Literary Criticism Of Jonathan Swift

traits. The fact that all men and women are flawed does not diminish human brilliance and goodness.
Historians revealed, “One of the largest contributions to the consistency of misogyny in Eighteenth-century society, namely high society, was literature” (Montagu 2010). That in fact, “Jonathan Swift, through his satire inspired some animosity, was a renowned and respected author (and, of course, a man), which provided his writing with a considerable amount of influence” (Montagu 2010). The author had the capability to sway public opinion with his work and he chose to draw attention to women through this poem. Swift’s work is a representation of the idea of reason in literature, art, and culture. The satirical poem had the ability to encourage

S. to Write a Poem Call'd the Lady's Dressing Room” (Black 2012) would be equivalent to a “mic drop” (English 2018) as she demonstrated truth and Swift’s ignorance. Swift released crude text in relation to women’s bodily functions to the public and received criticism for being too offensive and misogynistic. Pioneers of the war of words, Jonathan Swift and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu fought out their disagreement in full view of the public. The satirical literary artists were educated in their craft and worked diligently to present their masterpiece through well-thought-out written text. Print and words were the only forms of communication during this era. Culturally, society conformed to rules, laws, and regulations (Black 2012). Through their literary works, poets Jonathan Swift and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu battled sexism through satire and parody during the Eighteenth Century. But that was history, in the past and society has evolved. Hasn’t it? An article entitled, “In 2017, Trump revived feminism, saved satire and reinvigorated journalism” (Ghitis 2017) disagrees that society has evolved from the Eighteenth Century. Historical lessons have been lost and society has regressed. The work of Montagu and Swift therefore remain relevant in today’s society. A nation has a leader who has brought feminism to the forefront and not for his ground-breaking work towards

Just as Lady Mary Wortley Montagu used parody to fire-up women, the television show “Saturday Night Live also got its groove back with Trump-theme jokes, reaching its highest ratings in decades” (Ghitis 2017) and this means society is engaged. The president is as well recognized for “reinvigorating the newspapers, which had seemed fated to die in the electronic age” (Ghitis 2017). The literary battle between Montagu and Swift can be compared to, “The New York Times and The Washington Post engaged in a friendly-competition war that benefited the country, scoring major scoops, from the multiple and repeatedly-lied-about meetings between Trump campaign officials and Kremlin-linked figures to the sexual transgressions of powerful men” (Ghitis 2017). Undeniably, sexism is flourishing under the American president, “one might expect language and attitudes to be very different to those of the Middle Ages” (Hanna 2018) but President Trump has renewed the old patriarchy ways. Absolutely, political patriarchy and sexism exist, “Donald Trump, the U.S. president, has once again dismissed his own infamous “grab them by the pussy” comments” (Hanna 2018) and history is being repeated. Reprehensibly, “in medieval literature, women were commonly depicted as “easy,” particularly in the context of bawdy satire”