ipl-logo

Analysis Of Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal

1141 Words5 Pages

One hundred years after Swift penned A Modest Proposal the problem of grave robbing was rife in Scotland. Any cemetery in proximity to a University town was regularly plundered for fresh corpses. It was reported that “the persons interred did not remain in their graves above a night” (Rev. W. Fleming, 1821). There was a huge demand for dead bodies for medical students to dissect. Supply did little to meet demand, so students regularly plundered graves in the name of learning. Fortunately for students of literature there is no need to go to such macabre extremes in order to further knowledge in their specialist field. Students of English Literature need only burgle the bank of literary treasures left to us by esteemed authors. One of these authors is Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), writer, poet and Dean of St Patrick’s, Dublin. Amongst the gems Swift left for dissection by literature students, is an essay published as a pamphlet in 1729 called A Modest Proposal. Through analysis of the …show more content…

The author’s use of satire is superbly honed in this essay. A satirical work ridicules stupidity in other people, and through the use of ironic language implies ideas that are the opposite of those expressed. No finer example than the Proposer of this story, considering cannibalising infants, as a “modest” suggestion for curing poverty in Ireland. Swift spares no one in this essay taking every chance to have a gibe. About landlords he says “I grant this food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children.” (Swift, 1729). So for the English literature student Swift is the master of satire and this essay is “generally considered to be the most famous satirical essay in the English language” (Nordquist,

Show More
Related

Rhetorical Devices In A Modest Proposal

1413 Words | 6 Pages

1729, a Papist infected Ireland was being devoured by the taxes that the British placed on them. The taxes were turning into what once was a glorious place into ruins. Jonathan Swift, an Englishman and Irish sympathizer, realized that someone had to do something to wake up the British. This lead to the creation of A Modest Proposal, a pamphlet heavy with irony and juvenalian satire, which was how Jonathan Swift planned on compelling the British to do something about the poor situation in Ireland. His use of rhetorical devices gets his point across in an effective and powerful way.

Read More

Imagery In Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal

947 Words | 4 Pages

Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” is a very interesting take on how the Irish government should cure the famine that the country was then facing. However, the entire proposal was completely bizarre, and the whole point of the essay was to bring attention to the idea that they needed a solution to the all the problems they were experiencing but the proposal was definitely not it. He even had a strongly developed plan as to how his proposal would work which makes the reader feel as if he is serious about selling children, eating them, and using their skins as a fashion accessory; however, ultimately this proposal was not his true goal. Jonathan Swift skillfully used different styles of writing, such as imagery and irony, to show why the

Read More

Summary Of Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal

609 Words | 3 Pages

Jonathan Swift’s satire writing, A Modest Proposal, portrays many different elements of the restoration period along with describing some of the social problems of this time period. Swift describes these problems as something that other people can relate to. Swift uses the idea of getting rid of some of the lower class people in the area and explains how it would benefit the government and the economy. This would only be beneficial if all of the beggars and homeless children would leave the country. This would then allow the government to fund the population’s basic necessities.

Read More

Comparison Of A Modest Proposal And Tartuffe

631 Words | 3 Pages

Jonathan Swift explains that the “Satire” puts a whole new discovery on individuals which causes them to be offended by it. A Modest proposal brings attention to problems with the English and the Irish. “Satire” controls the big ideas of individuals which brings more of the Enlightenment phase in the picture. In Tartuffe, Moliere explains how being a hypocrite can spread but ultimately rule over a specific character to cause greed, selfishness, and satisfaction. Tartuffe and A Modest Proposal have similarities and differences for reason and passion.

Read More

Situational Irony In A Modest Proposal

712 Words | 3 Pages

A Modest Proposal: Swift’s Satirical Approach Almost a quarter of the global population, 23 percent, live below the US$3.65 poverty line, and nearly half, 47 percent, live below the US$6.85 poverty line, as reported in the 2022 Poverty and Shared Prosperity report (Christensen, “Poverty”). In A Modest Proposal, a satirical essay written by Dr. Jonathan Swift, he suggests an extreme solution to overpopulation and poverty in Ireland during the 18th century. At first glance, the presented solution in the essay seems callous, but in reality, it is a parody of the mistreatment endured by the Irish by the British government. The different elements of satire used by Swift in A Modest Proposal support his extensive argument while criticizing the social

Read More

A Modest Proposal Satirical Analysis

1523 Words | 7 Pages

Jonathan Swift’s satirical political essay A Modest Proposal, published in 1729, addresses the issue of Ireland’s current economic plight, by addressing the various internal and external, social and individual, causes that have engendered it, by means of relying upon satire. In particular, on the one hand, Swift presents Ireland’s economic quagmire as deriving from its own “self-destructive tendencies” (Sherman 2431), specifically the individual character of the Irish people, as well as its social institutions, especially the Church. Also, on the other hand, he attributes the country’s stagnated domestic economy to external sources, namely England, in the form of absentee landlords, which is a socioeconomic issue that implicates power inequalities

Read More

Rhetorical Analysis Essay: A Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift

576 Words | 3 Pages

Rhetorical Analysis Essay: A Modest Proposal Dr. Jonathan Swift places himself as a villain who is willing to do evil deeds to answer hard questions. What pushes Swift to write the essay “A Modest Proposal” is Ireland's economic and social problems. In this satirical essay Swift highlights the problems in Ireland and gives a sarcastic solution to make people feel guilt. Swift’s use of dehumanizing language is used to make the reader oppose Swift’s modest proposal.

