Essay Comparing The Flea And A Modest Proposal

Donne and Swift have very different goals for their respective piece’s “The Flea” and “A Modest Proposal.” Though both explicitly state their intention, there is very little overlap. “The Flea” is a lofty metaphysical argument which attempts to convince an unnamed woman to have premarital sex with Donne, while “A Modest Proposal” is a satirical yet very serious condemnation of Irish politics. Due to this divergence, the effect each author creates by directly engaging the audience is quite different. For Donne, directly addressing his beloved acts as a way to whittle her down and change her opinion on the matter, which isolates readers. For Swift, however, directly addressing an individual within Irish society is meant to inspire thought and

open a larger conversation, thereby pulling the reader into the argument.
In “The Flea,” there is only one instance of Donne outwarding referencing himself and his beloved in the same line: “This flea is you and I, and this / Our marriage bed and marriage temple is” (lines 12-3).

By using the pronouns “I” and “our,” Donne directly appeals to his beloved, not a wide audience like Swift. This centralizes the poem around two characters, Donne and his Beloved, and in essence makes the reader a third-party. In doing so, the reader is no longer included in the dialogue of the poem and Donne’s argument does not necessarily engage readers. Instead, the reader feels as if they are on the outside looking in and that it is not their place to engage in the arguement, or to even refute Donne’s logic. Similarly, the haphazard unfolding of the piece contributes to the reader’s sense that they are not involved. After Donne’s beloved squashes the flea, he

writes:
Find’st not thy self nor me the weaker now;
’Tis true; then learn how false fears be:
Just so much honor, when thou yield’st to me,
Will waste, as this flea’s death took life from thee. (lines 24-9)
This sudden change in argumentation gives the poem a sense of urgency and drama which further isolates the reader by making the piece seem like it is unfolding in the moment. When the reader feels that they are watching events unfold, it is clear that their job is to spectate, not to enter into the dialogue. Ultimately, “The Flea” is written for Donne’s beloved, not the reader, and so the piece’s narration style detaches the reader from the argument.
“A Modest Proposal,” on the other hand, does try to bring readers in the crux of the issue and welcomes their contributions.

To begin, he does this by painting an image that many Irish readers would be familiar with which draws them into the argument by arousing their emotions: “It is a melancholy object to those who walk through this great town or travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads, and cabin doors, crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags and importuning every passenger for an alms” (1999). Many of Swift’s Irish readers, foreign travelers too, would have had a personal connection or experience with the scene he lays out in the first sentence. For that reason, the first sentence is an appeal to pathos which is meant to directly engage readers in the argument. Another way Swift allows his readers to interact with the piece is by anticipating their objections, especially in the more extreme, satirical parts. When Swift is talking about cannibalizing young teens, he says “it is not improbable that some scrupulous people might be apt to censure such a practice (although indeed very unjustly) as a little bordering upon cruelty; which I confess, hath always been with me the strongest objection against any project, how well soever intended” (2636). Interestingly, this extreme argument in and of itself if supposed to pull readers into the discourse by positing something they obviously would never agree

with; Swift is attempting to shake readers out of their complacency. Fundamentally, Swift’s piece is meant to shock readers and he manages to do this and move towards the goal of reform by creating dialogue through appeals and counters.