Jonathan Swift and Satire in His Works, Research Paper Example

Introduction

Jonathan Swift is one of the most remarkable British writers of the 17^th and 18^th century. He is well known for his works like “Gulliver’s Travels”, “A Tale of a Tub”, “A Modest Proposal”, etc. Swift is also distinguished for his political pamphlets, essays and of course satire. Modern literary critics distinguish Swift as on of the greatest satirists in the English literature. His prose, especially “Gulliver’s Travels”, is considered to be the classics of both adventure novels and satire. Swift’s works discuss such fundamental topics as poverty, oppression of Ireland, religious misunderstandings, etc. His books are filled with irony and deep criticism, which is only understandable to the educated people. Jonathan Swift’s satire never gives an answer, but rather makes the reader think about the question himself.

Swift’s Biography

Jonathan Swift was born in Dublin in November 1667.  His father died before his birth and his mothers had no income to support the child. Jonathan spent his first years with his nurse in England and later left to his wealthy uncle’s house. He finished the Kilkenny School and then Trinity College, where he received his B.A. and M.A. He worked as a private secretary for some period of time, but did not like to be in the role of a servant and decided to try a literary career. He frequently traveled to London and eventually got very popular for the brilliant political essays.

In the beginning of the 18^th century Swift was one of the most notable and influential political figures in London. He was published in several newspapers and was a cofounder of the Scriblerus Club. In 1710 Swift was among the Whigs party, but soon switched for the Tories. However, as the Tories lost their political influence, Swift left for Ireland, where he became the dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Hi health started to become worse and worse, in those days many thought he was becoming insane, but modern scientists claim he suffered form Alzheimer Disease. Staring with 1720^th he started suffering from deafness. Once he said to his friend: “I shall be like a tree, I shall die from the top”. He died in Dublin in October 1745 (Literature Network).

In 18^th century Britain was living through rather controversial times: a lot of social, political, and economic problems were present. These also were days of very complicated relations between England and Ireland. Many of the realities of those days are present in Swift’s novels. This brilliant satirist was not afraid to mock the political imperfections, government mistakes, and social disproportions. Some of his comparisons were rather rude and people found them inappropriate, but Swift was not afraid to explore all the sides of the human nature. In order to study the peculiarities of Jonathan Swift’s satire, we need to go through his most remarkable prosaic satirical works: “A Tale of a Tub”, “A Modest Proposal” and, of course “Gulliver’s Travels”.

Satire in “A Tale of a Tub”

One distinctive feature of all Swift’s satirical works is their depth. Author describes the issue using metaphors and comparisons, which are not always obvious. “A Tale of a Tub” is a great example: throughout this literary work Swift obviously discusses the church and religious approaches of his time. At the same time, people still argue whether he criticizes or approves of the Anglican orthodoxy (Bywaters, D. 1999).

Comparisons, made in the story are indeed extremely interesting: three brothers that appear in the world demonstrate the three branches of Christianity, the middle brother standing for the Anglican Church. The coats the brothers inherit demonstrate the spiritual practices that each branch inherits and is not to be changed (though each brother alters his coat just as he likes). The will demonstrates bible, which should theoretically hold the brothers together, and father of the three brothers is God himself. At the same time, “A Tale of a Tub” does not criticize anything specific, and definitely not the church, as it would be too obvious for Swift. When some readers attacked the publication for challenging the church, Swift claimed that the Tale actually praises Anglican Church for being the most reasonable and humane one.

Almost any reader that goes through “A Tale of a Tub” is surprised by numerous digressions. Some try to find the answer in these digressions, hoping that the discussions are the key to the real topic of the narration. It, however, not so: it actually seems that the number of complicated digressions serves some very different purpose. These discussions play a role of a filter of a sort: they are supposed to check whether the reader is intelligent enough to understand the real role of the story. In this work, Swift criticizes misinterpretations and misreading. Reader should critically analyze all that he learns: nothing should be taken too figural: even the bible (Bywaters, D. 1999).

So, it is not the Anglican clericalism that Swift mocks, but rather the clerical attitude to any sort of information. He certainly risked, writing such a controversial prose, but he hoped that the English public was intelligent enough to get the idea. “A Tale of a Tub” has caused a lot of arguments and discussions, received a number of positive and negative reviews, but definitely left a significant trace in the English literature.

Satire in “A Modest Proposal”

“A Modest Proposal” is one of the greatest examples of satirical prose: it is easy to understand, rather personal and has a very clear thesis. Its full name is “Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of the Poor People from Being a Burthen to Their Parents, or the Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Public”. In this pamphlet author claims that the poverty in Ireland can be cured by selling the Irish children as food to the rich gentlemen and ladies. Before analyzing this work, the author has to realize the complicated situation in Ireland on the brink of 17^th and 18^th century. Economic and social policies of the Irish and English governments were absolutely ineffective. Most of the Irish population lived in extreme poverty, many died from hunger and diseases. The wealthier part of the society simply ignored the problem and tried to distance themselves from it. The poor seemed to be satisfied with the situation: they did not argue or try to change anything. Such an approach certainly shocked Swift, who witnessed all the troubles with his own eyes. “A modest Proposal” was a mean to attract maximum attention to the problem, to demonstrate that the situation was not natural at all.

