Category: A Modest Proposal

To revisit that which I previously mentioned earlier within this essay, there is also an implicit critique of Catholicism within this misogynistic proposal, though the link to religion is particularly subtle in its ties to misogyny.

Within the proposer’s narrative critiquing poor women with many children, this target of religion exists amidst Swift’s more explicitly anti-Catholic rhetoric, and it supports the stereotype that Catholic families are always large, given their religious views regarding childbirth and contraception. This itself is seemingly pointless to critique as, much like Swift’s misogyny, this anti-Catholicism isn’t constructive. In addition to this however, Swift goes on further throughout the proposal to more explicitly target Roman Catholics, through the proposer’s narrative voice. At the open of the essay, he writes that the poor children will “either turn Thieves for want of work, or leave their dear native Country to fight for the pretender in Spain” (1729, #1). This section is of course alluding to the dissent of those deemed Jacobites, individuals who supported the reinstatement of the Stuart line, most commonly Catholics and Protestants. The proposer is quite directly labelling the poor, and by extension Roman Catholics, as traitors to their own country; Ward notes this as, “Swift exploit[ing] [a] tradition [of anti-Catholic propaganda]” (2010, p. 84).

In addition to this overt anti-Catholicism, the proposer also lists one of the benefits of the proposal as being that, “it would greatly lessen the Number of Papists, with whom we are Yearly over-run, being the principal Breeders of the Nation, as well as our most dangerous Enemies” (Swift, 1729, #21), and goes on to say that “the number of Popish Infants, is at least three to one in this Kingdom” (Swift, 1729, #13). The proposer is very directly and unquestionably positioning Catholic’s as the issue which his proposal is intended to help fight against, and thereby it can be said that Swift is utilizing the proposer’s narrative voice here in order to target Catholic’s and mobilize them to act upon their inadequacies, that which the proposer speaks of. The repeated use of the word ‘breeder’ again strips both Catholics and women of their individual identities, and concurrently labelling of them as ‘papists’ is also particularly derogatory (Oxford English Dictionary, 2005). Justifying this modest proposal by drawing upon an opposition to a religious group, and a discrimination against a women, is arguably the proposer’s main strategy.

And so finally, this essay will address Swift’s, and the proposer’s, targeting of societies structured purely for profit. Throughout ‘A Modest Proposal’ the proposer repeatedly places a price on that which does not require it. Swift writes, “It is true a Child, just dropt from it’s Dam, may be […] at most not above the Value of two Shillings” (1729, #4), and goes on to note, “the Charge of nursing a Beggars Child” (1729, #14). Everything from breastmilk to children of a certain age is being valued by the proposer, for what he deems a greater good that which is, “the Nation’s Stock, [that] will be thereby increased fifty thousand pounds per Anum” (Swift, 1729, #23). This prolonged focus upon the monetary worth of every ‘thing’ that is shown by the proposer, is crafted by Swift in such a way so as to imply a negative judgement upon individuals with a sole concern for money. Though Swift is not crafting a Marxist critique, or fully condemning capitalism, there is an implicit indictment of pleonexia, which Swift highlights further through his consideration of landlords.

On multiple occasions throughout ‘A Modest Proposal’ Swift notes landlords within this discussion of money and economic profit, and alludes to their greed. He writes, this food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for Landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the Parents, seem to have the best Title to the Children. (1729, #12)

Continuing, the proposer also notes one of the benefits of his proposal as “the poorer Tenants will have something valuable of their own [to] […] help pay their Landlord’s Rent” (Swift, 1729, #22). The use of the word devoured is particularly jarring here, as for the most part the proposal is written in a formal manner. In fact, considering the text as a whole, it must be noted that Swift works to conceal the true nature of his work through this use of classical rhetoric and formal dialogue and, as noted by Phiddian, “the point of breach in decorum is the word ‘devoured’” (1996, p. 609). Though, arguably this is prefaced by language which alludes to the satirical nature of the proposal and Swift’s use of irony.

At the open of the essay the proposer claims to have, “weighed the several Schemes of other Projectors” (Swift, 1729, #4), and defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, the word ‘projector’ is said to mean, “a person who forms a project” (2007), and this aligns with the depiction of the proposer as one who is seeking to initiate his proposal. However, more notably, a ‘projector’ is also known as, “a schemer […] [and] a promoter of bogus or unsound business ventures” (Oxford English Dictionary, 2007). This alternate definition is far more significant given the syntax of the sentence, as the modest proposer is implying that he himself is also one of these projectors who has crafted an unsound scheme in which he desires others to be complicit. The duality of this word hence casts doubt upon the intentions of the proposer, and thus alludes to Swift’s true intentions. Moreover, these instances of deceit on the part of the proposer thus force one to reconsider the entire meaning of the text; as noted by Wayne Booth, Swift’s use of irony means “the reader is required to reject the literal meaning” (1974, p. 10) of the text.

Europe’s Seventeenth to Eighteenth Century Romantic, Victorian, and Modern eras was marked by a poverty-stricken society. Rapid industrialization gave rise to Britain, but it has brought many social and economic problems. Ireland had no universal provisions, and the poor wandered the streets begging for jobs and money. The ruling class was unsympathetic towards the suffering working class, leaving them with no hope as death was the only escape to look forward to. They were exploited as workers. Their working environments were toxic to the human body, and there was no platform for them to have mobility under the greed and corruption from Europe’s aristocracy. As a result of this, major Authors of English literature made moral obligations to take charge protesting against the government’s failure to improve the conditions of the poor as they showed readers the negative impact of industrialization through their literary works. One might argue that Death, the immobility of the working class, and the government’s blind eye towards the poor were the common themes expressed in literary works from various European authors such as The Cry of the Children by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, the Chimney sweeper by William Blake, and A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift. This paper will explore how the themes mentioned earlier highlight the injustices and brutality suffered by the disenfranchised and struggling working class as told by the finest authors in English literature.

