Lecture+Eight+Jonathan+Swift

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Life and literary career of Swift
◆Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) was born in Dublin, Ireland, of an English family, which had little wealth but important connections. He was a posthumous son and in his childhood was dependent upon an uncle. He went to Trinity College in Dublin and after graduation became secretary to a retired diplomat at whose hand he met many important politicians and came to know much of the dirty and dishonest politics of his day.
• In the first part, Gulliver, a simple straightforward man with some education of a navigator and a doctor, fails to build up a medical career to support his wife and children and reluctantly goes to sea as a ship’s surgeon. • After a successful six months’ trading voyage in the East Indies the ship is driven out of its regular route by a storm and shipwrecked in a strange region.
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Main Characters in the first part
• Lilliputians
– Only 6 inches tall – Prone to conspiracies and jealousies
• ◆ In Ireland, Swift soon threw his heart and soul into the struggles of the Irish people against their English oppressors. • ◆
In 1724, he wrote The Drapier’s Letters to launch his fierce attack on the debasement of the Irish coin by one of the mistress of the English king, George. In 1726, he published anonymously Gulliver’s Travels. in 1729, he wrote his most sarcastic and most indignant pamphlet, “A Modest Proposal”.◆ In 1737, his 70th birthday was celebrated throughout Ireland with bells, and bonfires. In 1742, Swift was declared insane and he died in 1745.
A Modest Proposal
a bitter satire on the policy of the English government toward Irish; Swift in this article suggested to the Irish people that the best way to end their misery was to sell their one-year-old children at market as a delicious dish for the rich English landlords. Swift is making the most devastating protest against the inhuman exploitation and oppression of the Irish people by the English ruling class. The apparent eagerness, sincerity and detachment of the author adds force to the bitter irony and biting sarcasm.
JONATHAN SWIFT
• Jonathan Swift was born in Dublin, Ireland, of an English family, which had important connections but little wealth. • Through the generosity of an uncle, he was educated at Kilkenny Grammar School and then Trinity College in Dublin. • Between 1689 and 1699 he worked as a private secretary to a distant kinship Sir William Temple, a retired diplomat. • And there he also received a first-rate education in politics through contact with Temple and many other well-known politicians, learning much about hypocrisy,deception and corruption in the political world.
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Later he became a clergyman and wrote his first important works, “The Battle of the Books” (1697) and “A Tale of a Tub” (1698).
The former is a satirical dialogue on the comparative merits of ancient and modern writers, and the latter is a sharp attack on the disputes among the different branches of the Christian religion.
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• ◆ In 1713, he was appointed Dean of St. Patrick’s Church in Dublin and in 1714, with the Tories losing their political power, he returned to Ireland.
Introduction to Gulliver’s Travels (1726) Gulliver’s Travels is Swift’s masterpiece.
The book contains four parts, each dealing with one particular voyage during which Gulliver meets with extraordinary adventures on some remote island after he has met with shipwreck or some other misfortune. a. to Lilliput b. to Brobdingnag c. to flying island of Laputa d. to the country of Houyhnhnms (horses) Yahoos
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• ◆ In 1699 to 1701 he was appointed to different clerical posts in Ireland and the years between 1701 and 1704 he spent in London writing political pamphlets in favor of the Whigs. • ◆ In 1710, he deserted the Whigs and joined the Tories who were getting into power.
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Swift’s Major works
Today Swift’s poems are seldom read or remembered. And of his prose writings, the more important works are his earlier essays “The Battle of Books” and “The Tale of a Tub”, and his pamphlet on Ireland, The Drapiers’ Letters and “A Modest Proposal” and his greatest book Gulliver’s Travels.
Lecture Eight Jonathan Swift and Gulliver’s Travels
• Teaching Aims and Basic Demands: • 1. Swift’s position in British literary history and his major works • 2. The social significance and artistic features of Gulliver’s Travels
A Modest Proposal
“A Modest Proposal” is by far the most consummate artistic expression of Swift’s indignation toward the terrible oppression and exploitation of the Irish people by the English ruling classes.
First Part. A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT
• The first part tells about his experience in Lilliput • The emperor believed himself to be the delight and terror of the universe, but it appeared quite absurd to Gulliver who was twelve times as tall as he. • The two parties in the country are distinguished by the use of high and low heels. • Religious disputes were laughed at in an account of a problem which divided the Lilliputians: “ Should eggs be broken at the big end or the little end?”