Swift uses the strongest satirical instruments to stress his point. He appeals to authority, saying that his knowledgeable American friend supported the idea. He also goes into a lot of specific details of how the children can be used. Author claims that the year-old babies are great for nutrition and extremely tasty. This way, the poor may raise additional money that they need so much and the population of Ireland will be significantly reduced. The extreme rationality advised by swift strengthens his position significantly: in fact, if the trade of children can improve the situation, why not use it? This criticizes the economical approach of those days: separate people can be spared to achieve the common goal.

Swift also point out the main reasons that have lead to the situation: English exploitation of the Irish resources and the cynicism of both Irish and English landlords. Swift says that landlord have already devoured the parents of the children and can eat the kids as well. Therefore, the main problem is caused by the English exploitation and rich Irish landlords. In order to strengthen his argument, Swift makes very obvious implication of the guilt of England in this issue. He says that Irish children are not likely to be suitable for salting, but there is a country that can eat up the entire nation without salt.

This bitter satire did not reach its goal then, as the literary critics of the time found the work one of kind and consequently hard to analyze. People who read the narration were definitely shocked, but not everyone was familiar with the Greek tradition of Satire and was able to understand that the author did not actually advise cannibalism.

Satire in “Gulliver’s Travels”

This book is definitely the best-known work of Jonathan Swift, which has always been considered a literary masterpiece. It became extremely popular just as it was published and remains very widely read today. However, most people read the “Gulliver’s Travels” for entertainment, considering it a simple adventure book, which is definitely not so. Each part of the story has its ideas, all of which have deep social, political or religious implications.

The first part of the story describes the voyage to Lilliput land. The description of the Lilliputian court reminds of the King George’s court. The conflict between the Lilliputians and Blefuscudians based on from which side the egg should be cracked is indeed ridiculous, but the conflict between Protestants and Catholics, on which the satire is directed, is also highly unreasonable. The lust for war, demonstrated by the Lilliputian king resembles the wish of the European monarchs to solve everything by war.

In the Fourth part of “Gulliver’s Travels” Swift criticizes the contemporary Protestantism. Attempts Houyhnhnm to reform humanity are a parody of the Christian enthusiasm to export the same values and beliefs throughout the world. Categorsim in the judgment in Houyhnhnmland reminds of the Christian intentions to sort everything for “right” and “wrong”, while the reality is much more complicated than that. Moreover, “Swift presents Gulliver’s acceptance of Houyhnhnm reality as a parody of radical Protestant conversion experience” (Thickstun, M.O. 1997).

Another discussion that goes through all the four books is whether people are corrupted by nature, or they eventually become corrupted. This is especially vivid in the fourth book, where the parallels with the human conversion and Gulliver’s changes are made. Staying at Houyhnhnmland is especially stressful for Gulliver, as the world is much different from his regular existence. Gulliver certainly acknowledges the similarities between the human race and Yahoos, but tries to stress the differences and does his best to distinguish from them (Thickstun, M.O. 1997).

The last part of the story is surely the hardest one to analyze, as a lot of deep psychological and sociological context is present. Gulliver feels purified while staying at Houyhnhnmland, gets rid of his sins and imperfections, but suffers at the same time. Everything is too simple in that utopia and though Gulliver does not want to return to England, which is so complicated and where all of his imperfections will be revived, he still has to come back. This part reflects the complexity of the puritan ideals, which simplify everything, but still make the people suffer.

Conclusion

Swift is surely among the greatest satirists in the world literature. He was a true master of Horacian and Juvenalian satire styles and combined them successfully. He was able to write simple and rather obvious satirical works, like “A Modest Proposal”, but also highly complicated and versatile masterpieces like the fourth book of “Gulliver’s Travels”. Jonathan Swift addressed most of the issues that troubled England and Ireland in his days, and many of these problems remain urgent today. He discusses the basic human vices, social imperfections, political mistakes and of course religious questions. Swift does not usually give the final solution to the reader, as often there is no such, but makes him think and analyze, which is definitely a sign of truly eternal literature.

Works Cited

Clegg, J. 2004. Swift on False Witness Studies in English Literature Vol. 44, 2004

Thickstun, M.O. 1997. The Puritan Origins of Gulliver’s Conversion in Houyhnhnmland Studies in English Literature. Vol. 37, 1997.

Bywaters D. 1996. Anticlericism in Swift’s ‘Tale of the Tub. Studies in English Literature. Vol. 36, 1996.   

Derbyshire J. Swift Kicks National Review Vol. 51, August 30, 1999.

“Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)” The Literature Network, retrieved April 13, 2009 from:   http://www.online-literature.com/swift/