Some adhere to the theory that Elizabeth Browning’s The Cry of the Children was a politically correct response to the cruel working conditions of child labor in Britain. Browning placed her audience into the eyes and emotions of factory children where their innocence was betrayed by the selfishness of political and economic interests solely concerned with making profit. In Browing’s poem, she tells us that the children sold to labor are crying while those in economic and political power are enjoying their lives from the breaking backs of the youth, “But the young, young children, O, my brothers, They are weeping bitterly! They are weeping in the playtime of the others, in the country of the free (Browning, 9-12).” The speaker’s intention is to place the adult in the shoes of the children in which they’re crying for the lack of having a regular childhood and instead they’re working in factories while the grown-ups are able to enjoy their adulthood profiting off of child labor. Browning wants the reader to think closely about what if the tables were turned on them in which they had to suffer just like the children did. Line 37 expresses the true feelings of discontent deeply rooted in the poem, “True,” say the children, “it may happen that we die before our time (Browning, 37-38), represents the untimely death of children because they’re working in poor environmental conditions at a very young age. The poem then follows up with “Little Alice died last year, her grave is shapen like a snowball, in the rime. We looked into the pit prepared to take her: Was no room for any work in the close clay! From the sleep wherein she lieth none will wake her, Crying, ‘Get up, little Alice! It is day (Browning, 39-44).” This excerpt from the poem talks about how hazardous it is for the children to work in contaminated environments. Meanwhile, they should be playing in the fields having a good time during their years of childhood. Browning executes a shocking revelation that children are not playing kid games where they’re able to cherish their youth. They’re forced to bend their backs in factories without any playtime which makes them miserable. After they die, they don’t have burials. If they fall sick, there are no medications to cure them. They are just immobile of purpose and waiting for their deaths because there is no hope for them. Browning’s intention was to convey to the readers that children should be treated as such. They are these roots that need the experience to grow and be cared for by their parents. Children shouldn’t be pushed away by their parents to work in mines and factories. The speaker reminds us about what the youth suffers using imagery to make us visualize the grief these labored children endure, “With your ear down, little Alice never cries; could we see her face, be sure we should not know her, for the smile has time for growing in her eyes (Browning, 46-48).” The poetess is stressing that Alice’s death is one of many children dying from poor conditions of the factories and mines. When the children die their death turns out to be the escape from slave labor. This is a morbid but effective way of looking at the issue where their lives are so immobile that it almost seems as if they are living as dead people. It is not only ‘til they’re actually dead that they can finally be freed from working as slaves.

Browning believed that the dead won’t stay buried, but remembered for their strife as a community. This is probably one of Browning’s biggest reasons for writing this poem. Her written work reflects on Irish culture paying their respects for the dead. In Ireland, there is a special ritual they celebrate to remember the dead. To support this discovery lets read an excerpt Dan Barry’s New York Times article The Lost Children of Tuam. In Barry’s article supports Browning’s belief in remembering the dead where he wrote “the first night of November — the eve of All Souls’ Day — in the belief that the dead will return. How it was best to stay in the center of the road when walking at night, so as not to disturb the spirits resting along the wayside.

Even today, the Irish say they do death well. Local radio newscasts routinely end with a recitation of death notices. In a country where the culture of Catholicism, if not its practice, still holds sway, this alerts the community to a familiar ritual: the wake at the home, the funeral Mass, the long gathering at the pub, the memorial Mass a month later, and the anniversary Mass every year thereafter.

Wry acceptance of mortality lives in the country’s songs, literature, and wit. A standard joke is the Irish marriage proposal: “Would you like to be buried with my people?” A standard song describes a thrown bottle splattering whiskey – from the Irish for “water of life” — over a corpse. Thus the late Tim Finnegan is revived at his wake; see how he rises.

Respect for burial grounds runs deep, with crowds gathering in their local cemetery once a year to pray as a priest blesses the dead within. This reverence for the grave may derive from centuries of land dispossession, or passed-on memories of famine corpses in the fields and byways, or simply be linked to a basic desire expressed by the planting of a headstone:

To be remembered.” 1

The themes we’ve just examined in Browning’s poem occur again in other literary works from more English authors that promoted similar subject matter in their written works.

Similar to Browning’s call to action for the injustice brought to children working in unsafe factories and mines, William Blake is another advocate of social justice exposing the tragedies of the working class youth in his 1789 poem The Chimney Sweeper. His poem discusses the realities of the young chimney sweepers that suffer perilous working conditions that led to their shortened mortality rate. Blake includes themes involving death, the immobility of the working class, and the government’s blind eye towards the poor. The immobility of a Chimney sweeper’s life begins when they’re a child as Blake describes “When my mother died I was very young, And my father sold me while yet my tongue Could scarcely cry ‘ ‘weep! ‘weep! ‘weep! ‘weep!’ So your chimneys I sweep & in soot I sleep (Blake, 1-4).” The author introduces us to a child sold to labor where they must work as a Chimney sweeper that rests in the fine black dark powder of chimney soot. They are left unprotected from coal which can be cancerous. Those four lines tell us about the poor working conditions that come with the job. The poem takes a morbid turn revealing the theme of death where the speaker says “And so he was quiet, & that very night, As Tom was a-sleeping he had such a sight! That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, & Jack, Were all of them locked up in coffins of black (Blake, 9-12).” The third stanza now informs us that there are thousands of children doing the same harrowing activity of chimney sweeping in lots of coal. The coffins of black phrase is layered with literary elements of Imagery, metaphor and foreshadowing in which we can perceive with our eyes that Dick, Joe, Ned, & Jack are trapped to work in a coal confined environment. The coffins of black phrase can also be a metaphor for the inescapability of the boxed chimneys where the sweepers have coal all over their bodies. The phrase also foreshadows their untimely deaths as the coffin hints that their lives are limited. The lines of, 9-12 is another example of immobility, death and the aristocracy’s unconcern for the sweeper’s predicament. The poem follows up with the sweepers dying as their souls reach the heavens: “And by came an Angel who had a bright key, And he opened the coffins & set them all free; Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing they run, And wash in a river and shine in the Sun. Then naked & white, all their bags left behind, They rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind. And the Angel told Tom, if he’d be a good boy, He’d have God for his father & never want joy (Blake, 16-20).” This part of the poem provides the imagery of a dream sequence of the children being unlocked out of their coffins by an angel and set free. However, this is the imagery for death in which they’ll die, but they’ll be set free from working the chimneys as they’re now in heaven and fathered by God. This was the same result discovered in Browning’s poem where death is the only escape from slavery. Notice how the sweepers are the innocent victims of the smoking coals of industrialization. The maltreatment is in relation to the same way that Browning describes the issue as both poets promote abolishing the injustices of industrialization for poor children using similar themes.

