The Issue of Bad Writing in Swift and Pope
The eighteenth century witnessed a major revolution, in some ways more profound than the Civil War, the Printing Trade. It was a state of anarchy within which struggling writers, who came from the lower strata, were writing in journals, newspapers, magazines etc. Great consumption of these kinds of writings led to the formation of the Grub Street (a London Street inhabited by literary hacks such as writers of small histories, dictionaries and temporary poems. The term Grub Street is often used collectively for poor and needy authors who wrote for meager sums of money.) This popular culture, which in the view of historians is created, produced and consumed by people themselves, acquired an identity which it never had before. Moreover, it was a time of political strife and patriotism gave way to intense party feelings. Almost all writers could be bought; even the best of them, with a few exceptions, were in the pay or service of one party or the other. Literature became the handmaid of politics and of state-craft. It was at this time that writers like Swift and Pope wrote satires against hack writers, the tradition invented by Dryden in his poem ‘MacFlecknoe’ in which he has mocked and ridiculed writers whom he thought as worthless (Shadwell, Ogilvy etc) and exalted worthy writers of natural poetic talent (Fletcher, Ben Jonson etc).
Among such Satirical works of Swift, where he has attempted to satirize scholastic and modern incoherence in learning, is his book A Tale of a Tub. It can be seen as embodying, as the ‘Author’s Apology’ states, the author’s intention, its satiric purpose being to expose the corruptions in learning and religion. Here, Swift, on the surface level, claims to ...
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... then took up the cause of writing satires with the aim of exposing the hollowness, dullness, irrelevance, lack of profundity, and low level of the writings of their contemporary writers. Though a tinge of personal spite marks their satirical works, yet one cannot overlook the noble aim with which these two writers wrote - the aim of maintaining high standards of literary creativity.
Bibliography
• A Tale of a Tub – Jonathan Swift
• An Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot – Alexander Pope
• Essay on Criticism – Alexander Pope
• Histories of English Literature – Moody and Lovett
• Text, “Text”, and Swift’s “A Tale of a Tub” – Marcus Walsh
• Ernest Tuveson (Ed.) – Swift: A Collection of critical essays
• Miriam K. Starkmann – Swift’s Satire on Learning in A Tale of a Tub
Swift's opposition is. indirectly presented in the report. The author uses satire to accomplish his objective not only because he is able to conceal his true identity but also because it is the most effective way to awake the people of Ireland into seeing their own deprivation. Firstly, the narrative voice begins the essay by describing the horrible conditions in which the Irish peasants live. He demonstrates there is a serious problem with a great need for a solution.
In addition, the wit that is contained within “A Modest Proposal” is astonishing and superb. Although some have taken “A Modest Proposal” seriously and actually thought that Swift was trying to propose to boil infants and eat them. The reader cannot yield that seriously and if the reader does then it would co...
The aim of this essay is to explore the way in which the two authors
Primarily used in satire is the literary device, irony, which is often displayed in both Swift’s essay and Voltaire’s novella; it is used to convey the duplicity of certain ...
In Jonathan Swift’s satire, “A Modest Proposal”, Swift writes about the starving people of Ireland in the early 1700’s. He makes a wild and absurd proposal to help remedy the problems of overpopulation and poverty. Swift wants to make a political statement by using the “children” as satire to grasp the attention of the audience - the English people, the Irish politicians and the rich – and make them aware of the political, moral, and social problems. In “A Modest Proposal”, Swift’s arguments are presented effectively by using pathos (emotional appeal), ethos (ethics and values), and logos (logic reasoning and facts).
In his lengthy literary career, Jonathan Swift wrote many stories that used a broad range of voices that were used to make some compelling personal statements. For example, Swifts, A Modest Proposal, is often heralded as his best use of both sarcasm and irony. Yet taking into account the persona of Swift, as well as the period in which it was written, one can prove that through that same use of sarcasm and irony, this proposal is actually written to entertain the upper-class. Therefore the true irony in this story lies not in the analyzation of minute details in the story, but rather in the context of the story as it is written.
During Swift’s observation he maintains a scientific style of writing when speaking of his brilliant plan while continuing his satirical message in order to gain credibility. Swift’s main attributes are...
Barnett, Louise K. "Voyeurism in Swift's Poetry." Studies in the Literary Imagination. Spring l984: 17-26.
These works dealt with taboo topics, and, as satires, they were very sarcastic and tongue-in-cheek. The readers of the time did not appreciate the attitude the poets expressed when dealing with these touchy subjects, and both poets received a backlash, rather than praise, for their poems.
In “A Modest Proposal” several forms of satire are demonstrated throughout the story. Satire is defined as the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose or criticize people’s stupidity or vices. (Google) In "A Modest Proposal" Swift uses parody which is a form of satire. Parody is primarily making fun of something to create a humorous feel for it. In “A Modest Proposal,” Swift uses parody to make fun of the people and children of Ireland, expressing the children as delicious food to be eaten.
The dictionary definition of satire is the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices. Particularly, in the context of contemporary politics or other topical issues. If one were to examine contemporary culture today they would notice that it is becoming more and more satirized. One could argue this by turning on any program and listening for hidden messages alluding to some cause or political reference. Satire appears in many forms and may be used to shock the reader or targets into changing their behavior.
Jonathan Swift's story, Gulliver's Travels, is a very clever story. It recounts the fictitious journey of a fictitious man named Lemuel Gulliver, and his travels to the fantasy lands of Lilliput, Brobdinag, Laputa, and Houyhnhmn land. When one first reads his accounts in each of these lands, one may believe that they are reading humorous accounts of fairy-tale-like lands that are intended to amuse children. When one reads this story in the light of it being a satire, the stories are still humorous, but one realizes that Swift was making a public statement about the affairs of England and of the human race as a whole.
Mouth-watering, scrumptious, and delicious are a few words that come to mind when you think of Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal.” His satire on the conditions of life in 1729 was to draw its readers to serious discussion on the distressing matters that plagued their society. His extreme and sarcastic response to the treatment of the ever-growing poor population of Irish families, by the rich English landowners, was to bring to light a matter that they had come to accept as normal. Apparently, over time English landowners obtained ownership of Irish lands and would lease these lands back to the Irish farmers at outrageous prices. This made it nearly impossible for farming families to make ends meet and in some cases to the point of near starvation. When many children of poor families grew up, they fled to foreign lands in search of a better life or they turned to a life of crime to make a living. The staggering number of children born to parents that could not support them was shocking and of a surety rarely considered in wealthy homes. Through this essay, he compelled the current government officials of the time to devise rational solutions that would deal with the large population of poor Irish farmers, and fix the conditions in which they lived.
Swift was ambitious and wanted to start a career working at the church however, his satirical works Tale of a Tub and Battle of the Books prevented Swift from getting a position in the church because they insulted Queen Anne. Although, these works insulted the Queen, they appealed to the public, when they were published in 1704, and established Swift as a prominent literary figure of the time. How...
In an age of where rationality and morals were held to the accepted values, Jonathan Swift stood out as a champion of humanism. All his life he attacked pretense and begged people to see that life is not always what it seems when you look harder and think deeper. In addition, Swift was one of the most powerful writers of his time; able to rally people and nations around the caustic and moral views expressed in his works. His political writings for the Tories exposed the corruptions of government and paved the way for his acclaimed satires. Swift's great strength lied in impressing people into believing his ideals without blatantly professing them or becoming preachy.