Importance Of The Historical Content Of A Modest Proposal

At the time A Modest Proposal was written, Ireland was in a state of extreme poverty. The country was significantly overpopulated: people were struggling to make ends meet and provide for the growing population. The author of the text, Dr. Jonathan Swift, was repulsed by the Irish government’s reluctance to institute any major changes to help resolve the levels of poverty and overpopulation present at the time. In response, he wrote this text to criticize the upper class for this level of inaction, as well as their failed attempts at resolving the issue. Through Swift’s use of satirical devices -- such as irony, hyperbole, and understatement -- he was able to convey his message to the public which was criticism about the inadequate actions being taken by the government to solve Ireland’s troubles. He believed they weren’t doing enough to help the situation at the time and wanted them to see their defeat in hopes that they would decide to finally act.

He addressed the English by giving them a scenario in the form of a “Proposal” in order to show them their exploiting nature. Swift proposed an idea to help escalate the country’s economic condition and lower its poverty rates. The core of his proposal was the children. He argued that poor parents should no longer bear the burden of children. Instead the children should provide for themselves and their parents by being a commodity. He explained the process similarly to that of raising and selling cattle; mothers should provide their year-old child with nourishment until he or she is fattened, then rich people would buy that child for multiple purposes. Either for feeding or luxurious purposes, those children would eventually provide for the economy. Such proposal intended to camouflage the actual exploitations practiced by the rich English. The reader then was expected to look deeper and untie the knots to discover how in fact he was exploiting the Irish. “The audience is never really let in on the joke - they're supposed to figure it out for themselves that Swift is kidding. Of course, not everybody did.”

Ireland encountered a devastating famine in consequence of the war that was broken by Oliver Cromwell and his armies. The Irish rebels that were against the English rule and the Hierarchy were overthrown and executed by Oliver Cromwell. Beyond just conquering Ireland, Cromwell’s army contaminated the land by burning their land. This Irish problem became a social issue in England and widely spread throughout the whole country due to numerous anonymous pamphlets. The regulation of print and what people printed was very little that this period was called ‘the great age of pamphlets’. Thus, a lot of essays came out anonymously this period as people felt safe to write their opinions more freely. In fact, that Swift’s ‘A Modest Proposal’ was first released anonymously as well. Swift wrote this essay in a perspective of a principal English gentleman who has an impressive solution to solve the poverty of Ireland to make fun of the pamphlets that were being circulated during the period. The word ‘modest’ in the title and his word choices throughout his essay highlight his satire by mocking the false modesty of the pamphlets. Their subjects may have been seemed reasonable, but their proposal displayed an arrogance that was common in British ruling class toward the Irish subject.

In the 1700s, Ireland was under the control of the British. They also owned Northern Ireland. The British were causing immense numbers of problems for the Irish people because their policies were leaving people homeless and starving. Jonathan Swift was a man who was born and raised in Ireland during these times. He engrossed himself in Irish politics especially during this time. Swift saw the struggles of the Irish people and became outraged by their conditions. He decided to fight against the British’s actions in a unique way, hoping that it would end this time of extreme poverty for the Irish. To do so, Swift wrote the satirical essay “A Modest Proposal”, using the voice of an upper class

When Swift is describing the use of children as commodities, it is ironic because his intentions are to actually explain that the English view the whole Irish population as commodities. The English landlords are the ones responsible for Ireland’s poverty. The essay shows, through sarcasm, that the English have purposely took everything from the Irish because they view them as commodities. One example of sarcasm used to portray that idea is that the utilization of infants will be “proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children” (804). It is very apparent that Swift blames the English for Ireland’s problems. He also blames the Irish Catholics that allowed English policy to break down Ireland.

During the late seventeenth century the English controlled-parliament had legislated several ideas and laws that restricted the rights of the Ireland Catholics. This caused the Ireland economy to slowly fall apart as many people discarded the issues. However, Jonathan Swift took advantage of the overlooked laws and went on to write the essay, A Modest Proposal. In this writing piece Swift lodged a ridiculous proposal. In doing so he manifested a clear cut image of how backwards and corrupted the state of Ireland really was in the hands of the English. Swift’s essay employed his insincerity, sarcasm, verbal irony, and rhetorics that depicted the conditions of Ireland and its people. However his tone of the whole essay along with his insincerity illustrated the comical effect of the proposal to make his argument seem unserious.