The recurring themes of working class immobility, death and neglect from the disenfranchised continues with the satirical poet and political pamphleteer, Jonathan Swift. His 1729 satirical essay, A modest Proposal, starts with him stating that poverty-stricken Irish families have exhausted their expenses to feed their children. Swift proposes that the solution to the poverty families are forced to live can be prevented if they fatten up their children and sell them to rich English landowners in Ireland. He argues that children should be fed indulgently at the age of one year old and then be sold to the meat markets so that they can be sold to consumers in exchange for profit. This tactic will also decrease the overpopulation of people in Ireland. We revisit the immobilized theme of the impoverished where it is proposed that children are sold to be a product without their consent. The satire is used to criticize the politics in England in which they ignore the poor living on the streets with no money to feed their kids. A grotesquely humorous proposal from swift was used to gain his audience’s attention, mainly England and Ireland to open their eyes and realize that people are dying in the streets from starvation and lack of money and resources. Death is another aspect of the proposal where children are born only to reach an untimely death since they are to be used as a food source. The proposal is possibly a precursor mocking England’s exploitation of forced child labor during the industrial revolution for the elite to obtain more economic and political gain. Swift argues the economy can thrive if poor families can breed their children only to sell them eventually on the mass market to prevent hunger. He strongly believes that “a young healthy Child well Nursed is at a year Old, a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome Food, whether Stewed, Roasted, Baked, or Boyled, and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a Fricasie, or Ragoust (Swift, 9-12). The children are reduced from human beings to being considered as a meal for luxurious dining. Having them marketed as livestock is no different than the livestock of chicken or cattle being bred to be exploitatively sold for profit. The satire provides a clear explanation for the reappearing theme of class division where the poor is overlooked and the wealthy is the only class receiving the glory. In addition, it is suggested that Swift highlights the themes social justice, death, and immobility of the poor working class using satire once again as a tool to convey his message. Another example is where he persuades his audience with statistical information calculating how many children can be used for saleable food he lets the public know “that of the hundred and twenty thousand Children, already computed, twenty thousand may be reserved for Breed, whereof only one fourth part to be Males (Swift, 10),” and Swift follows with comparing children to animals “which is more than we allow to Sheep, black Cattle, or Swine (Swift, 10),” and he resumes stating “that these Children are seldom the Fruits of Marriage, a Circumstance not much regarded by our Savages, therefore, one Male will be sufficient to serve four Females (Swift, 10).” Death is a part of the process of Swift’s proposal in this case because dead humans are sold as a commodity. Children are immobilized from living a normal childhood as they have no freedom to make their own decisions under poverty. The rich landowners of England and Ireland remain exploiting the poor for their personal interests. In Judith Flander’s published article Discovering Literature: Romantics and Victorians, her evidence suggests that “previously, the rich and poor had lived in the same districts: the rich in the main streets; the poor in the service streets behind. Now, the prosperous moved out of town centres to the new suburbs, while much of the housing for the poor was demolished for commercial spaces, or to make way for the railway stations and lines that appeared from the 1840s. Property owners received compensation; renters did not: it was always cheaper to pay off the owners of a few tenements than the houses of many middle-class owners. Thus the homes of the poor were always the first to be destroyed (Flanders, 1).” In agreement to that fact, Swift’s modest proposal demonstrates class as social groups that shouldn’t be treated more differently than the other. Poor children are just as worthy as rich children. When Ireland undergoes an economic downfall and is overpopulated, it is easy to use the poor people as a statistic. Instead of the wealthy boasting their vanity and pride over their assets, they should have consideration to be charitable to the poor that share the communities with them. Those in Ireland that possess the most wealth should help out those who are less fortunate in their communities rather than isolate themselves from them. Not helping the poor will cause a wider gap in class segregation and economic prosperity will collapse as a nation. This is what swift was proposing in between the lines of his proposal.

Overall, we can all agree that the English literary authors during this period of time fully opposed the dark side of industrialization by taking a stand against it through their writing. Together they utilized the themes of death, exploited child labor that immobilized the lives of children and the immediate call for social injustice. Their written pieces spread public awareness to the problems that disservice disenfranchised people depraved of economic mobility. Browning’s poem made us think about what it’s like for children to be sold to labor in which their mortality was shortened from poor working conditions and could not live a life outside working in mines and factories due to corporate greed. Blake emphasized the importance of something similar in his poem where we investigated the exploitation of the chimney sweeping business in which children were forced to clean boxed in chimneys and tolerate the toxic coal that made thousands of them sick and dying. Although Swift’s proposal is satirical, he knew how to get under the skin of the aristocracy. To settle his angst, he ridiculed them with his humor. Swift’s idea was to criticize the ruling wealthy class’s lack of sympathy for the poor and failure to prevent the overpopulation of poor communities that deserve the same value as the rich. Swift’s proposal had the themes of death, the paralysis of free will for the less fortunate in Ireland and mirroring the ugly face of England’s politics for the sake of the government to provide social reform. The result of these literary works surfacing the general public made waves of social changes in light of what these authors stood for. Since The Cry of the Children condemned child labor, it helped establish child labor reforms by raising support for Lord Shaftesbury’s Ten Hours Bill in 1844. Lord Shaftesbury was a British politician and social reformer in the United Kingdom. Many children working in chimney sweeping suffered from ‘deformity of the spine, legs and arms’ or contracted testicular cancer. The practice was not abolished until 1875, nearly 50 years after Blake’s death. 2 Swift’s political satire was misinterpreted by the Queen of England. If there was anything Swift was good at, it was getting under people’s skin. 3 Hopefully this discussion will inspire literary authors will follow the legacy of promoting social reform or social justice in their communities or even spreading their literary work globally in our future for the welfare of humankind.

Works Cited

1. Browning, Elizabeth. The Cry of the Children.
2. Blake, William. The Chimney Sweeper.
3. Swift, Jonathan. A Modest Proposal.
4. Barry, D. (2019). The Lost Children of Tuam. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/10/28/world/europe/tuam-ireland-babies-children.html [Accessed 28 Oct. 2017].
5. Norton, G. (2014). William Blake’s Chimney Sweeper poems: a close reading. [online] The British Library. Available at: https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/william-blakes-chimney-sweeper-poems-a-close-reading [Accessed 15 May 2014].
6. Flanders, J. (2014). Discovering Literature: Romantics & Victorians. [online] The British Library. Available at: https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/slums [Accessed 21 Nov. 2019].
7. Shmoop Editorial Team. ‘A Modest Proposal Theme of Politics.’ Shmoop. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 20 Nov. 2019.
8. Norton, George. ‘William Blake’S Chimney Sweeper Poems: A Close Reading’. The British Library, 2014, https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/william-blakes-chimney-sweeper-poems-a-close-reading. Accessed 15 May 2014.

“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 2431). If you have ever heard of Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal, but have not read it, you probably have heard something along the lines of it being about eating babies. While it technically is about eating babies, there is a much deeper meaning behind it. A Modest Proposal is a severely satirical essay. Swift wants to “satirize [his] target through a hyperbolic mimicry designed to evoke strong negative feelings” (Herron 419). Its true purpose is to make people realize Swift’s aggravation towards Irelands politician’s incompetence, the horrible conditions that he sees Irish people living in, and how the wealthy look past everything. Swift is tired of seeing these things and decides to write A Modest Proposal in order to make everyone truly see what is going on. Jonathan Swift uses satire about eating children to try and inform England about the problems the people of Ireland were facing.

One of the main points Swift is trying to make in A Modest Proposal is consistency. He wants the people to react with dismay when he says that we should eat babies. Along with the disgust about eating babies, Swift wants the people to be disgusted by the conditions that he was ultimately tying with the idea of cannibalism. He wants to provoke a response from people saying how horrible they think that it is to eat babies and when they say this, he wants them to know that selling children as food so that the parents can make money, is not very different from letting the children and parents starve to death on the streets just like they do on a daily basis. Even though cannibalism was not a common thing:

The sheer truth that infants were killed or died of neglect and starvation as a direct result of Ireland’s exploitation was what infuriated him, and the exposure of this state of affairs in the bland self-satisfied language of a public-spirited statistician was what stirred the anger of its eighteenth-century readers. (Yankauer 985)

To Swift, the consistency between eating children and letting them live in the conditions they are facing now is one of the most important ideas that he is trying to point out.

