Jonathan Swift – 1667 – 1745
Author and Satirist, famous for Gulliver’s Travels, written in 1726 and ‘A Modest Proposal’ (1729)
Jonathon Swift was born in England on 30th November 1667 and died on 19th October 1745, he was Irish.
He was a satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, secondly for the Tories) a poet and a cleric.
He is remembered especially for Gulliver’s Travels and A Modest Proposal; he is remembered mostly because of his satirist essays and not so much by his poetry.
He became masters to Quitus Horatius Flaceus (Horatian) and Juvenalian styles.
His pamphleteering earned him the status of an Irish Patriot.
· This proposal where he suggests that the Irish eat their own children is one of his most drastic pieces.
· He devoted much of his writing to the struggle for Ireland against the English hegemony
· “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 public.”
· Jonathan Swift is described by many as being a ‘juvenalian’ satirical essay writer and publisher. He published ‘A Modest Proposal’ anonymously in 1729
· He suggests that the impoverished Irish might ease their economic troubles by selling children as food for richer ladies and gentlemen.
· Mocking the authority of the British Officials in Ireland because this is when Britain had taken over Ireland and put heavy restrictions on their trading – therefore stifling their economy.
· ‘A Modest Proposal’ was noted by historians as being the first satirical essay.
· This essay is held to be one of the greatest representations and examples of irony used in English Language.
· Goes to great lengths to support his arguments – including a list of how you would serve children as food, and calculations of the financial benefits selling children as food would bring.
· Swift uses common methods in his writing – by appealing to the authority “A very knowing American of my acquaintance in London”.
· Uses current events at that time to argue his point – exploiting common prejudice against Catholics (which he describes as Papists in his writing) pointing out their depredations (damages) of England.
· Swift addresses possible objections including the depopulation of Ireland.
· Swift begins talking about Ireland and its homelessness rates, beggars and general negativity. This is to shock the audience/reader when suggesting the eating of children.
Jonathan Swift saw many advantages within his Proposal –
· Teaching the number of Papists, and that poorer tenants within Ireland will have something of their own.
· The nations stock will be increased by £50,000 per annum (year)
· Ireland would be rid of the charge for maintaining children
· Great custom to taverns in Ireland
· Great inducement to marriage – Increasing motherly tenderness towards their children.
More...
· Readers that were unacquainted to the satirist’s works and irony used may not immediately realise that Swift is not being serious about cannibalism, he follows the rules and structure of old Latin satires.
· Swift makes a few subtle ‘jabs’ at England’s mistreat of Ireland
· Swift’s main target was the ‘can-do’ spirit and attitudes of the times that led people to devise a number of illogical schemes that worked purportedly solving social and economical skills
· Swift was particularly insulted by projects that tried to fix population and labour issue with a simple ‘cure-all’ solution “joint stock company” – Responding to this Swifts proposal was a “burlesque of projects concerning the poor” which was popular during the 18th Century.
· This essay also targets the calculating way people perceived the poor in the designing of their projects.
· Swift reminds the readers that “there is a gap between the narrator’s meaning and the texts” and that a moral political argument is being carried out by means of parody.
· Ireland did not always mean a greater wealth or economy.
· At the start of the industrial age in the 18th century it was believed that “people are the riches of the nation” – Therefore restoring faith to the economy – but again meaning that paid workers had lower wages because high wages meant working less.
· Edmund Wilson – Statistically the logic of the Modest Proposal can be compared with defence and crime (Marx) argues that crime takes care of the superfluous population.
· Witkowsky – Swift’s satiric use of statistical analysis is an effect to enhance his satire that “springs from a spirit of bitter mockery...”
· Charles K Smith – Rhetorical style makes the reader detest the speaker and pity the Irish. Creating sympathy for the Irish and dislike towards the narrator. But feels emotion solely for members in its own class.
· Swift uses opening details of poverty to create two opposing points of view which alienates the reader from the narrator who can view with a melancholy detachment.
· Swift degrades the Irish by using language people usually use for animals
Adam Smith – Progress of Opulence in Different Nations
Adam Smith was born on 5th June 1723 and died on 17th July 1790.
He was a Scottish moral philosopher, and a pioneer of political economy.
He was one of the key figures of the Scottish Enlightenment.
He was the author of ‘The Wealth of Nations’ written in 1776, which is his ‘magnum opus’ meaning something that was created and received positive criticism and it was the first modern work of economics.
· ‘The wealth of nations’ is an account of economics at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution introducing a free market economy as more productive and more beneficial to society.
