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Summary
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Essay
“A Modest Proposal” written by Jonathan Swift, is an essay that uses satire to make its point. The purpose of satire in a literary work is to attack or poke fun at any fault of imperfection and it can sometimes make outrageous assertions or claims. The idea of it is to spur readers to remedy the problem at hand under discussion; as it stands out from other essays. The main weapon of the satirist is verbal irony, used to convey a meaning that is the opposite of what the words say. Swift uses satire throughout most of his essay for a number of reasons and it’s important to realise the background Swift came from to work out why he would write using satirical language.
In 1729, when it was first published as a pamphlet, Ireland was in a time of great poverty. “A Modest Proposal” was written as a solution to this conflict and argues that the problem in Ireland can best be remedies by the selling of children of the poor, as food for the wealthy. This thesis is manifestation of Swift’s outrage at what he saw as the scandalous economic and political policies of the Irish and English governments. Swift also directs his satire at the Protestant-Catholic divisions.
Swift's use of satire shows how extreme the poverty in Ireland was during the eighteenth century. Because the Irish people were so poor, the country had thousands of children ill provided for. The author's proposal to take care of the problem is an outrageous one. He claims, "...a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food..." put forth in such a calm, reasonable tone, the statement is laughable. No civilized human being would even think of eating a child. The satirical suggestion to do so indicates that Swift believed the English to be barbaric. Since their rule has forced poverty upon the common people and since they do not care about the Irish, they may as well eat the children.
The dominant figure of speech is definitely the use of verbal irony and uses it to address the main idea that the Irish deserve better treatment than the English. For example; to point out that the Irish should not be treated like animals, Swift compares them to animals, as in this example “I rather recommend buying children alive, and dressing them hot from the knife, as we do roasting pigs”.
Swift also uses satirical language when he talks about the babies and refers to them as food when he 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." Swift here plays around with the language usage as he represents children as food to emphasize the scarcity of food at the time. He also mocks the upper class Irish and English people, by his use of diction, since the food was only meant for the rich people at the time. Swift also uses the fact that he portrays children as food and therefore they are meant to be eaten to provoke us a feeling of disgust of the poor Irish people at the time. "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" the word savages in the sentences describes people who will eat the children, and it evokes in the reader a feeling of fear and disgust for the Irish for being compared with such atrocious things.
The author's indifferent tone of this essay allows him to attack England indirectly. Swift was English himself, although he lived in Ireland, so indirectly was perhaps the best way to attack the country of his parents. He states that his proposal to dispose of children by eating them is a way to "incur no danger in disobliging England" (1931). The literal interpretation of this suggests that the Irish do not want to cause any problems for England. However, figuratively it seems that Swift is mocking the country. He wants to disgrace them by implying that England has mistreated Ireland enough.
Finally, in this piece, an attack on England's persecution of Catholics is implied. The majority of Irish people was Catholic and was persecuted at the hand of Protestant England. When Catholic James II of England suffered defeat after trying to reclaim his kingship from William III, the Irish lost hope of ever having a Catholic ruler. Speaking of his proposal, Swift lists one of its benefits as "greatly lessen the number of papists, with whom we are yearly overrun" (1930). Since the author was a papist priest himself, he is obviously being sarcastic here. The statement implies that England did not like papists.
“A Modest Proposal” is considered one of the finest examples of satire in world literature for its rhetorical brilliance, and it continues to garner new readers and additional critical attention to this day. From the perspective of a modern reader, Swift's proposal seems to be very inhumane and sadistic. He relies on the fact that his readers know about the political issues in Ireland. He excessively uses sarcasm throughout this text to mock the government representing a view of the public who lived under its control. Swift intends to build hatred against or look down on the Irish politicians. Although Swift does not talk badly upon the politicians directly, he deceives the readers through the use self-righteous. As a contemporary reader, this text appears to be a little hard to understand because of its language. It repetitively uses capitalization throughout the sentence and also dictions that have different meanings from todays. Despite its use of language that can confuse modern readers, Swift's writing is still an excellent piece of satire.
In 1729, when it was first published as a pamphlet, Ireland was in a time of great poverty. “A Modest Proposal” was written as a solution to this conflict and argues that the problem in Ireland can best be remedies by the selling of children of the poor, as food for the wealthy. This thesis is manifestation of Swift’s outrage at what he saw as the scandalous economic and political policies of the Irish and English governments. Swift also directs his satire at the Protestant-Catholic divisions.
Swift's use of satire shows how extreme the poverty in Ireland was during the eighteenth century. Because the Irish people were so poor, the country had thousands of children ill provided for. The author's proposal to take care of the problem is an outrageous one. He claims, "...a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food..." put forth in such a calm, reasonable tone, the statement is laughable. No civilized human being would even think of eating a child. The satirical suggestion to do so indicates that Swift believed the English to be barbaric. Since their rule has forced poverty upon the common people and since they do not care about the Irish, they may as well eat the children.
The dominant figure of speech is definitely the use of verbal irony and uses it to address the main idea that the Irish deserve better treatment than the English. For example; to point out that the Irish should not be treated like animals, Swift compares them to animals, as in this example “I rather recommend buying children alive, and dressing them hot from the knife, as we do roasting pigs”.
Swift also uses satirical language when he talks about the babies and refers to them as food when he 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." Swift here plays around with the language usage as he represents children as food to emphasize the scarcity of food at the time. He also mocks the upper class Irish and English people, by his use of diction, since the food was only meant for the rich people at the time. Swift also uses the fact that he portrays children as food and therefore they are meant to be eaten to provoke us a feeling of disgust of the poor Irish people at the time. "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" the word savages in the sentences describes people who will eat the children, and it evokes in the reader a feeling of fear and disgust for the Irish for being compared with such atrocious things.
The author's indifferent tone of this essay allows him to attack England indirectly. Swift was English himself, although he lived in Ireland, so indirectly was perhaps the best way to attack the country of his parents. He states that his proposal to dispose of children by eating them is a way to "incur no danger in disobliging England" (1931). The literal interpretation of this suggests that the Irish do not want to cause any problems for England. However, figuratively it seems that Swift is mocking the country. He wants to disgrace them by implying that England has mistreated Ireland enough.
Finally, in this piece, an attack on England's persecution of Catholics is implied. The majority of Irish people was Catholic and was persecuted at the hand of Protestant England. When Catholic James II of England suffered defeat after trying to reclaim his kingship from William III, the Irish lost hope of ever having a Catholic ruler. Speaking of his proposal, Swift lists one of its benefits as "greatly lessen the number of papists, with whom we are yearly overrun" (1930). Since the author was a papist priest himself, he is obviously being sarcastic here. The statement implies that England did not like papists.
“A Modest Proposal” is considered one of the finest examples of satire in world literature for its rhetorical brilliance, and it continues to garner new readers and additional critical attention to this day. From the perspective of a modern reader, Swift's proposal seems to be very inhumane and sadistic. He relies on the fact that his readers know about the political issues in Ireland. He excessively uses sarcasm throughout this text to mock the government representing a view of the public who lived under its control. Swift intends to build hatred against or look down on the Irish politicians. Although Swift does not talk badly upon the politicians directly, he deceives the readers through the use self-righteous. As a contemporary reader, this text appears to be a little hard to understand because of its language. It repetitively uses capitalization throughout the sentence and also dictions that have different meanings from todays. Despite its use of language that can confuse modern readers, Swift's writing is still an excellent piece of satire.
