conceive our identities; usually by making comparisons and contrasts with others. Yet, in our most deeply buried layers of character, there are visions of the "other" by which we anchor our separateness; our notion of discrete identity. It is within Swift's infamous text; A Modest Proposal, that we see his complex views of satire utilized in creating an essay that ambiguously criticized the aristocrats, and governments prevalent within early 18th century England and Ireland."
Tags: aristocracy, century, eighteenth, england, ireland, politics
Abstract This paper reviews and discusses the essay "A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift. According to the paper, in this essay, Swift reveals his beliefs about how art is a force that can be used to bring change and that all humans should have an understanding of what the truth is. The paper goes on to say that it is Swift's art that allows him to manipulate the truth for his purposes.
From the Paper "Swift has artfully prepared the audience by appealing to logic and ethics so that his proposal does not seem so barbaric. The way he states the "truth" of his argument leads the reader to believe that the plan makes sense. "A young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing and wholesome food" (Swift). The audience is supposed to accept this fact as truth and Swift has manipulated his audience in advance to make it seem almost logical. From this point forward, his argument and justification of the plan become increasingly outrageous when read with a sensible eye. However, Swift uses the power of logic to make his truth here seem like the truth. "
Tags: pablo, picasso, emotional, ireland, children, artist
Abstract This paper analyzes Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" as the author's manifesto to the truth of human character. Specifically, the paper explains that the fantastical isles, to which Gulliver travels in Jonathan Swifts' "Gulliver's Travels", serve as the framework for satirizing civilized society. The paper points out that, thematically, the four voyages Gulliver experiences are consistent in their structure as mirrors for the English idea of enlightened civilization. Swift uses each society to highlight Gulliver's pride in his character and the flaws found in his own society. The paper relates that, whereas the Lilliputians and Brobdingnags may have been too simple for Gulliver's taste, the Laputians are too convoluted and steeped in muddled, music-based theologies and scientific reasoning. The true dystopia of Gulliver's Travels is the ridiculousness and pettiness of the Laputian government.
From the Paper "Through the Laputians' fumbling of practical practices such as geometry, in exchange for loftier, more obscure notions of problem-solving, Swift is proposing that this floating isle, a would-be utopia, is more in the tradition of Sir Thomas More's "Utopia", less so in replication of Plato's "Republic". Swift, by using excessive scientific jargon involving such devices as "lodestones", has presented a society that's excessive rationalism and reliance upon incomprehensible theories critiques England's own fervor over the Enlightenment."
Tags: lilliputians brobdingnags dystopia stagnate, enlightenment movement
Abstract Two different opposing viewpoints of misanthropy in "Gulliver's Travels" are detailed, compared and contrasted. The author uses "Satire in the Works of Swift and Gay" by Catherine Cooper and ?Swift's Gulliver's Travels?, a lecture by Ian Johnston, to contrast and compare the two different viewpoints. The arguments presented by both these authors are reviewed and analyzed in order to determine which one is a more accurate interpretation of Gulliver's view of humanity.
From the Paper "Cooper considers Swift to be a misanthrope, as she believes readers are meant to see the Houyhnhnms as better than humans. She equates Gulliver's views with Swift's to an extent, writing that any lingering positive perception of humanity "seems difficult to believe when the bleak light in which Gulliver sees the human race by the end of the novel is observed" (Cooper 2). After Gulliver has observed the degraded Yahoos, he is indeed disgusted by humanity. Yahoos, the vile, bestial, and filthy creatures in human form, are pointed out to be not only approximations of humans but completely human, as evidenced by the fact that a Yahoo female attempted to coerce Gulliver into mating."
An analysis of Jonathan Swift, spokesperson of the Irish Nation's life, including a discussion of two of his main works, "The Drapier's Letters" and "A Modest Proposal".
Abstract This paper examines Jonathan Swift's life, providing a look at his confusing heritage, his early occupations, and a review of two of his main works, "The Drapier's Letters" and "A Modest Proposal". The paper explains that both these literary works can be dubbed satires, and this essay looks at how these satires helped the "common" person in time of political and economic strife, and took Jonathan Swift to the level of "hero" in Ireland even though he is of English descent. The paper also presents a brief look at the political and economic structure of the time.
