Literary Criticism of Swift’s Poetry Essay

The satirical essay “A Modest Proposal” written and published in in 1729 by an Anglo- Irish man named Jonathan Swift, in response to the worsening conditions of Ireland, was one of his most controversial and severe writings of his time. The narrator in Swift’s essay “A Modest Proposal” argues for a drastic and radical end to poverty in Ireland. Swift’s proposal suggests that the needy, poor people of Ireland can ease their troubles simply by selling their children as food to the rich and make them useful, benefitting the public. With the use of irony, exaggeration and ridicule Swift mocks feelings and attitudes towards the poor people of Ireland and the politicians. However, with the use of satire Swift creates a

Swift was a neoclassical writer who wrote to enlighten people. He wanted people to look at the world that exits beyond them selves and discover virtue. Through his work Gulliver’s Travels Jonathan Swift demonstrates to the reader the importance of virtue. I this story the main character am Gulliver; a world traveler who takes a journey to different lands. Each place that Gulliver lands has different ideals that are the foundation of their society. Their views on life are completely new to Gulliver.

One thing that helps the reader empathize with the narrator is the narrator observing Sheila Mant. As the narrator observes

A Modest Proposal was written in 1729 by a man of the name Johnathan Swift. This is a piece of early satire. He writes this to insult the early government system and mocks the heartless attitude that they have against the poor. He does this by writing a proposal that absolutely is outlandish and unthinkable, starting by addressing the current issue. “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” (Swift 1).

In Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal,” Swift proposes to solve the devastating poverty in Ireland by selling children as food for wealthy families. Swift goes on to explain how this would solve all of Ireland’s problems from domestic abuse to poverty. “... a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled…” (par. 9.)Swift explains his proposal in depth, in many ways treating these children as nothing more than livestock.

This instance is so emotionally charged, but to the average reader these lines of text would be so repulsive and absurd. This is another one of Swift’s strategies, you’re so drawn into the ridiculous claims that the reader is drawn to keeping reading until you get to Swift’s actual

Jonathan Swift used rhetorical strategies to create a satire that achieves his purpose. Jonathan Swift wrote this essay to address the issue of poverty in Ireland at that time. Swift demonstrates that he has put in research time, creates hyperbole, and sarcasm to create a satire that achieves his purpose.

In modern times, satire is widely used to denounce injustices done by the government. TV shows such as The Daily Show and its spinoff, The Colbert Report make use of this technique in order to criticize the rampant, moral corruption found in today’s society, newspapers humor the situation with grotesque and out-of-proportion caricatures, and online article sites like The Onion orchestrate the most ridiculous scenarios to make their point across. These types of satire would have not been possible without the influence of Jonathan Swift, A well known Irish satirist of the 18th century. Published in 1729, A Modest Proposal is perceived to be the “most savage of all his pamphlets.” [portable swift citation] by many. In it, Swift proposes the sale

Written in third person limited omniscient, and filtered predominantly through Catherine. The unknown narrator slips effortlessly into free indirect disclosure, which adopts the tone and inflection of an individual characters voice. This technique allows the narrator to intrude into the narrative to offer advice, or to foreshadow the characters. However, the narrator frequently breaks from convention and addresses’ the reader directly.

Great writers convey their message without bluntly stating it to their audience. Hardy’s insightful poetry conjures the minds of his audience and encourages them to reflect on how inhumane the social classes were and how poorly women were treated without every saying it. Because of its’ simplicity and relatability Hardy’s clever use of an everyday conversation between two women is more powerful than any lengthy lecture or straightforward statement he could have given.

The treatment of women in today’s culture has a lot of problems. Even though in the last century women have been treated better there are still problems. Women are and have always been sexualized in everything they do. Most of the time women are judged on their appearance alone. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift is a piece of literature that comes across as misogynistic. There are many times in the book when women are judged primarily on their looks and come across as unable to control themselves. However, Swift is using this kind of writing style to actually convey a point to society. By making these issues larger in the book and by reversing gender roles, it is easier to see all the problems that our society has with the treatment of women. Jonathan Swift is not misogynistic and is trying to prove a point so the treatment of women is improved in our society. The scene of the

Poverty has been a problem not only in Texas or the United States, but all over the world. Many types of individuals have addressed this topic for years, raised money, volunteered, but still, as much as there’s said and done, the issue hasn’t been fazed a bit. From Jonathan Swift’s Modest Proposal, he clarifies the poverty issued throughout Ireland in the early 1700’s and how one suggestion could change it all. Elaborated from the Literary Reference Center, “A Modest Proposal, like Gulliver’s Travels, transcends the political, social, and economic crisis that gave birth to it, woeful as they were. Packed with irony and satirical revelations of the human condition…” Swift wasn’t just writing a masterpiece, but an intended, informational

Even though many of Swift’s readers see a harsh attack on women as one of his major poetic themes, both his poetry and prose strongly satirize the ill nature

Satire is one of the distinguishing marks that makes “A Modest Proposal” a classic example of Neoclassical Literature. In his use of Satire Jonathan Swift was undoubtedly influenced by Greek and Roman cynics who criticized the status quo. Like some of these cynics, instead of offering a reasonable and moral solution to a social problem, Swift captures the attention of the Irish people by a proposition of cannibalism. Describing his proposal Swift writes, “A child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends and when the family dines alone the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish and seasoned with a little pepper or salt will be very good boiled on the fourth day especially in winter.” In statements like this Swift use the power of