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Jonathan Swift's Political Satire

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Most works of literature contain writers ideas; often including their social criticism. One of the prominent forms used to bring reform or change in the society or individual is that of satire. Satire can be considered as an essential device to bring out the author’s thought. Jonathan swift produced such literature in which “every line and every detail is vivid by a humour which consists in presenting the most improbable extravagance with an imperturbable gravity and procures belief for them’. Through his magnum opus, the writer discloses the ridiculousness of the religious and political situations of eighteenth century of Europe, especially England. The political satire in the book is exhibited with his encounter with Lilliputians who exemplify …show more content…

The Whigs corresponded to the low heels and were more liberal, while the Tories corresponded to the high heels and were traditionalists and republicans. The author exposes that the difference between these groups is miniscule in the way he makes fun of the internal politics as well as the trivial arguments that changes people’s lives. They would get into heated arguments about every situation because they didn’t like each other as individuals. Similarly, the argument between the two countries, Lilliput and Blefusco, here meant to represent England and France, was of a small …show more content…

Swift was notorious for being misanthrope. He was subjected to this allegation during his lifetime because the critics identified Gulliver with Swift and attributed Gulliver’s blunders to Swift. That Gulliver becomes a misanthrope is undeniable and indisputable. Prima facie, it appears that by developing a negative view of mankind, he starts preferring horses to men. In last voyage, the protagonist happens to get the land ruled by animals. There are two types of animals Yahoos-ugly and repulsive brutes, Houyhnhnms- better and nice looking ones. He firstly confronts with Yahoos and they give him such a nasty and obnoxious treatment that culminates in disliking for them, which is converted into hatred owing to their disgusting appearance and mischievious way of life. Meantime, the Houyhnhnms behave outstandingly with him. This develops into fondness towards them. When he is so enamoured of Houyhnhnms, he starts hating man or equating Yahoos with men, over idealizing them. He finds Yahoos as slave of emotions and sensuality and Houyhnhnms lack of emotions and free from corruptions. Naturally he attributes whole of man’s corruption to emotions and sentimentatlity. As a remedy he starts hating emotions. He mis-idealize Houyhnhnms, due to their pure intellect, somehow establishes a subjective ideal before him, and he thinks that the only remedy for doing away with man’s corruption is to get rid of all kinds of emotions. In fact this ideal is perfectly erroneous.

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Opinions on tragic events are usually something sought as serious and dreary. Trying to find the best way to have a solution for the problem. However, in A Modest Proposal, Jonathan Swift provides a different approach on solving a certain tragedy. A solution by no means actually providing a benefit but by conveying a satirical diction towards the situation. Swift's satirical tone and ironic persona reveals his use of rhetorical strategies to prepare the reader for his proposal.

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156 Words | 1 Pages

There are so many ways to take everything and there are multiple responses to them as well. Responses, while they may be normal, can also challenge the status quo of the time period. In the essay “A Modest Proposal” Jonathan Swift challenges the status quo of the time and place in which it was written by coming up with outrageous ideas, using sarcasm and satire, and coming up with actual ideas that would change life forever. During Jonathan’s time, no one would ever think about children being the economic problem or even eating the children. He threw out these ideas that were completely different but could solve the problem.

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983 Words | 4 Pages

Mohammed Ismail AP Language Composition Lyons, William December 9, 2014 Rhetorical Devices Used in Jonathan Swifts Modest Proposal The essay Modest Proposal, written by Jonathan Swift perhaps known better for his novel Gulliver’s travels wrote this piece, because during his time he addressed solutions to many contemporary social issues by writing them on pamphlets. Swift’s main purpose in writing this essay is to avert children from being less of a problem to their parents and the public. The author tries not addressing his subject directly, children, instead Swift introduces the concept of a market, livestock, breeders, etc., to address the overcrowding and poverty stricken children in Dublin, Ireland.