From the Paper "Jonathan Swift, political and social satirist of the Eighteenth Century, unwittingly became the spokesperson of the Irish nation. Although Swift was born of English parents, he was born in Ireland and ultimately lived in Ireland for most of his life, despite spending some of his younger years in England. Swift was a humanitarian angered and horrified by the acts of injustice done to the people of Ireland. From political dependence on England, to severe poverty and starvation, the people of Ireland suffered to find a voice for justice, and Jonathan Swift suffered for a cause. The two found each other and resulted in one of the greatest literary relationships in the history of satire."
Tags: century, eighteenth, english, satire, ireland, england, humanitarian
This paper analyzes the works "Predictions for the year 1708" and "The Accomplishment of the First of Mr. Bickerstaff's Predictions" by Jonathan Swift.
Abstract The writer discusses the way in which Swift used a variety of satirical techniques, such as incongruity, sarcasm and exaggeration, in order to capture the deception of almanac-makers and astrologists who pretended to make accurate predictions of the forthcoming year in their annual publications. The paper brings examples from Swift's works to illustrate how his satire was successful through the use of realism.
From the Paper "A versatile satirist, Swift considered it his duty to attack signs of "sin and folly" (qtd. in Mayhew 271). In "Predictions," under the guise of his creation, Mr. Bickerstaff, Swift pinpointed the vagueness and ambivalence of the almanac-makers? predictions that could be interpreted as accurate in any circumstance. For example, according to Bickerstaff, a prediction such as "This Month a certain great Person will be threatened with Death, or Sickness," did not require any astrological skills since there were many old distinguished people who were bound to die during the "sickliest Season of the Year" (Swift 427). Furthermore, it is also likely that Swift targeted the almanac-makers because of their important position in the eyes of rich and prominent Gentlemen in the country. These gentlemen who held the reins of power in Parliament actually anticipated the occurrences of public events by using these almanacs. Others allowed their engagements to be dictated by the predictions (Swift 427)."
Abstract This paper examines how, in his work, "A Modest Proposal", Swift reflects the plight of the stereotypical poor Irish Catholic back upon the reader with intentions of provoking antipathy, while remaining totally practical throughout the piece. It discusses how the true victim of his attacks, besides the children, is the hypocrisy of the oppressive English governing body and how, by laying out his proposal and its benefits in clear terms, Swift attempts to appeal to the morality of the reader in the most unorthodox of ways, begging for social reform; his satirical wit and use of dramatic irony attacks the idiosyncrasies of British government that led to the conditions that plagued Ireland in the early 18th century.
From the Paper "Swift's proposal for social reform, on the surface, is a simple one: the thousands of children born of the poor Irish Catholic mothers should be bred and sold solely to be killed and eaten. Right from the beginning, Swift paints a dreary scene of the life of an Irish peasant. The narrator then continues, calmly and rationally, statistically justifying his outrageous scheme and its benefits to all. First, the eating of the poor children would foremost alleviate the overpopulation of "the papists" (Irish Catholics). Second, the "production" of such valuable commodities can be used to barter for rent, and increase the quality of life for the poverty-stricken families. Third, the state would reap the increase in revenue that would come from their sales, as well as the savings of the welfare dollars not spent on raising the children. Fourth, some women could make a healthy (and wealthy) living as child breeders."
This paper analyzes Jonathan Swift's pamphlet, "A Modest Proposal", a satirical attack on the English for their inhumane treatment of the Irish in the 18th century.
Abstract This paper explains that Swift effectively parodies the cruel arrogance of the English and the submissiveness of the Irish parliament by presenting a horrific solution in well-reasoned and economically sound terms. The author points out that, instead of direct polemical criticism, Swift uses irony and parody to draw attention to the desperate conditions facing the poor of Ireland. The paper relates that the presenter employs pseudo-scientific statistics to make his argument appear more logical than it really is, thus creating the illusion of scientific certainty and reason by quoting numbers.
From the Paper "The pamphlet is a bold satire that excites the passion of readers even today, over two hundred years after it was written. Suggesting that the Irish poor eat their babies and thus make them beneficial to society is a point sure to demand attention. It works as a satire because the proposal is made with such a straight and sincere face. The narrator presents himself as a reasonable and humanitarian man."
