Transcript A Modest Proposal

A Modest Proposal
Jonathan Swift
Background / Context
•PERSONAL
•ARTISTIC
•POLITICAL
Jonathan Swift









Born 1667, Dublin; English ancestry but Irish birth
Forced to leave Ireland in 1688; went to England to work as
assistant to William Temple, diplomat.
Became a priest in the Church of Ireland in 1694; returned to
Ireland.
Became increasingly political in the early 18th Century, as well
as gaining notice as a writer. Lived in England.
Became influential in the Tory party and in literary circles.
Eventually returned to Ireland (‘like a rat in a hole’) to live in
Dublin. Started to take note of specifically Irish issues.
Published the satire Gulliver’s Travels in 1726.
Wrote the more obviously political A Modest Proposal in 1729,
earning a reputation as an Irish patriot.
Died in 1745.
So…
 Linked to both Ireland and England
 Love-hate relationship with both Ireland
and England
 Profound sense of religious, moral and
political justice
 Exposed to extreme poverty among the
poor
 How might his personal life have
informed A Modest Proposal?
The Augustans
Swift was part of a group of writers called ‘The Augustans’ who
were particularly active in the early eighteenth century.
Named for their admiration of the satirical, witty, mannered poetry
of the original Augustan era, they were politically engaged public
figures. They saw it as a writer’s place to comment on society,
rather than to ‘express himself’.
Names associated with this movement are Alexander Pope, John
Dryden, Jonathan Swift, Samuel Johnson.
The Augustans
In terms of attitudes, ideologies and values, the Augustans are
best defined by their faith in the powers of REASON. Just as the
eighteenth century is the age of scientific empiricism, so the
Augustans sought to apply a rational, reasonable approach. As
such, they wrote about society and how it could be improved; they
were not afraid to satirise important and influential people; and
they saw their writing as an inherent part of a public discourse
and a necessarily moral voice.
How does
A Modest Proposal fit in with these general points?
Political Contexts
There are a number of political contexts which
inform A Modest Proposal – Swift was very
politically engaged and active throughout most of
his life.
Probably the most important political context for
this particular text, however, deals with the
relationship between Ireland and England – the
so-called ‘Irish Question’.
The Irish Question
 In the 12th century Anglo-Norman
(British) groups began to invade
Ireland
 Needed land for a growing
kingdom
 Various nobility looked to claim
land
 The English established their own
laws and created a parliament
 Countries like Scotland attempted to
help remove the English, but the
Anglo-Norman numbers continued
to grow
The Irish Question
 King Henry VII (ruled 14851509) established strict laws
for Ireland under British rule
 No traditional Irish laws
 Must follow English laws
 No assembly of the Irish
military
 All laws of the Irish
Parliament had to be
approved by the King
The Irish Question
 Henry VIII (ruled 1509 –
1547) attempted to
transform Ireland from a
Catholic country to an
Anglican country
 Queen Mary I
 Elizabeth I
 James I
Penal Laws
Several drafts of penal laws (laws explicitly
designed to reduce Catholicism’s standing as the
dominant religion in Ireland) were introduced by
the English over the years. When Swift published
A Modest Proposal (1729), the most recent were
the laws from 1695.
Remember, Swift points out that ‘the number of popish
infants is at least three to one in this kingdom’. The penal
laws, and oppression of Catholics in general, affected the
majority of the population.
Penal Laws, 1695: A Sample
•Catholics banned from Public Office or Parliament
•Catholics banned from intermarriage with Protestants
•Catholics disenfranchised (no vote)
•Catholics banned from University entrance
•Catholic inheritances could be claimed by Protestants
•Catholics banned from owning a horse worth more than 5 pounds
•Catholic churches to be built from wood, not stone, and not on
main roads
•And so on…
A Modest Proposal
SO… a long, long history of subjugation, even by
the time A Modest Proposal appeared..
At the time of writing, therefore, the Catholic majority
population were living in extreme poverty. Note who the
extremely poor people Swift is talking about actually are:
‘I have already computed the charge of nursing a
beggar's child (in which list I reckon all cottagers,
laborers, and four-fifths of the farmers) to be
about two shillings per annum, rags included…’
These aren’t ‘beggars’ in the normal sense. Practically ALL
of the Catholic population were living in utter poverty.