· One of the books main themes is the concept of the ‘invisible hand’ guiding a society through self-interest. – The invisible hand concept is a term economists use to describe the self-regulating nature of the market place. Smith says “the invisible hand was created through the conjunction of the forces of self-interest, competition and supply & demand.
· Intentional consequences occurred through his writings of how individuals can pursue their own wants and needs.
Linking to Swift –
Smith talks about the wages of labourers. Smith dictates how the wages of labour are dictated primarily by the competition between labourers and masters.
Labourers bid against each other for opportunities in employment, and the wages collectively fall. Whereas when employees bid against each other for limited supplies of labour, the wages rise.
When labourers combined and no longer bid against one another, their wages rise, whereas if masters had combined, their wages would have decreased.
When the Capital was introduced to Britain the population increased and wages became higher. Smith says, “Poverty is extremely unfavourable to the rearing of children and there is great mortality with younger children of the poorer people who can’t afford to tend to their children with the same case as these in better stations.”
Through his writing Swift criticised the free-thinking of the Enlightenment period. It appears that he was concerned mostly with the exposing of the overly optimistic understanding of human nature appealed to by the free-thinkers, such as Smith. His criticism of the Enlightenment is illuminated by his use of satire. His main criticisms were shown by him recognising the pride of these other solutions, he was sceptical of the modern advances, he diverted attacks on the church and the state, and he saw inherent flaws in man.
The Enlightenment was its emphasis on the sovereignty of ‘Reason’. Thus was a shift between the medieval ways of thinking where people relied on the church. The Enlightenment makes the beginning of the encouragement to become independent.
· Mercantilist – Trade directed by the state.
· Living like a gentleman meant civilisation and by trade.
· Smith does not have Rousseau’s concern about inequality
· More like Locke because he believes wealth and poverty is relative. That the poorest person in a rich society is better off than a richer person in a poor society.
· And why is one country wealthier than another, and why is one object more than another?
· Machiavelli and Hobbes – Humanists.
Smith’s Conclusions
· Trend towards growth/increasing wealth is a natural law.
· Unemployment is impossible.
· Slavery is inefficient.
· Governments and Sates do more harm than good generally.
· Economic Behaviour (trade) is an innate pleasure and is a defining characteristic of human-beings.
· The division of labour is an absolute good.
Author and Satirist, famous for Gulliver’s Travels, written in 1726 and ‘A Modest Proposal’ (1729)
Jonathon Swift was born in England on 30th November 1667 and died on 19th October 1745, he was Irish.
He was a satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, secondly for the Tories) a poet and a cleric.
He is remembered especially for Gulliver’s Travels and A Modest Proposal; he is remembered mostly because of his satirist essays and not so much by his poetry.
He became masters to Quitus Horatius Flaceus (Horatian) and Juvenalian styles.
His pamphleteering earned him the status of an Irish Patriot.
· This proposal where he suggests that the Irish eat their own children is one of his most drastic pieces.
· He devoted much of his writing to the struggle for Ireland against the English hegemony
· “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 public.”
· Jonathan Swift is described by many as being a ‘juvenalian’ satirical essay writer and publisher. He published ‘A Modest Proposal’ anonymously in 1729
· He suggests that the impoverished Irish might ease their economic troubles by selling children as food for richer ladies and gentlemen.
· Mocking the authority of the British Officials in Ireland because this is when Britain had taken over Ireland and put heavy restrictions on their trading – therefore stifling their economy.
· ‘A Modest Proposal’ was noted by historians as being the first satirical essay.
· This essay is held to be one of the greatest representations and examples of irony used in English Language.
· Goes to great lengths to support his arguments – including a list of how you would serve children as food, and calculations of the financial benefits selling children as food would bring.
· Swift uses common methods in his writing – by appealing to the authority “A very knowing American of my acquaintance in London”.
· Uses current events at that time to argue his point – exploiting common prejudice against Catholics (which he describes as Papists in his writing) pointing out their depredations (damages) of England.
· Swift addresses possible objections including the depopulation of Ireland.
· Swift begins talking about Ireland and its homelessness rates, beggars and general negativity. This is to shock the audience/reader when suggesting the eating of children.
Jonathan Swift saw many advantages within his Proposal –
· Teaching the number of Papists, and that poorer tenants within Ireland will have something of their own.
· The nations stock will be increased by £50,000 per annum (year)
· Ireland would be rid of the charge for maintaining children
· Great custom to taverns in Ireland
· Great inducement to marriage – Increasing motherly tenderness towards their children.
More...