If you have ever taken a philosophy class, or know anything about philosophy, then you should know logic. Along with this logic, you should know what a syllogism is. A syllogism is a conclusion that can be drawn from two premises. Jonathan Swift lays out two basic syllogisms in A Modest Proposal. The people know that they should not do things that are cruel and that eating children is cruel; therefore, people should not eat children. While Swift does mention that we should eat children in order to solve the problems that we are facing, he really wants the people to see the problem and actually do something about it. This leads to his second syllogism. The people know that they should not do things that are cruel and that letting others starve is cruel therefore, people should not let others starve as they sit idly by and watch.

In his satirical essay A Modest Proposal, Swift intends to showcase the absurdity of the economic state at the time, and the suffering already resulted from the income gap. At the same time, this essay can be interpreted as a metaphorical argument for veganism. However, with most of the population not adhering to vegan standards, it begs the question of which meat is worse to consume. Swift’s suggestion highlights the obvious issue of choosing who is to be eaten. Since all people possess an equal right to life, cannibalism should not be a better option. Currently, humans and other animals enjoy different rights – and human rights supersede others. However, this hinges on assuming that a human is inherently superior to other species. Placing humankind atop the species ladder seems unjust since it is remarkably anthropocentric. I believe that in a situation of a critical need, like being trapped in a snowed-in cave, cannibalism may be the only option for survival and, therefore, justified. In other situations, where a need is not as acute, I believe that killing animals is hardly better than cannibalism.

A second, more technical argument is that cannibalism is so intuitively horrifying because it goes against the innate, hard-wired evolutionary strive to survive and reproduce. The entire course of natural selection shapes the species for prioritizing those of the same kind over ‘others’ – the populational interest is at stake. A concept like cannibalism, which would naturally undermine the population’s survival and the human species, decreases future chances. Hence, from an evolutionary point of view, eating other species is much better than eating one’s own species.

Lastly, there is a question of conscience and the ability to feel and comprehend pain. The argument is that since humans are highly intellectually developed beings, they are entitled to various rights that exempt them from suffering. However, other animal species can feel and comprehend pain, too, to various extents. Perhaps, one can arrange a ‘priority consumption’ ladder, where jellyfish are much better for consumption than apes, and so on. In this framework, cannibalism is worse than consuming other animals’ meat, but the difference varies. Overall, the questions of need, evolutionary advantage, and intellectual superiority create a mixed picture. My ultimate conclusion is that cannibalism is worse than eating other animals, but how drastic the gap is varies depending on the circumstances.

Work Cited

Swift, Jonathan. A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burden to Their Parents or the Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Country. The United Kingdom, for Weaver Bickerton, 1730.

Introduction

What does one get when an esteemed writer proposes something that is way absurd to a pressing problem that he believes is eating away society slowly? Swift’s essay entitled “A Modest Proposal” is obviously taking a satirical stance over his uncanny proposal to fatten beggars’ children to sell them for food in order to benefit the rich landlords and persons of quality. At first, it may sound to be a foolish and dehumanizing idea. Just imagine, what would this selling of human beings for meat bring to society? Does he promote cannibalism and immorality? However, Swift does not literally mean what he suggested in this essay. What this piece summons to readers is that it is a shocking and tragic piece of how society treats these people. Written with a comical twist, it is equally the product of the author’s despair and benevolence about what the state of Ireland plans for these individuals. Ultimately, this essay is written as Swift is distraught in bitterness because he seemed helpless to address the inconsiderate actions of those merciless tyrants, who starve and oppress people around them. Tyrants, who he believed, have no shame and are oblivious that they contribute to the destruction of their own country.

Main body

Even reading through the first sentence of Swift’s sermon, it was written though he was really serious with his proposed undertaking:

It is a melancholy object to those, who walk through this great town, or travel in the country when they see the streets, the roads and cabin-doors crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags, and importuning every passenger for alms. These mothers instead of being able to work for their honest livelihood, are forced to employ all their time in strolling to beg sustenance for their helpless infants who, as they grow up, either turn thieves for want of work, or leave their dear native country, to fight for the Pretender in Spain, or sell themselves to Barbados (Swift, p. 217).

The first part suggested that beggars and their children are a liability of their state and the government should do something to benefit from these “worthless” and “productive” people. It even falls short of demeaning women, as beggars, who are annoying people when they ask for alms in their city’s streets. Worse, it paints a very bleak picture of what the future has in store for their children, who will become beggars or thieves themselves when they grow up. It seems like the author is saying that these beggars and their children are useless anyway, why will not the government do something worthwhile with them to help the ailing economy of Ireland?

In this essay, Swift seems to take the helm as a speaker, an Irishman himself as he gives confirmation later by referring to Ireland as “my Country”, specifically either residing in Dublin or at this moment writing in Dublin (“this great Town”). Indeed, he is a man who saw and is aware of the subhuman conditions of the Irish poor, both in Dublin and in the country. Swift used vivid details and portrayed all that he saw in raw candor, like of the scenes “cabbin-doors” crowded with “beggars” (Swift, p. 217). Despite his outrageously cruel suggestion, we all know that this speaker is acquainted with the national economic and moral problems arising from scenes like the ones he describes: he knows that because of lack of work the beggars turn to thievery or leave the country to serve as mercenaries or slaves. Definitely, he does not have a blind eye and is not playing ignorant to Ireland’s plight and its relationship with the world beyond. Thus, readers would definitely get the intention of Swift that he could just be cloaking his eerie suggestion. His expression of “melancholy” reveals his concern for the poor, and we may also surmise his concern over the economic plight of Ireland as a nation. Why would a country neglect its people like that? Eventually, readers would understand the sarcastic assertion of Swift as his rather distinct identity emerges from when reading through the entire essay that his heart commiserates with the beggars and their children.

In a critical essay written by Barbara Bengels (2006), she explained that the object of Swift’s satire can be realized through its rich use of wordplay, which is particularly apparent in “A Modest Proposal”. Bengels (2006) reasoned out that Swift’s essay subterfuge irony with his “concern over England’s economic strictures evokes a most recurrent and vicious pattern of imagery through the seemingly harmless vehicle of clothing”:

Right from the first paragraph, he begins alluding to the sartorial state of the Irish as he writes of “Beggars of the Female Sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags”. By the fourth paragraph, he incorporates a double meaning when he writes of children “exactly at one-year-old […] who instead of wanting Food and Raiment for the rest of their lives; they shall, on the contrary, contribute to the Feeding, and partly to the Clothing, of many Thousands”. It is impossible for us on first reading to see “clothing” in this context as a noun rather than as a verb; on second reading, however, his (Swift’s) real meaning is clear–and horrifying. Throughout the rest of the essay, there are at least seven references to clothing as clothing, per se: in paragraph 7 he speaks of “the charge of Nutriments and Rags”; in paragraph 18 he refers to the “foreign Fineries” of the “several plump young girls in… Town; in paragraph 32, he worries about how other projectors will “find Food and Raiment, for a Hundred Thousand useless Mouths and Backs” (Bengels 2006, p. 14).

