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Since one of the core features of any human activity is standardly purposefulness and meaningfulness, it appears reasonable to seek purpose and meaning in particular in works of literature. For centuries on end, works of fiction have been created by writers either to reflect the existing reality or to create a new, more desired one. Reflection of reality in literature can be instigated by such motives as a wish to praise and glorify the perfection of what is perceived on the one hand, or to point out the negative phenomena in order to stimulate its improvement on the other hand. In certain times the latter criticism of reality could be given a hostile reception by censure of the governing circles; thus it had to be disguised appropriately, with one of the ways to array criticism being irony and sarcasm. A veiled lunge against the injustice of the time could pass unnoticed in form of allegory or pamphlet. In modern times, when freedom of speech and freedom of press became more widespread in civilized society, irony and sarcasm do not lose their importance. They remain an efficient way of appealing to society, since they produce quite a profound impact attracting attention, amusing and instructing at the same time. It seems therefore curios to trace how irony and sarcasm are made use of by two writers of different periods on the example of Jonathan Swifts pamphlet A Modest Proposal dating back to the first half of the eighteenth century, and Judy Bradys essay I Want a Wife published more than two centuries later, in 1971. Apparently, despite the time gap and a series of individual peculiarities, Swifts and Bradys works demonstrate a striking semblance in the issues they focus on, the sarcastic rendition of the topic, the persuasive approach bolstered with numerous examples by both authors.
The first similarity that strikes the reader is that between the issues brought to light in the works of fiction discussed. Both Jonathan Swift and Judy Brady bring to light the urgent problems of their time. For the Irish satirist, the situation of economic, political and religious oppression of his country by the British Empire appeared so outraging that he published his anonymous pamphlet as a mockery of the British policy with a possible solution to the problems of his country. The idea of social oppression of the poor streams throughout the whole piece, with the hopeless situation emphasized by thorough descriptions of the scarce choice paupers have: & helpless infants [&] 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 the Barbadoes (Swift 297). A whole range of misfortunes forms a closed circle for those poor people and their offspring, and Swift openly talks about all the possible misery that accompanies them during their lives:
& the oppression of landlords, the impossibility of paying rent without money or trade, the want of common sustenance, with neither house nor clothes to cover them from the inclemencies of the weather, and the most inevitable prospect of entailing the like or greater miseries upon their breed for ever. (Swift 306)
In Bradys essay the reader finds a reflection of another type of social oppression, this time carried out not on financial grounds but stipulated by social gender stereotypes. The narrator of the essay speaks on behalf of a whole class of people known as wives and enlists an enormous range of tasks an exemplary wife has to perform (Brady 57). The drama of the situation is not simply in the amount of work itself but rather in the attitude the male part of the society assumes towards the female part of the population. As if supporting the general trend of the time towards emancipation of women, men take advantage of the situation and load the woman with both the housework and the role of the main breadwinner in the family. A wife who will work , a wife to take care of my children , a wife who will keep my house clean , a wife who is a good cook , a wife who will take care of the details of my social life , a wife who is sensitive to my sexual needs the enormous list of the wifes duties astonishes by its comprehensiveness and involvement into every possible aspect of human life (Brady 5759). But even more one is stunned by the widely accepted consideration that the wife should not be assisted in any of the listed tasks, and should readily and gladly accept the entire load prescribed to her by the social norms. Moreover, in case there appears a more attractive candidacy for the man to choose as a wife, the former wife should not complain and should willingly obey sparing the husband the trouble of caring for his offspring and leaving him free (Brady 59).