Read More

A Modest Proposal Rhetorical Analysis

680 Words | 3 Pages

During the early 1700’s, Ireland was in a deep state of economic distress. Before the writing of A Modest Proposal, Ireland was in the midst of a famine due to three unsuccessful harvests. Homelessness was a problem amongst the whole country. During this time, Jonathan Swift was working towards a position in the government, but was unsuccessful. While feeling lost and a sense of complete hopelessness in Ireland, Swift became more and more involved in English politics.

Read More

Essay 'A Modest Proposal' By Jonathan Swift

701 Words | 3 Pages

Jonathan Swift, was a famous satirist and author of “Gulliver's Travels” who devoted most of his writing discussing the struggle between Ireland and England. Swift became famous in Ireland in the 1700’s for his depiction of the English government in a time where Ireland and England were not particularly friendly. In the essay “A Modest Proposal”, one of Swift’s more extreme, the idea of the Irish eating their children to survive is presented with a plainly satirical tone. Since the content of the essay is so absurd, it allows for Swift to hold an overly serious tone which adds to the hilarity of this piece. The essay builds a unique type of argument by using satire and allegory to establish tone and pathos, diction paired with tone to establish a relationship with his intended audience and comedy to discredit the people he is mocking and elevate his own

Read More

Analysis Of The Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift

456 Words | 2 Pages

The essay that was most argued effectively is Jonathan Swift essay “The Modest Proposal”. Most people might disagree with the argument, but if you the reader would think about it Swift’s catches the reader’s attention with his fake thesis then later makes the reader feel bad once they read the real thesis. Hardin’s is effective but not as effective as Swift’s.

Read More

A Modest Proposal Satire Analysis

834 Words | 4 Pages

Swift’s satire consisted of many “modest theories.” For example, you may have heard people talk about overpopulation. You may have your own theories about it, but what about eating children? In this instance, Jonathan Swift used his form of humor, also known as satire, to get his point across, in which wrote a pamphlet called “A Modest Proposal,” a mockery for the ideas of how to deal with overpopulation. “Satire is a technique employed by writers to

Read More

A Modest Proposal: Juvenalian Satire

793 Words | 4 Pages

The large-scale issue of poverty is dated all the way back to the 18th Century and it continues today. To raise awareness about this issue, two very brilliant writers, Jonathan Swift and Fred Grimm used different forms of satire to get their points across. Jonathan Swift is an 18th Century writer, who used Juvenalian satire in his work “A Modest Proposal” to inform the English about the raising number of those in poverty in Ireland. Juvenalian satire is often a bitter, or angry form of satire that criticizes a corruption. Fred Grimm started writing for the Miami Herald in the 20th Century, he used Horatian satire in his column “State budget solution:

Read More

Jonathan Swift Research Paper

500 Words | 2 Pages

2.3 Life and Works of Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift, the son of English parents- Jonathan Swift and Abigail Erick was born in Dublin, Ireland on 30th November 1667. Swift’s father came to Ireland to work with his elder brother Godwin but unfortunately, he died of syphilis just seven months before Jonathan Swift’s birth and hence, Abigail Erick was enforced to depend on the financial support of Godwin. His mother went to England leaving him behind alone in the care of his uncle Godwin who looked after his nursing and schooling. At the age of six, Swift was sent to Kilkenny School where he studied for eight years and then went to Trinity College, Dublin for further education in 1682. In his school activities, Swift was an average student and

Read More

Jonathan Swift Misogynist

287 Words | 2 Pages

Even today, Jonathan Swift is considered to be one of the most prominent prose satirists in the English language. However, being a prominent writer does not mean that Swift believed in society’s ideals, specifically, gender equality. In his writings, there are ideas can be interpreted as misanthropic or misogynist. A way we can analyze Swift’s thoughts is by examining how he expresses his ideas through Lemuel Gulliver in Gulliver’s Travels. From analyzing his work, it is shown that Swift is not necessarily a misanthrope, but rather a person who tries to reform mankind through his writings.

Read More

The Use Of Satire In Gulliver's Travels

1129 Words | 5 Pages

Being one of the most famous satirical pieces in the history of literature, Gulliver’s Travels, written by Jonathan Swift, has obvious targets that he makes sure to satirize. From the British-colonized world that Swift lives in, to the government, his satire is not subtle. Particularly in Swift’s time, literature was a powerful tool many authors, especially Swift, use as a political weapon to make people believe as the author does. Literature was one of the only ways to get a point across- there was no television or social media at the time to influence the general public.

Read More

More about Analysis Of Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal

Open Document