According to Bengels (2006), Swift used the representations of clothing to identify the outright exploitation of its usage in his essay because his subject deals with the “ultimate exploitation of children–and of man’s ultimate misuse of man”. Bengels (2006) suggested that ordinarily, dressing one’s child is synonymous with caring, with the outward manifestation of love and pride, as well as the flaunting of social class. However, Swift’s essay toyed with the concept of clothing as he used it to show Ireland’s degradation: Ireland, without the ability to manufacture its own goods, must go in rags. But then Swift takes it a step further and uses the image of dressing in a far more perverse fashion. He eventually suggested dressing up in Ireland he made the most morally depraved passage of the entire essay: “I rather recommend buying the children alive, and dressing them hot from the knife, as we do roasting pigs” (Swift, p. 217). This insensitive suggestion is what Swift means. The final symbol of what he meant is that if Ireland only takes care of beggars and their children, there will be no degradation of society, where only a promise of profit will encourage mothers to attend to their offspring.

Indeed, Swift’s essay has a vested purpose and the effect was “propagandistic”, as it made a presentation of biting social criticism as a dark and deeply alienated joke. Here, Swift presented the relations of the tyrants and slaves. The familiar assumption is that slaves deserve to be slaves and they are can be put to good use for Ireland’s ailing economy. Like cows or swine, they can be sold as meat. The irony expects not only that butchers will be ready to prepare the children and that rich tyrants will be ready to buy them, but that mothers will be ready to breed and sell. Swift dwells upon the profits that will fall to the ‘constant Breeders’ and argues that the likelihood of a future profit will increase the care and tenderness of mothers towards their children (Richardson 2003, pp. 134-136).

Conclusion

The nature of how “A Modest Proposal” was written is that it attempts to engage its reader to the subject, that is, one of the worst famines of the century. We should be aware that this essay was written during the time of Swift, where many citizens became beggars because of the dire economic conditions of Ireland. In particular, Swift expects the reader to recognize the horrors of cannibalism, infanticide, and of reducing people to saleable commodities. That expectation is embedded in the aggressive rhetoric of absurd ideas, in order to wake up the rich people to help these unfortunate people. Swift tries to get at the reader by assuming that he or she will not object to the sale of babies for meat, and his attack only works if the reader is horrified. In other words, he tries to exploit a deep-seated objection in his reader not only to killing children but to trading in people. Thus, Swift takes up an effective method of shocking his readers into disbelief and relies upon the reader’s recognition of the cruelty of trading in people. The negative reaction that will be elicited would definitely engage his readers (during that time) to lift a finger and help these beggars and children away from the bleak future they are facing. Ultimately, Swift provoked in this essay that every one of us is responsible for the outcome of society because this is a wake-up call against the apathy of the rich against the poor people.

Works Cited

1. Bengels, Barbara. “Swift’s A Modest Proposal”, The Explicator, 65.1 (2006): 13-16.
2. Richardson, John. Slavery and Augustan Literature: Swift, Pope, Gay. New York: Routledge, 2003.
3. Swift, Jonathan. “A Modest Proposal”. Current Issues and Enduring Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking and Argument, Ed. Sylvan Barnet and Hugo Bedau. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2005, pp. 217-218.

Jonathan Swift was a master of Satire and heavy irony. Critics have noted that the “A Modest Proposal” is one of his greatest works and a masterpiece of ironic logic. A modest proposal was written when poverty and starvation were prevailing in Ireland.

The modest proposal is a satirical work ridiculing the state of Irish affairs during that time and exposing the misery and oppression the people faced from the English monarchy as well as absentee landlords. From Swift’s foreword, he argues that the modest proposal is meant to prevent young children from being a burden to their country and their parents, and for making these children beneficial to their country (Jonathan 61).

Swifts sets up his argument in various ways. First, the use of the title “The Modest Proposal” is quite satirical as the proposal he provides is eccentric and in no way modest. Swift intends to present a proposal that will solve the problem of poverty and starvation. Swift then describes the prevailing conditions by noting that the streets are covered with poor people most of them women having three to four children all seeking for help from strangers.

He engages the reader by asserting that everyone knows that these children begging for food shows the deplorable state of Ireland at the time. He then states that he has come up with a cheap and easy method of turning these children into profitable members of the state. He proposes that all children below a certain age be turned into food. This will not only stop starvation, but will also ensure that the number of poor people decreases putting less strain on the economy of the country (Jonathan 56).

Jonathan Swift meticulously plans the proposal by first presenting data supporting his argument. He first dehumanizes the children by referring to the aspect of child birth as damming much like in animal husbandry. He then gives several advantages why he thinks his plan will work. First, he notes that the plan will stop the act of abortion which he terms as a horrid practice. He then notes that there exist a large number of poor children expecting to be reared. Without food he argues that this is an impossible act.

He concludes by arguing that children under the age of twelve cannot contribute anything to the economy of the country let alone their parents. It is at this point he presents his proposal. He argues that these children who are seldom a result of marriage should be bred for slaughter. He humorously presents ideas on how to fatten up these one year olds so that they are fat and plump to offer a good meal for family and friends.

The main purpose for Swift’s proposal is to highlight and bring to light the state of Irish affairs especially the tragedy poor people were undergoing through. He ridicules several parties including politicians, Americans, the Spanish Empire, the English Monarchy and the absentee landlords. In the text, Swift intends to remind the Landlords and other parties involved that they have a humanitarian responsibility to their countrymen dying of hunger.

Swifts’ modern proposal can be very beneficial in the contemporary world. Looking at the educational department, I would like to offer my modest proposal on how to deal with violence in schools. In the past several years, the American educational system has been in a crisis due to increasing violence in schools.

The violence in schools has claimed many innocent lives and left many people in agony. Most of the perpetrators of this violence are either bullies or children who are emotional scarred by life. Due to the lack of enough funding for children psychologist in our schools and the lack of time by parents to listen to their children’s problems, I offer this proposal that will not only reduce violence in schools but also act as entertainment for the bored American population.

Having analyzed violence in schools and the age of children maturity I have thus reached to a conclusion that this plan will be better applied to children under the age of 14. Since we do not wish to utilize any more resources to identify troubled children, I propose that all children under the age of 14 be included in this plan.

This plan avails several extra advantages to the population. First, it will be an excellent addition to the entertainment industry that has become violence-oriented; secondly, it will make use of our constitutional right to bear arms as well as the easy access to guns in the streets; and finally, this proposal will weed out troubled children and bullies and in fact act as therapy that most schools, parents and the government are unwilling or unable to give.

Having noted the advantages I will thus entreat all to consider that all the children under the age of 14 will make very good participant in a gun shooting competition held by schools and coordinated by teachers.

The competition will be divided into preliminary rounds where in the first round, children are allowed to punch each other until one is knocked out. The second round will involve the use of stones and sticks to take down the opponent while the quarter finals and the semi finals will involve the use of baseball bats to incapacitate opponents.

The final round will be the main event and participants will use guns to incapacitate the opponents. You have to understand that death is not part of competition but should it happen it will just add to the gist of the competition. The competition will be carried out in school playgrounds and will be televised live to all corners of the country.

