Jonathan Swift 1759 A MODEST PROPOSAL

1
(No Transcript)
2
Jonathan Swift 1759A MODEST PROPOSAL

• FOR
• PREVENTING THE CHILDREN OF POOR PEOPLE IN IRELAND
  FROM BEING A BURDEN TO THEIR PARENTS OR COUNTRY,
  AND FOR MAKING THEM BENEFICIAL TO THE PUBLIC

3
Historical Background

• By 1703, English Protestants owned all but 10 of
  the land
• Legislation was enacted that severely limited the
  rights of the Irish to hold government office,
  purchase real estate, get an education, and
  advance themselves in other ways
• Many Irish emigrated
• Those who remained lived in poverty, facing
  disease, starvation and prejudice

4
Type of Work

• An Essay that uses satire to make its point
• A satire is a literary work that attacks or pokes
  fun at vices, abuses, stupidity, and/or any
  other fault or imperfection.
• Satire may make the reader laugh at, or feel
  disgust for, the person or thing satirized.
• Main weapon of the satirist is verbal irony

5

• Proposal was originally printed in the form of
  a pamphlet
• Pamphlets were short works which took a stand on
  a political, religious, or social issue or any
  other issue of public interest
• Pamphleteers played a significant role in
  inflaming or resolving many of the great
  controversies in Europe in the 16th, 17th and
  18th centuries

6
Purpose

• To call attention to abuses inflicted on Irish
  Catholics by well-to-do English Protestants.
• Swift was a native Irish Protestant born in
  Dublin to English parents
• He believed England was exploiting and oppressing
  Ireland
• Many Irish farming families lived on the edge of
  starvation because the English landlords exacted
  excessive rents

7

• Swift satirizes the English landlords with
  outrageous humor by proposing that Irish infants
  and children can be used to improve the economy
  rather than being a burden
• He also satirizes the prejudice of Protestants
  toward Catholics as his suggestion will reduce
  the number of the latter
• Finally, he satirizes the Irish themselves as
  they suffer their circumstances stoically rather
  than taking action

8
Use of Irony

• Swift points out that the Irish should not be
  treated like animals by comparing them to animals
• Points out that disease, famine and substandard
  living conditions threaten to kill great numbers
  of Irish and cheers this as a positive
  development

9

• Use of the word modest is consummate hyperbole
• This is an excellent example of Swifts practice
  in the use of a paradox. (A contradiction in
  terms.)
• The clear use of language also seems
  paradoxically at odds with its tone.

10
Themes

• Exploitation of the downtrodden
• Prejudice
• Irish inaction

11
Swifts Life and Times

• Born November 30, 1667 in Dublin
• Graduated from Trinity College in Dublin 1686
• Became an Anglican clergyman and was eventually
  appointed dean of St. Patricks Cathedral in
  Dublin
• His writings made him one of the most prominent
  citizens in Great Britain
• His most famous work, Gullivers Travels, is a
  satire on politics and society in general
• Died in Dublin October 19, 1745