Both Swifts and Bradys choice of means for rendering the problems of social exploitation and oppression falls on sarcastic way of presentation. Swift employs a number of lofty epithets that are called to strengthen the authority of the people he is referring to: a very knowing American , very worthy person , true lover of his country , whose virtues I highly esteem , but in fact those epithets only show all the cruelty and brutality of the treatment suggested by his American friend (299 and 301). Sarcastically ridiculing the ways the British treat the Irish, Swift compares the attitude of the former to the latter to that of treating animals: I rather recommend buying the children alive, and dressing them hot from the knife, as we do roasting pigs (301). The seemingly beneficial proposal of solving the Irish problem of overpopulation appears to be ghastly cynical and the latter quality is emphasized by Swift in his discussion of treatment of teenagers: & it is not improbable that some scrupulous people might be apt to censure such a practice (although indeed very unjustly), as a little bordering upon cruelty (301). The paradox of the situation is developed through a phrase I believe no gentleman would repine to give ten shillings for the carcass of a good fat child& as any reasonable person understands that no gentleman or lady would ever involve in such a dubious affair as eating babies, and moreover, they would not assess the financial costs of nurturing a baby for such ends (Swift 300).
Similar to Swifts semiserious tone of discussion, Brady employs a generous share of sarcasm in order to render the ridiculous state of wives in the society of the time. As if quoting a manual for ideal wives, she presents the wifes duties as something sacred, a code obligatory to follow and forbidden to break. The role of the husband according to such code is that of an inviolable and reverend idol, whose interest and multiple needs are to be respected, satisfied and never neglected. Every little thing, starting from the husbands nutrition and sexual life and finishing with arranging his leisure and social image, is the responsibility of the wife: she takes care not only of the house and the children, but also of the husbands doctor and dentist appointments, picking up the mess after him (Brady 5758). Moreover, if she fails, she is obliged to let her man leave her with no objection, assuming the care for their children on her fragile shoulders (Brady 59). It appears that the wife never needs any help, any understanding and sympathy, any desires of her own, or any moment of rest. She is not supposed to talk too much, though should listen to whatever her husband may want to tell her; she should not express a desire to make love when she wants it, but should satisfy her husband whenever he wants; she should always bear a pleasant atmosphere around whatever she does; and even the time of rest is designed not for her but for her husband (Brady 5759). The most striking thing is that for all this effort the maximum gratitude she can get is mere condescending tolerance on her husbands part if due to overload of housework she gets a cut in her salary: I guess I can tolerate that (Brady 57). All this codex of wifes role, though so smoothly written, appears hideously slanted in favor of the man, and thus is the paradoxical effect achieved by stating the sanctimonious ideas that can never be acceptable in any slave-free society.
In addition to parallel ideas and attitude in their writings, Swift and Brady appear to employ a similar persuasive tactics of rendering their message. Swift resorts to obviously phony statistic, calculating meticulously the number of poor people available for breeding, the quantity of children they could produce annually, the costs it would involve, and the benefits the participating sides draw (298). He provides logical arguments in order to persuade the reader of the rightfulness of his proposal. Stemming from the suggestion that the poor are one of the main problems in Ireland, Swifts brilliant idea is bolstered with a whole range of positive consequences its implementation may bring (Swift 302303). If those are not the arguments to persuade a reasonable person, then anything is vain and Ireland has no hope for a better future. Such is the paradox and the bitter irony of Swifts logical reasoning.
Judy Brady in her persuasive attempts follows the objective of convincing the reader of everybodys necessity for a wife. Depriving wife of any human needs, desires or status, Brady presents her as a machine for satisfying ones needs; she even says she would have a wife herself (57). Brady categorizes the wifes activities into several spheres and employs numerous examples of the wifes practicality and makes it obvious and quite logical that a wife constitutes an essential device for securing a calm and happy life for anyone.
Though created several centuries apart from each other, Swifts and Bradys works appear to be congenial in their satiric treatment of exploitation and inequality issues, as well as in logical argumentation of their point. They constitute an example of how satire works as a persuasive instrument for attracting the attention of otherwise indifferent society to problems that demand solution. Therefore, the future of satire may be envisaged as that of fruitful service for the purposes of triumph of justice.
Works Cited
Brady, Judy. I Want a Wife. The Seagull Reader: Essays. 2nd ed. Ed. Joseph Kelly. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2007. 5759. Print.
Swift, Jonathan. A Modest Proposal. The Seagull Reader: Essays. 2nd ed. Ed. Joseph Kelly. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2007. 297307. Print.
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