The competition in the primary rounds will enable children to express their frustrations and anger, and the losers will have learnt a lesson from the broken bones therefore not likely to participate in violence within the schools. Those tough enough to reach the quarters and semis will definitely have a permanent injury that will led them to cool down permanently in school. The lucky enough to reach the finals will most likely be of no future disturbance and survivals will have a fear for violence that will last a lifetime.

Apart from the therapeutic advantage, the competition will generate a lot of money to improve our schools and hire professional councilors for the survivors. Most of our public schools are unable to hire good councilors able to detect and deal with depression, emotional trauma and other problems affecting children.

The schools are also unequipped to ensure that illegal guns and other weapons do not enter their grounds. It is for this reason I proposed that the competition be televised and the rights for distribution given to television stations that have to pay the school some amount for each round. The school can then use money to improve the security precautions in the school as well as the hiring of enough qualified councilors.

The television broadcasts will also negate the need to watch violent movies that are continuous produced in studios rather; everyone will be supporting their children on television; a more exciting thing than watching false violence. Television broadcasts and movies have become too violent and most children are allowed to watch them.

The psychological effect on young children is enormous and the need for adult entertainment is corrupting our children. This proposal then seeks to use these children to entertain the adults and since the children will be fighting, they will not be exposed to violent TV shows.

It has occurred to me that some people of weak spirit and who lack the competitive spirit, may find this proposal concerning in nature. After much thought, I have come to a reasonable conclusion that the only way to eliminate school violence and ensure the safety of children lies in this competition.

I do hope everyone notes that I have presented a detail plan that will not only yield profit but also ensure that there is safety in school. I do not wish to consider alternative methods like hiring more school councilors; amending gun laws to reduce illegal guns at home and in the street; parents taking time to listen to their children problems; reducing violent television show and movies; or total integration in order to reduce discrimination and hate of those who are different.

I do not wish to listen to these remedies until there is hope that one day they will be instituted in our schools. I however wish to point out that I am in no way willing to be responsible in the direct application of this proposal. I only wish to present a valid proposal due to my moral obligation and the necessary bodies should seriously consider this proposal and find a way of applying it to our schools in order to curb violence in schools.

Works Cited

Jonathan Swift “A modest proposal” the Classical Journal 52: 219–220, 1729.

Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” commences with a comprehensive depiction of the dreadful poverty that was uncontrolled in Ireland during the early 1700s. Taking the posture of a detached and realistic economist, the narrator’s planned solution is to use children as a source, principally as food. Swift discussed the net profit the parents will make each year from selling their children.

The utilization of children will reduce the number of “papists who, according to Swift, were “most perilous enemies” and also the “principal breeders of the nation”. I find it sarcastic that the very people who the proposal is presume to help – poor Irish families – fall into both these groups. Ireland is a principally Roman Catholic country, and during the potato famine the only persons who weren’t poor were well-off English gentlemen or landowners. The logical conclusion is that if the suggestion was followed through, the immense majority of the Irish inhabitants would finish existing within a few generations, because no children would be left to grow up and have children of their own.

The “advantages” offered by Swift only states the similar idea: deprived people will be able to use their children as a resource. Swift has even premeditated the net profit to be 8 shillings for each child. Changed to US dollars, that would total to around $0.10. Even if we correct it for inflation, it is clear that this is a repulsively inadequate amount to survive on for even just a month, let alone a year.

Swift further stated that the country would be capable to save $50,000 in “maintenance” costs if 100,000 children were consumed each year. Orphaned and homeless children are looked after by the local parishes, so it would absolutely advantage the country to have additional revenue. Though, there is no reveal of what the government will do with that extra $50,000, or how it will advantage the poor in any manner. Based on Swift’s essay, the government has performed nothing to ease its citizens during the scarcity, so this is a hesitant advantage to the deprived at best.

The new dish will produce commerce for the taverns and attract all the well-off gentlemen there. Once again, this is one more point that does not benefit the Irish people in any manner, for who can have enough money to pay for this costly dish but the rich upper class, of which there were few Irish? This is yet an additional instance in which Swift tries to illustrate attention to the inequality between the social classes by showing how the upper classes, having exhausted the poor of all their money, are now accurately devouring their flesh and blood.

To conclude, it is clear that Swift’s “recompenses” do not make an extremely good case for his suggestion. They are unjustly prejudiced against the Irish, the very people the proposal was planned to help. His opinionated points are only disguised attacks on the higher class, the government, the English, and even the poor themselves. This is with determination done by Swift to exemplify the flaws in an arrangement that adheres to a severely logical way of dealing with economic and social problems and is also an evaluation on the unresponsiveness of the government and landlords toward the poor.

Works Cited

Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal for preventing the children of Ireland from being a burden to their parents or country“.

Introduction

Jonathan Swift, the author of the famous Gulliver Travels, takes a dig at the Irish and British Bureaucracy in his masterful satire, ‘A Modest Proposal,’ which in the true sense is a mockery of the life in Ireland, where the majority is poor and destitute. Through this book, Swift is proposing a way to mitigate the misery of the poor by telling them to sell their poor, one-year-old child to the wealthy as food. He makes a mockery of meat when he says that the fattened children would make great food for the rich at parties and meetings and that the money that they got from selling their children could be used to support their family.

Discussion

Swift is made to touch upon this topic after seeing the millions of poor beg for food on Dublin’s streets with no solace in sight. The men have no jobs and the women are treated like slaves, only to get impregnated and deliver babies who languishes their life in rags. Left to fend for themselves without food and shelter, these children finally grows up to become thieves or leave the country to fight for the so-called pretenders in Spain.

‘It is a melancholy object to those who walk through this great town or travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads, and cabin doors, crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, … or leave their dear native country to fight for the Pretender in Spain, or sell themselves to the Barbadoes’ (Swift, 1729).

While the book reflects the author’s sentiments and feelings for the poor, the book is a manifestation of Swift’s outrage at what he saw were the scandalous economic and political policies of the Irish and English governments during that time.

Ireland was in turmoil in the twentieth century and Swift was a spectator to what was going on in that country. Despite the turmoil, the life of the Irish was not spared, as the wealthy British continuously oppressed these poor for their happiness. He reflects on the way the wealthy British partied, when there was widespread poverty in the streets of Dublin. The poor in the street would indulge in begging and sex and this led to more and more ill-fed children roaming the streets.

It was with sarcasm that Swift portrayed these women, for even though they had nothing to eat, and no proper clothes to wear, they indulged in sex without thinking about its consequences. These kids, if and when they survived, would then be big enough to join the rebels and fight in Spain or work for the British, doing nothing for the country they represent. Even when the name of England is used, Swift never proclaimed it in first tense:

“He could name a country which would be glad to eat up our whole nation without it,” his attack is on the English, … no expence and little trouble, full in our own power, and whereby we can incur no danger in disobliging England’ (Swift, 1729).

