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Jonathan swift life history as a satirist
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Living in an age of ill-treatment of the Irish citizenry by the British monarchy of led authors to protest circumstances in the only way they knew how, with their words. Jonathan Swift was one such author who attacked the wrongs England committed upon Ireland using his wit and satire. Swift once said, “We have just religion enough to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another” (Baker). Therefore, the crux of the problem with Ireland and England was the desire for one to keep their religious freedoms while the other wished to replace a religion with their own. It is that fervor for religious control that led England to use every method at its disposal to force the Irish to convert from Catholicism to Anglicanism. To accomplish this goal the English monarchy and parliament passed laws preventing Irish citizens from earning a living and attempted to destroy Ireland’s economy with worthless coins. Had the Irish citizenry passively stood by and allowed this to happen the English plan may have succeeded. However, writers such as Jonathan Swift fought with written words to rally a nation against tyranny.
To completely understand the reasons as to why Ireland was treated so atrociously by England it is necessary to delve back into the history of the two nations. In 1532 Henry VIII wished to divorce his wife, who was incapable of producing a male heir, and marry another. Unable to receive papal approval for a divorce from Rome, Henry VIII broke from the Roman Catholic Church and formed the Anglican Church of England and Protestantism was established (Baker). Henry VIII was granted a divorce given that he controlled the church, he was allowed to marry another and heirs were born. Henry VIII, having formed his own church and ...
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Baker, Lyman A. "Conditions in Early Eighteenth-Century Ireland." 17 March 2012. KSU. .
Bromberg, Howard. "A Modest Proposal." Masterplots, Fourth Edition (2010) 2012 30 March: 1-3. Literary Reference Center. Web.
Fabricant, Carole. "Speaking for the Irish Nation: The Drapier, the Bishop, and the Problems of Colonial Representation." ELH (1999): 337-332. http://www.jstor.org.muncie.libproxy. ivytech.edu/stable/30032076.
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"Jonathan Swift." 17 March 2012. Encyclopedia of World Biography..
Lawall, Sarah. "The Norton Anthology of World Literature 1650-1800." Swift, Jonathan. A Modest Proposal. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2002. 483. Book.
"William Bradford 1590-1657." The Norton Anthology of American Literature Volume A: Beginnings to 1820. . 8th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. 121-122. Print.
In Swift’s satirical essay he stated the main issue to be the hunger and starvation of Irish country and their lack of money to support oneself. He said the complication was they themselves don’t have food, to many families in poverty, and that the Englishman took their land and charging high prices for rent. Swift makes this argument because he too is an Irish men and he struggles to see his fellow men parish in the streets. He desires his people to stand up against England and take back what’s theirs. He argues that the Irish...
"Morton, Thomas - Introduction." Literary Criticism (1400-1800). Ed. Thomas J. Schoenberg. Vol. 72. Gale Cengage, 2002. eNotes.com. 2006. 21 Feb, 2011
In addition, the wit that is contained within “A Modest Proposal” is astonishing and superb. Although some have taken “A Modest Proposal” seriously and actually thought that Swift was trying to propose to boil infants and eat them. The reader cannot yield that seriously and if the reader does then it would co...
Swift, Jonathan. "A Modest Proposal". In The Norton Anthology Of English Literature: The Major Authors. Ed. M.H. Abrams et al. 5th ed. New York: Norton, 1987. 1078-1085
In 1729, Jonathan Swift published a pamphlet called “A Modest Proposal”. It is a satirical piece that described a radical and humorous proposal to a very serious problem. The problem Swift was attacking was the poverty and state of destitution that Ireland was in at the time. Swift wanted to bring attention to the seriousness of the problem and does so by satirically proposing to eat the babies of poor families in order to rid Ireland of poverty. Clearly, this proposal is not to be taken seriously, but merely to prompt others to work to better the state of the nation. Swift hoped to reach not only the people of Ireland who he was calling to action, but the British, who were oppressing the poor. He writes with contempt for those who are oppressing the Irish and also dissatisfaction with the people in Ireland themselves to be oppressed.
Swift defined satire as; 'A sort of glass wherein the holders do generally discover everybody's face but their own, which is the chief reason for that kind of reception it meets in the world, and that so very few are offended with it. " Swift presents his "Proposal" as an entirely reasonable suggestion to aid the Irish, he enumerates the many benefits, counters the objections many may have, uses rhetoric reasoning and proves his humanitarianism views. Swift has written in considerable detail over the degree of poverty in Ireland, he draws attention to the causes of it obliquely and proves in great detail that his "Proposal" will work and in which ways it does work. Ireland was a colony of England; it was economically, politically and militarily dependent on ... ... middle of paper ... ...
This essay will have no value unless the reader understands that Swift has written this essay as a satire, humor that shows the weakness or bad qualities of a person, government, or society (Satire). Even the title A Modest Proposal is satirical. Swift proposes using children simply as a source of meat, and outrageous thought, but calls his propo...
O'Connor, Thomas H. The Boston Irish: A Political History. Boston, MA. Northeastern University Press, 1995.
Swift was said to “declare at one stage in his life: ‘I am not of this vile country (Ireland), I am an Englishman’” (Hertford website). In his satire “A Modest Proposal,” he illustrates his dislike not only for the Irish, but for the English, organized religions, rich, greedy landlords, and people of power. It is obvious that Swift dislikes these people, but the reader must explore from where his loathing for the groups of people stems. I believe Swift not only wanted to attack these various types of people to defend the defenseless poor beggars, but he also had personal motives for his writings that stemmed from unconscious feelings, located in what Sigmund Freud would call the id, that Swift developed in his earlier years of life.
In her article, "Voyeurism in Swift's Poetry," Louise K. Barnett explores the trend of voyeurism m the works of Jonathan Swift. She speaks broadly about the use of this technique in his work and concentrates on a few poems including "The Lady's Dressing Room." Barnett believes that Swift's poetry tends to be more voyeuristic than it is obsessed with excrement and decay. To support this, she maintains that each poem centers around the experience of seeing the obscenity (i.e. "The Lady's Dressing Room" revolves around Strephon's response to Celia's dirt and dung) rather than the obscenity.
Jonathan Swift was born in Dublin, Ireland on November 30th, 1667. His father died shortly before his birth, leaving him and his mother to fend for themselves. They were very poor, Jonathan’s mom worked very hard to provide for him. Jonathan had Meniere’s disease, a disease infecting the inner ear that causes dizziness, vertigo, nausea, and hearing loss. Jonathan was raised by a nurse, who often took trips to visit relatives. Jonathan lived with the nurse in England while his mom move to Leicester, England to live with family.
When faced with adversity society often turns to satire to relieve the frustrations the people feel. One of the most widely known examples of satire is Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” Swift uses this work to vent his frustration with not only the governing bodies of 1729 Ireland, but also its residents. Swift discusses the possibility of ending Ireland’s famine and economic troubles by using the children of poor families as a source of nourishment for the workers. This suggestion although meant in a comedic way served a more serious role in displaying Swift’s and many others displeasure with the state of their nation. Swift uses many techniques to entice his readers and make his argument compelling. The serious tone and personal style of the essay lock in the reader 's attention, while the use of facts and figures serve to establish a false sense of seriousness within the argument itself.
- - -. “Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800.” http://go.galegroup.com. N.p., 1988. Web. 9 Dec. 2010. .
Jonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, poet, and cleric who turned political writing into something more riveting and humorous. Although his works were aimed towards the political audience, his writings impacted everyone in Europe in many ways. His combination of genres created a new theme that was admired by many groups of people. Though his work may not be remembered forever, he will remain a distinguished author in all of his reader’s hearts.