In this composition,” A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift who was an Anglican priest and a writer , has talked about the worst condition under which people are living in Ireland. He uses this writing as a means of communication to convey his message across the whole world for people to be aware of what is happening to the citizens of Ireland. How the landowners are maltreating the poor families whose spouse are dead, and their government too is not doing anything to assist them. Although he has made ironical statement, and also uses a lot of sarcasm does not make this writing to lose its value, it is still carrying its subject and message across. This kind of evil deeds does not happen in only Ireland, it is all over the world now.

Jonathan Swift, the writer of the satirical essay A Modest Proposal, grew up and lived in Ireland during times of famine and economic struggles (Conditions). Growing up with a single mother and no father, Swift knew what hard times and struggles were like (Jonathan Swift: Biography). His essay proposes an easy solution to the economic problems going on in Ireland for both the wealthy ruling classes and the poorer classes, although his intentions and the meaning behind his words are not what would be originally thought when initially reading the essay. Through his word choices and the description of specific events of his time, Swift uses satire to grab his audience’s attention and get his own personal ideas and opinions out about all the

In “A Modest Proposal” logical fallacies are clearly used to make his argument clear. However, Swift’s argument and his way of thinking lack validity

Swift attracts attention to the cruel mistreatment of the impoverished class of Ireland through the use of his absurd proposal, his tone, and also his insincerity.

‘If you ignore the historical content of A Modest Proposal you will misunderstand it.’ Discuss.

In the nineteenth century, Ireland was marked by extensive personal suffering. Civilians, predominantly the catholic lower and middle-classes, were having a hard time finding jobs, paying rent, feeding their children, as well as putting up with overpopulation which contributed to the overall growing problem of poverty. During this time of suffering, many began to question whether Britain acted as hastily and as effectively as they could have, as well as believing that centuries of British rule and/or political oppression was a fundamental cause of the famine (which originated from a potato crop failure). Jonathan Swift, a poor-boy who found his niche as a social critic/spokesman for Irish rights, after analyzing the possible causes, he

When countless solutions have been drawn out and eliminated, how far will the human race allow their morals to be questioned before dire circumstances shall be put forth in an era where all hope seems to be lost? Jonathan Swift, author of “A Modest Proposal”, shows just how far he must go to shock the society of England into the awareness of their unfair policies against its dependent neighbor Ireland, that have lead to the degradation of its society and furthermore resulting in 120,000 starving children amongst its catholic families (Swift). All of Swifts other proposals to help prevent these children from being a burden to their parents and make them beneficial to the public were denied by the government, sending him into a state of anger with the people of England and a state of frustration with the people of Ireland for allowing themselves to be mistreated for so long. Through satirical writing and appeals to all three persuasive appeals, Swift aims to outrage the intended audience just enough to call attention to the fact that something must be done to combat the social, political and economic issues of Ireland caused by the English.

During the late seventeenth century in Ireland, the nation suffered as a result of deplorable living standards and poverty. The ruling caste, consisting of English landlords and politicians that emigrated to Ireland, failed to implement any attempts to better the conditions faced by the families starving. Many individuals, such as William Petty, penned works to supposedly solve the problems dominating Ireland. Petty reduced the denizens of Ireland to simple statistics that should receive a monetary value. This emotionally detached view of humans led to Swift employing Petty as a model for the proposer in his satirical essay “A Modest Proposal.” After years of submitting proposals to ameliorate Ireland’s issues, Swift finally attacked the ruling caste and Petty for their treatment of and apathy toward the suffering of the Irish. In Jonathan Swift’s essay “A Modest Proposal,” Swift’s employment of the proposer’s employment of dehumanizing, emotionally detached diction to depict the poor denizens of Ireland effectively highlights the failure of the ruling caste in Ireland to alleviate the suffering and deplorable living conditions within the nation.

In a “Modest Proposal” Swift expresses his grief as well as irritation of Ireland’s politicians, the hypocrisy of the wealthy, the tyranny of the English, and the degradation in which he witnesses the Irish people living. While Swift explains how England continuously exploits Ireland, he also expresses the utter disgust he finds in the inability of the Irish to help themselves. Swift mourns and shows compassion for the Irish people but critiques both for the issue at hand. (Sparknotes). Through this ironic essay of surprises and shocks, swift challenges the reader consider and critically analyze policies, motivation, and moral values. Jonathan Swift states in the essay that