Writers use personality traits and events to change the classical ideals. Majority of the writer's focus is to change people's attitude's. Jonathan Swift, Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Moliere, Francois-Marie Arquet de Voltaire use characterization and plot to challenge the themes of the Neo-Classical period.
In A Modest Proposal, Jonathan Swift challenges the Neo-classical period by creating a sense of instability in their way of thinking. He attacks the society by carelessly endorsing cannibalism in hopes to help Ireland through their economic crisis. He demonstrates this by humbly proposing and assuring "that a young healthy child, well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food." (Swift, 485) Implying that society should eat children shows that the individual (the child) is seen as an unimportant individual to society; therefore, is not valued when considering an effective resolution to their situation. This provides criticism to the Neo-Classical beliefs that society is more important than the individual. The Neo-Classic's logic and reasoning aspect is attacked by Swift's persuasion that eating a child is a valid response to help fix their oppression. His introduction clearly states that his purpose is" for Preventing the Children of poor People in Ireland, from being a Burden to their Parents or Country, and for making them beneficial to the Publick." (Swift 483) His reasoning for the proposal is ultimately satisfied through his sound thinking that evidently has nothing to do with his feelings about the matter. The narrator than proceeds to give the audience justification of his statement, and therefore attempting to challenge the Neo-Classic's fact that logic a...
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...s. Dr. Pangloss's blind optimistic approach allows him to forget about the fighting that is occurring amongst people and he only sees love.
Satirical approaches to writing were used to change the captivated way of thinking during the late 17th and 18th centuries. The Neo-Classic time period contributed in the expansion of people's view of life.
Works Cited
Swift, Jonathan. "The Norton Anthology of World Literature." A Modest Proposal. W.W> Norton & Company: New York and London, 2002. 483-489.
Moliere, Jean-Baptiste Poquelin. "The Norton Anthology of World Literature." Tartuffe. W.W> Norton & Company: New York and London, 2002. 313-361.
Voltaire, Francois-Marie Arquet de Voltaire. "The Norton Anthology of World Literature." Candide. W.W> Norton & Company: New York and London, 2002. 520-580.
It is a great contradiction and absurdity that a husband and father proposes the idea of cannibalism. The narrator does not want the reader to agree that the solution to overpopulation and poverty in Ireland is to eat babies; he wants the reader to see it. needs to be a practical solution. Although something seems one way to the narrator, Jonathan Swift wants. the reader to see it in the opposite light.
Jonathan Swift, a well-known author, in his essay “A Modest Proposal,” implies that the Irish people should eat children so that they can better their chances of survival. Swift supports his implication by describing how his proposal will have many advantages such as, eliminating papists, bringing great custom to taverns, and inducing marriages. He comes up with an absurd proposal to eat and sell the children to the elite so the Irish can have a brighter future. His purpose is to show that the Irish deserve better treatment from the English. Throughout his essay, Swift uses sarcasm, satire, and irony.
Voltaire. Candide. New York: Boni and Liveright, 1918. Project Gutenberg. Web. 11 January 2014. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19942/19942-h/19942-h.htm
Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. 2189.
sees that this may be right, but in order to make things better you must first
The Norton Anthology World Literature Volume 2: 1650 to the Present. Ed. Martin Puchner. Shorter 3rd ed. New York: Norton, 2013. Print
The idea of eating all the youth in the country is obviously self-defeating and is not being seriously suggested by the writer. He is simply trying to show how desperate the lower class is in Ireland. Swift introduces the reforms he is actually suggesting, taxing absentee landlords, of encouraging the domestic economy by buying Irish goods, of discouraging pride, vanity, idleness, by dismissing them in his essay by saying that they are impractical. However, these reforms greatly differ from his ?modest proposal? because instead of the poor sacrificing their children, it would involve the rich sacrificing some of their luxuries. He is trying to point out the fact that reforms that would be practical and beneficial to the people of Ireland are being overlooked for the convenience of the rich.
Frautschi, R.L. Barron's Simplified Approach to Voltaire: Candide. New York: Barron's Educational Series, Inc., 1968.
This essay will have no value unless the reader understands that Swift has written this essay as a satire, humor that shows the weakness or bad qualities of a person, government, or society (Satire). Even the title A Modest Proposal is satirical. Swift proposes using children simply as a source of meat, and outrageous thought, but calls his propo...
Anthology of World Literature. Ed. Peter Simon. 3rd. ed. Vol. B. New York and London:
Although Alexander Pope's, "The Rape Of The Lock" and Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" are both witty satires, they differ on their style, intention, and mood.
When Juliet hears after marrying Romeo that she must be married to Paris, a count, in two days, she rushes to Friar Laurence’s cell to speak of her sorrow. When Friar Laurence hears of how Juliet wishes to die if he cannot fix the problem, Friar Laurence says that he can help her if she has “the strength of will to slay [her]self” (4.1.73). This shows that Friar Laurence is again not worried about Juliet herself and her safety, but about what he can do to reconcile her family and Romeo’s. He offers this proposition when he already knows Juliet is willing to die and vulnerable. Lastly, his resulting plan is what sets the play’s tragedy in motion. Though Friar Laurence had many opportunities to back away from his involvement, keeping Juliet and Romeo safe, he does not. This shows that his interference – and the way he goes about it – are responsible for Romeo and Juliet’s
The Contribution of Juliet's Relationship with Her Parents and Friar Lawrence's Single Mindedness to the Tragic End of the Play
Moliere, Jean-Baptise Poquelin. 'Tartuffe.' The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Ed. Maynard Mack. New York: W.W. Norton " Company, 1995. 307 -356.
Lawall, Sarah. (Ed.). (2002). The Norton Anthology of World Literature (Vol. A). New York: W.W. Norton & Company.