England had things its way and all that the Irish people could do was watch in pain as they dictated terms to them.’ The English were rich and got what they wanted from the Irish without a fight and Swift was also a spectator to the atrocities committed on his native women who were raped and left to fend for themselves.

The poor could do little for a living. With no jobs or opportunities, Swift recommends that these women who were periodically raped, and begged for food, could do away with their fat young, tender babies to the rich for a paltry sum, instead of suffering on the streets of Dublin. The book has no luxuries, only pain and struggle as, in another part of the book, Swift challenges his proposal to be rebuked by wise men, and says that there would be none; for if that was to happen, he would ask them:

‘How would they will be able to find food and raiment for an hundred thousand useless mouths and backs’, and… beggars by profession to the bulk of farmers, cottagers, and laborers, with their wives and children who are beggars in effect’ (Swift, 1729).

This was precisely what was happening in Ireland. The rich were not concerned for the poor and spent time indulging in good and healthy food, wine and women. They were so self-centered that they ad no qualms of being under the watchful eyes of the English, who dictated to them.

Therefore, ‘I am not so violently bent upon my own opinion as to reject any offer proposed by wise men, which shall be found equally innocent, cheap, easy, and effectual.’

Giving birth to babies and having them breast-fed was not going to hurt the poor. It was the easiest, cheapest, and effectual way to survive for the poor. So, should there be any other who could find a better solution to this problem of abject poverty, Swift was willing to listen and support. The government of Ireland was doing nothing to find a solution to the problem and was too busy with their parties to address this malady in society. Swift satirizes those who propose solutions to political and economic issues without any consideration for human beings. It is with this in mind that Swift brings out the inhumanity of schemes for alleviating the suffering of the poor.

Without being satirical, Swift, towards the end of the book, lists numerous reforms that could help the country fight poverty. He believes that these reforms would not be accepted without objections, and that whatever he said was his own and none others. He says that instead of the poor sacrificing their children, it would be practically possible for the rich to sacrifice some of their luxuries to support the poor. The country was thrown into abject poverty and he knew that the only way he could perhaps get someone to understand the plight of his countrymen and women was by making this harsh, yet forlorn comment on the society in Ireland.

He knew for sure that there would be a lot of criticism for what he wrote but that was possibly the only way to elicit a response from the bureaucracy that ruled the nation. Was there another way to overcome the misery of the people of Ireland? Though it sounded cynical, Swift was sure that he sounded the unequivocal thoughts of the millions on the streets of Dublin, who were fed up with the administration and sought some solace. He challenged the administration to come forward and propose a change which will alleviate the feelings of the poor on the streets of Dublin:

‘I can think of no one objection, that will possibly be raised against this proposal, unless it should be urged,… fair proposal of just dealing, though often and earnestly invited to it’ (Tamsen Connor, 2006).

References

Jonathan Swift: A Modest Proposal, 1729. Web.

Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal, 1969, Plain Label Books. Web.

Tamsen Connor, Satire and Significance in Jonathan Swift’s ‘A Modest Proposal,’ Brown University, 2003. Web.

Introduction

Jonathan Swift is a master of satire and irony. In his works, “A Modest Proposal” and “Gulliver’s Travels” Part IV Swift skillfully satirizes contemporary society and morals. In both works, Swift underlines that people do not like those who differ from them doing everything possible to level the differences. In general, satire can be defined as a literary tool which attacks low morals or foolishness of people through acute irony. Swift follows a specific way of argumentation using lengthily descriptions and facts. He does not attack directly landlords and the state, but unveils usefulness of their actions and plans. Thesis Using objectives and facts, Swift criticizes the immoral life of this new world, foreseeing the death of civilized values.

A Modest Proposal

“A Modest Proposal” vividly reflects his epoch portraying ineffective functions of the government and foolish decisions. He informs readers about the proposal and its obvious benefits, possible consequences and ‘importance’ for an average child. On the other hand, he gives some facts about depopulation of Ireland and questions outcomes of the proposal. Following Stovel, Swift effectively combines argumentation and lists some facts and historical data which lead to depopulation. Swift states: “After all, I am not so violently bent upon my own opinion, as to reject any offer, proposed by wise men” (Swift 58). The main advantage of the argumentation is that the author sets images of story for readers to understand the purpose of the work. He presents his thesis at the end of the proposal as a conclusion. He states that the government and landlords pay no attention to the needs of poor families: “that there will ever be some hearty and sincere attempt to put them into practice” (Swift 59). Stovel underlines that “this cannibalistic conceit is presented ironically, through an imaginary speaker, a persona capable of conceiving and arguing for such a plan” (Stovel). Using satire and sarcasm, Swift shows low morals of landlords and false promises to change the life of poor people. His satire is based on argumentation and clear facts which unveil the false ‘value’ of the proposal.

Gulliver’s Travels

The book “Gulliver’s Travels” Part IV discusses relations in the Houyhnhnms country and social structure of the house household. Swift satirizes human society and vividly portrays evils and drawbacks of human communication. Indeed, the rise of science as a discourse of authority in the Enlightenment directly inspired both an explosion in utopian thought and a corresponding of dystopian themes. In her cortical work, Bloom underlines that in the course of the 19^th century utopianism reached its peak satire becomes an important and identifiable cultural force. A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms is a comic satire that allows Swift to explore the subject of intolerance and thereby to convey a statement in support of his own relativistic philosophy. The message seems clear: there is no single truth but many truths, and the proclamation of any ideology as the human values can lead only to dire consequences. In particular, there is a severe danger that any group that considers its ideology correct will feel justified in employing any means to achieve its ends. Swift writes: “My master, after some expressions of great indignation, wondered “how we dared to venture upon a Houyhnhnm’s back; for he was sure, that the weakest servant in his house would be able to shake off the strongest Yahoo; or by lying down and rolling on his back squeeze the brute to death” (Swift 187). Using this example, swift satirizes relations between humans and their life style which seems strange to the Yahoo (Bloom).

Gulliver’s Travels” Part IV satirizes religion, capitalism, communism, and nationalism. It also makes a gloomy comment on human history. The invention of the new social values initially promises to bring unprecedented happiness and prosperity to all of society. That it instead leads to disaster suggests the impossibility of such utopian developments. Indeed, Gulliver’s Travels” Part IV implies a cyclic history in which no real progress is made and in which the mistakes of society are repeated endlessly. Following Bloom: “Critics sometimes call Gulliver a “persona” for Swift, meaning that Gulliver is a mask which Swift can put on and from behind which he can make certain critical statements” (Bloom). In particular, the book is constructed from a complex patchwork of events and relations imported from a variety of genres and discourses, endowing the work that acts to combat the single-mindedness of the authoritarian tendencies Swift wishes to oppose. War with the people thus has a great deal in common with the tradition of satire, which is central to discussions of the novel as a genre. Swift explicitly links the exploitation of the people to imperialism, implicating not only technology, but also the efficiency of modern business in the motif. Those who would seek to exploit the citizens for profit argue that proper management, along with advanced society in areas like transportation, should speed the process (Bloom).

