jonathan swift nov. 30, 1667- oct. 19, 1745

Jonathan SwiftNov. 30, 1667- Oct. 19, 1745

EARLY LIFE• Born in Dublin to English parents (Anglo-Irish)• Frequently moved between Ireland & England• Graduated from Trinity college (Ireland)• First job in Surrey, England

• Worked as secretary, Anglican priest, author• Secretary for Sir William Temple (retired diplomat)• persuaded him to start writing

• Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin• Formed the Martinus Scriblerus Club – coffee house

grp.

Jonathan Swift

SATIRE & POLITICS• Clergyman & political writer for Whig party, wrote satires • first two satires were published anonymously

• Conservative, strict moralist – politically & scientifically• Believed in traditional scientific findings & lampooned

“modern” thinkers (Locke, Newton)• Satires focused on justice, order, moral rectitude, rational

thought & against arrogance, shallowness• Became part of Tories when Whigs lost power (1710)• Left England in 1714 when Whigs returned to power

Jonathan Swift

IRISH PATRIOT• Returned to Ireland in 1714; appointed dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral by Queen Anne (of England)• Angered by tyranny of England• Ireland dependent on England b/c of repressive politics,

poverty, famine; barred from trading w/ American colonies• Catholic majority in Ireland couldn’t vote, hold public office,

buy land, receive an education• The Drapier’s Letters (1724) – series of publications

published anonymously, but easily recognized as Swift’s• Rhetoric never before raised by Anglo-Irish voice vs. English

• became hero to Irish Catholics & Protestants

Gulliver’s Travels1726

•Had reputation for “fierce satire” as result of The Drapier’s letters in both Ireland & England• Published anonymously in London• Fictional voyage, increasingly pessimistic• Allowed Swift to vent about political corruption, annoyance with humans’ worthlessness• Goal: vent anger and rally others to get angry• Result: people entertained by novel

Jonathan Swift

THE SATIRIST• Misanthropy – hatred of humankind

• Swift hid deep rage with humor & sarcasm in satire• Probably grew from religious conviction

• Humans = fallen victims of original sin• Opposed ideas of most Enlightenment thinkers (humans = rational

creatures)•“A Modest Proposal” (1729)

• Last major work about Ireland• Outrageous attack on those who mistreated Ireland’s poor

•Died in 1731 – epitaph shows satire, religiosity, misanthropy• Left remaining fortune to go toward building a mental hospital • Buried in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, next to friend Esther (Stella) Johnson

Neoclassical Period 1660-1798

• emphasis on reason, logic, order, balance• Locke: social contract exists btwn gov’t and people• “natural rights” of life, liberty, property• logical justification for Glorious Revolution• Restoration • emphasis on individual•belief that man is basically evil•Industrial Revolution begins• Impoverished masses begin to grow (decline of farming, demise of traditional village life)

• Ireland declared inseparable from England (1719)

Neoclassical Period 1660-1798

•Enlightenment = Age of Reason• Tory & Whig parties• English Bill of Rights – limited royal authority

•Glorious Revolution• Catholics excluded from serving in Parliament• James II overthrown; William & Mary (Protestants) become monarchs in 1689• lots of unrest in Ireland as result of Glorious Revolution corruption Swift’s satire

Neoclassical Period 1660-1798

•satire, poetry (heroic couplets, iambic pentameter), novels, letters/diaries• many writers modeled works on ancient Rome, “new classicism”• focus on grammar, spelling (Samuel Johnson – 1st

dictionary)• dramatic rise in functional literacy among men (up to 50% of population)

•coffee houses• center of cultural, political life in London

(1650-1860)

•where educated men spent evenings dining & talking w/ literary friends, political associates• newspapers could be read there for no charge• Scriblerus Club – met in England (1714)• Assn. of writers, including Swift, Alexander Pope, John Gay, John Arbuthnot, who met to “satirise all the false tastes in learning”