· Readers that were unacquainted to the satirist’s works and irony used may not immediately realise that Swift is not being serious about cannibalism, he follows the rules and structure of old Latin satires.
· Swift makes a few subtle ‘jabs’ at England’s mistreat of Ireland
· Swift’s main target was the ‘can-do’ spirit and attitudes of the times that led people to devise a number of illogical schemes that worked purportedly solving social and economical skills
· Swift was particularly insulted by projects that tried to fix population and labour issue with a simple ‘cure-all’ solution “joint stock company” – Responding to this Swifts proposal was a “burlesque of projects concerning the poor” which was popular during the 18th Century.
· This essay also targets the calculating way people perceived the poor in the designing of their projects.
· Swift reminds the readers that “there is a gap between the narrator’s meaning and the texts” and that a moral political argument is being carried out by means of parody.
· Ireland did not always mean a greater wealth or economy.
· At the start of the industrial age in the 18th century it was believed that “people are the riches of the nation” – Therefore restoring faith to the economy – but again meaning that paid workers had lower wages because high wages meant working less.
· Edmund Wilson – Statistically the logic of the Modest Proposal can be compared with defence and crime (Marx) argues that crime takes care of the superfluous population.
· Witkowsky – Swift’s satiric use of statistical analysis is an effect to enhance his satire that “springs from a spirit of bitter mockery...”
· Charles K Smith – Rhetorical style makes the reader detest the speaker and pity the Irish. Creating sympathy for the Irish and dislike towards the narrator. But feels emotion solely for members in its own class.
· Swift uses opening details of poverty to create two opposing points of view which alienates the reader from the narrator who can view with a melancholy detachment.
· Swift degrades the Irish by using language people usually use for animals
Adam Smith – Progress of Opulence in Different Nations
Adam Smith was born on 5th June 1723 and died on 17th July 1790.
He was a Scottish moral philosopher, and a pioneer of political economy.
He was one of the key figures of the Scottish Enlightenment.
He was the author of ‘The Wealth of Nations’ written in 1776, which is his ‘magnum opus’ meaning something that was created and received positive criticism and it was the first modern work of economics.
· ‘The wealth of nations’ is an account of economics at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution introducing a free market economy as more productive and more beneficial to society.
· One of the books main themes is the concept of the ‘invisible hand’ guiding a society through self-interest. – The invisible hand concept is a term economists use to describe the self-regulating nature of the market place. Smith says “the invisible hand was created through the conjunction of the forces of self-interest, competition and supply & demand.
· Intentional consequences occurred through his writings of how individuals can pursue their own wants and needs.
Linking to Swift –
Smith talks about the wages of labourers. Smith dictates how the wages of labour are dictated primarily by the competition between labourers and masters.
Labourers bid against each other for opportunities in employment, and the wages collectively fall. Whereas when employees bid against each other for limited supplies of labour, the wages rise.
When labourers combined and no longer bid against one another, their wages rise, whereas if masters had combined, their wages would have decreased.
When the Capital was introduced to Britain the population increased and wages became higher. Smith says, “Poverty is extremely unfavourable to the rearing of children and there is great mortality with younger children of the poorer people who can’t afford to tend to their children with the same case as these in better stations.”
Through his writing Swift criticised the free-thinking of the Enlightenment period. It appears that he was concerned mostly with the exposing of the overly optimistic understanding of human nature appealed to by the free-thinkers, such as Smith. His criticism of the Enlightenment is illuminated by his use of satire. His main criticisms were shown by him recognising the pride of these other solutions, he was sceptical of the modern advances, he diverted attacks on the church and the state, and he saw inherent flaws in man.
The Enlightenment was its emphasis on the sovereignty of ‘Reason’. Thus was a shift between the medieval ways of thinking where people relied on the church. The Enlightenment makes the beginning of the encouragement to become independent.
· Mercantilist – Trade directed by the state.
· Living like a gentleman meant civilisation and by trade.
· Smith does not have Rousseau’s concern about inequality
· More like Locke because he believes wealth and poverty is relative. That the poorest person in a rich society is better off than a richer person in a poor society.
· And why is one country wealthier than another, and why is one object more than another?
· Machiavelli and Hobbes – Humanists.
Smith’s Conclusions
· Trend towards growth/increasing wealth is a natural law.
· Unemployment is impossible.
· Slavery is inefficient.
· Governments and Sates do more harm than good generally.
· Economic Behaviour (trade) is an innate pleasure and is a defining characteristic of human-beings.
· The division of labour is an absolute good.