Swift portrays that humans parallel the traditional techniques of social relations in their central use of religion as a means to subjugate the citizens. Social oppression is used to teach the citizens much in the way that missionaries have traditionally worked hand in hand with colonizing powers all over the world (Stovel). This effort leads to a great deal of competition among rival sects, each of which seeks to have its own doctrine win out in the battle to save the souls of the citizens –though there is considerable debate over whether or not the citizens in fact have souls. The Yahoo are able to overwhelm their human rivals largely through sheer force of numbers, as they are able to reproduce far more rapidly than humans. Once again, however, the most negative feature of society is the complete lack of love (or any affection) between the sexes. According to Swift: “”

Another thing he wondered at in the Yahoos, was their strange disposition to nastiness and dirt; whereas there appears to be a natural love of cleanliness in all other animals” (Swift 194). Critics state that the presence of horses serves merely to create entirely impersonal relations which somehow cause the citizens to become more polite and communicative (Bloom). The Yahoo serves as a parody of a number of human systems, including capitalism, and fascism; it is able to do so because it is first and foremost a parody of patriarchal systems based on oppression and male dominance, which encompass all of the above. “Gulliver paints them with the unsubtle and unreliable brush of a fanatic” (Bloom). At the end of the voyage, the character concludes: “I could, with great pleasure, enlarge further upon the manners and virtues of this excellent people; but intending in a short time to publish a volume by itself, expressly upon that subject, I refer the reader thither; and, in the mean time, proceed to relate my own sad catastrophe“ (Swift 203), This quotes relates to the human society and its false ideals and values followed aimlessly by generations of people.

Summary

In sum, Swift uses satire as the main stylistic device which helps him to unveil false ideals and traditions of modem society, Swift’s satirical point is that the Yahoo are in fact suspiciously similar to the humans they replace as masters of the world. The human society also serves as parodies in their almost total lack of regard for culture.

Works Cited

Stovel, B. A Modest Proposal: Overview. Reference Guide to English Literature, 2nd ed., edited by D. L. Kirkpatrick, St. James Press, 1991.

Bloom, C. An overview of Gulliver’s Travels. Exploring Novels, Gale, 1998.

Swift, J. Gulliver’s Travels. Penguin Classics; Revised edition, 2003.

Swift, J. A Modest Proposal and Other Satirical Works. Dover Publications, 1996.

Introduction

Alexander Pope’s The Rape of the Lock and Jonathan Swift’s Modest Proposal are witty satirical works written in the 18th-century-Britain to highlight various issues that were affecting society at the time. During this period, humor, and reason pervaded literature in different ways, especially in the form of Juvenalian and Horatian satires to debunk the moral corruption and perfunctory follies that characterized British society during the neoclassical era. Writers sought to satirically highlight the many societal shortcomings by ridiculing the generally accepted standards of thought to expose hypocrisy. This paper compares two enlightenment satires – Alexander Pope’s The Rape of the Lock and Jonathan Swift’s Modest Proposal.

Summary

Alexander Pope’s The Rape of the Lock is a satirical poem on a small incident in an attempt to merge social happenings with heroic tales of gods and goddesses. The poem borrows much from Greek mythology whereby the theft of a lock of hair mirrors the abduction of Helen of Troy or Sparta. Belinda, the protagonist, has two locks of hair and one of her suitors, Baron, is determined to steal one (Pope), and this incident shapes the entire plotline of the satire. Jonathan Swift’s Modest Proposal is a satirical narrative suggesting ways that impoverished Irish could solve their economic problems by selling their babies to the rich to be used as food. Swift sought to mock the hardhearted attitudes towards the poor in society and generally the punitive British policies toward the Irish.

Comparison

In both The Rape of the Lock and Modest Proposal, the writers use irony to satirize and mock the socio-political attitudes and values in British society in the 18th century. Swift puts forward a modest proposal that would see the impoverished Irish sell their babies as food to the affluent as a way of dealing with their economic woes. Swift says, “A young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout”. Of course, Swift did not wish the rich to cannibalize one-year-olds, but he wanted to highlight the blasé character that defined society at the time and provoke people to awaken to the suffering of the poor. The rich tended to view the poor as commodities, which explains why Swift chose to use this form of satire to address this problem.

Similarly, in The Rape of the Lock, Pope seeks to satirize the vanity and pettiness of two individuals in society. The poem is divided into cantos with each comparing the superficial bickering between two persons to the epic supernatural world of gods. Pope places the significance of classical Greek mythology epics, such as Homer’s Iliad and Helen of Troy on social standing and vanity to mock the characters’ mindsets and individuals in the British society who had the same inclinations. The ultimate objective of this poem is to let people see the underlying absurdity in their quarrels, perhaps change their thoughts and focus on important issues affecting society. Even though Swift’s work carries more bitterness and weight as compared to that of Pope, the two works use satire to arouse change in the way people perceive and understand social situations.

Contrast

The two works by Pope and Swift differ significantly despite sharing common satirical themes. On the one hand, Pope’s satire is Horatian characterized by witty, amused, tolerant, and indulgent voice. Pope uses gentle ridicule to mock the absurdities and follies of the British society without provoking the anger of a Juvenal. In this poem, he bases the narrative on a well-known incident whereby a lock of hair is stolen involving two lovers, and he compares this to the kidnapping of Helen of Troy. The objective here was to castigate the strict societal laws in England at the time, especially the restrictions placed on all religions except Anglicanism. In other words, Pope writes his satire in the form of banter, which ultimately lulls the reader into a false sense of self-complacency with the mocked subject.

On the other hand, Swift’s satire is Juvenalian as characterized by bitterness and nastiness with his objects being horrible human beings. Swift is outrageous and shocking in his biting and scathing proposal to have the poor sell their children as food to the rich. According to Szwec, when Swift wrote and published this proposal anonymously in 1729, “Ireland was in a state of distraught after essentially being “eaten” or consumed by the British Empire”. Therefore, Swift wanted to highlight this suffering by the Irish at the time. He says, “The number of souls in this kingdom being usually reckoned one million and a half of these I calculate there may be about two hundred thousand couple whose wives are breeders” (Swift). This claim underscores Swift’s scathing and outrageous satire when addressing serious societal issues.

Conclusion

In Pope’s The Rape of the Lock and Swift’s Modest Proposal satire is used to highlight some of the societal problems that people under the British protectorate faced in the 18th century. Pope’s satire is characterized by humor, gentleness, wittiness, and tolerance, which underscore Horatian satire. However, Swift’s satire is abrasive, scathing, and outrageous, which makes it Juvenalian. Despite these differences, satire in these two works is used as a powerful tool to ridicule people in the hope that they would change for the ultimate betterment of society.

Works Cited

Pope, Alexander. “The Rape of the Lock.” The Project Gutenberg, 2011. Web.

Swift, Jonathan. “Modest Proposal.” The Project Gutenberg, 2008, Web.

Szwec, Jonathan. “Satire in 18th Century British Society: Alexander Pope’s The Rape of the Lock and Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal.” Inquiries Journal, vol. 3, no. 6, 2011, Web.