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Jonathan Swift And A Modest Proposal Essay

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Jenna Crowley Dr. Stephen Voyce ENGL:2010:0A06 3 March 2023 Unearthing Corruption Through Dehumanization Although Jonathan Swift and William Shakespeare wrote in two different literary periods, both writers produced highly significant works that involved aspects of animalization. Swift and Shakespeare use animal imagery as a method of dehumanizing their characters, but while “A Modest Proposal” compares Irish children to livestock to indirectly highlight the exploitation of Ireland by the British, Richard III uses predatory animals as a metaphor to illustrate the inherently deceitful nature of Richard himself. Both writers employ this technique to emphasize characters treated as subordinates or outcasts of society, and to subsequently reveal …show more content…

Richard, who is often ostracized or condemned by other members of the nobility due to his physical deformity, is compared to deadly or dangerous animals throughout the play to serve as a reminder of both his isolation and his underlying manipulative nature. For instance, he is equated to a tiger by Queen Elizabeth when she learns he has imprisoned Lords Rivers and Grey: “The tiger now hath seized the gentle hind; / Insulting tyranny begins to jut / Upon the innocent and aweless throne” (Shakespeare 2.4. 50-52). Elizabeth’s analogy of Richard’s hunger for the throne as comparable to the powerful, barbaric tendencies of a top predator in the animal kingdom emphasizes the unceasing commitment of Richard to kingship–so much so that he would abandon his humanity. The ongoing corruption of his morality is furthermore represented by that of a merciless wolf after he kills his nephews: “Wilt thou, O God, fly from such gentle lambs / And throw them in the entrails of the wolf?” (Shakespeare 4.4. 22-23). The stark contrast between the innocence associated with lambs and the violent attributes of the wolf, their natural predator, symbolizes the true maliciousness of Richard himself, who typically hides his conniving nature behind the facade of charisma and a sharp tongue. By murdering the two young boys, who Shakespeare consistently characterizes as youthful and pure of heart, he has revealed the depth of his desperation for power. While the nobility’s ridicule of Richard’s disfigurement may contribute to their comparison of him to the sub-human, the equation of him to formidable, bloodthirsty, and predatory animals explicitly underlines his mutilated sense of

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