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1163 Words | 5 Pages

Dr. Jonathan Swift uses rhetorical devices, logical, ethical, as well as emotional appeals to highlight the difference between Swift’s satirical attitude and the narrator’s serious attitude concerning poverty and starvation. In order to understand the nature of Swift’s proposal,

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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.

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409 Words | 2 Pages

In Chaucer’s story The Canterbury Tales, he wrote about how he felt what the society was like for him and what people did. You had the poor and the rich but they were opposite of each other. To me you could see that the made up characters are like some of the people in our society today. Chaucer use of satire to shine a light on how he felt about the society and what was wrong with the people in the upper towards the lower class. One example from the text is the Parson who is a generous, godly, and a poor man.

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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

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In literature, the element of satire is employed to illustrate or exploit the corruption of a society by means of exaggeration, black humor, highbrow wit, or mockery. The writer's intent is to make permanent change for a problem or fight a cause in a society that otherwise looks away in ignorance. In "A Modest Proposal," Jonathan Swift spins a web of masterful satire to propose a grisly solution to the problem of poverty, which mocks the folly of the 18th century socially elite and puts the blame on the greed of the wealthy for the sickly state of the nation. The Restoration and the 18th century for the British was a time of great commercial and economic prosperity, and the Anglican Church remained closely tied with the governmental power

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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:

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483 Words | 2 Pages

Swift uses his satire as a way to draw attention to daily conditions that many families in Ireland are suffering from. His extreme plan of eating children is used as a way to draw the attention of the government towards helping improve the economy. By using irony Swift is able to help make his plan a more believable solution to invoke change. Even today Swift 's plan can be seen as a persuasive technique, using logic and statistics to convince the

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855 Words | 4 Pages

18th century Europe, otherwise known as the “Enlightenment Period,” was another period of history that--after promptly succeeding the Renaissance--unleashed a new swathe of artistry onto the world. Writers of this time period focused on the ideas of “human existence” in abstract. They were often harsh critics, which really did well to set a precedent of writers to come. Many of these criticisms came in the form of poetry, thinly-veneered satire, and comic novellas that shone a light on these concepts with their interesting perspectives. Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal,” Alexander Pope’s “An Essay on Man,” and Miguel de Cervantes’ “Don Quixote” are all great examples of pieces of writing introduced at the time.

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867 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/or using their skins as a fashion accessory; however, ultimately this proposal is not his true goal. Jonathon Swift skillfully used different styles of writing, such as imagery and irony, to show why the Irish should sell their children to the rich to eat.

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1083 Words | 5 Pages

Critical Analysis of Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” In the work entitled “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift, the theme of social injustice is enhanced by the use of verbal irony to convey a charged message. The ambiguous title and introduction to Jonathan Swift’s masterpiece does little to prepare the reader for shocking content revealed later in the text. Swift’s work is powerful, poignant and persuasive because it strikes at the heart of the modern readers ethics, as it likely would have done for the author’s contemporary audiences. Jonathan Swift’s 1729 masterpiece is a satirical metaphor centered around the pervasive assertion, “the English are devouring the Irish.” Jonathan Swift gives a more comprehensive exordium concerning his work stating that is it “a modest proposal for preventing the children of poor people in Ireland, from being a burden on their parents and country, and for making them beneficial to the public (Swift 1199).

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1015 Words | 5 Pages

It is during Gulliver's fourth journey that Swift's satire reaches its pinnacle, where 'Swift put his most biting, hard lines, that speak against not only the government, but human nature itself' (Glicksman,Perceptions of Satire in Gulliver's Travels, 120). In this journey, as Gulliver comes to the land of the Houyhnhnms, who are creatures that look like horses but have the ability

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588 Words | 3 Pages

Perks of Sarcasm (Chaucer 's Use of Satire to Reach Intended Audience) Geoffrey Chaucer, also known as, “The Father of English Literature,” uses satire in his stories to influence his intended audience. Satire is the use of humor or irony to reveal a person 's stupidity. Considering Chaucer 's stories are legendary, he never fails to through some satire into his writing. With that being said, using it while writing a story is one of the most effective ways of writing.

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