English literature in the 18th century (enlightenment in england) General Background

Jonathan Swift

(1667 - 1745)

Jonathan Swift was the greatest of English satirists. He is generally thought to be the greatest prose writer of the eighteenth century. He was a man whom many considered a misanthrope (one who hates humankind) because his writings were deeply critical of humanity. It was, however, his deep love for humanity that caused him to criticize it, and his great dream was to cure the ills of his age through humor.

Swift was born in Dublin, but he came from an English family. The writer’s father, supervisor at the court building of Dublin, died at the age of 25, leaving his wife and daughter penniless. His son was born seven months after his death, on November 30, 1667. He was named Jonathan after his late father.

The boy knew little of his mother’s care: she had to go back to her native town of Leicester and Jonathan hardly ever saw her during his childhood. He was supported by his uncle Godwin.

At the age of six he was sent to school and at the age of fourteen he entered Trinity College in Dublin. He got his Bachelor’s degree in 1686. After many years he once again saw his mother in Leicester. She helped Jonathan to become a private secretary and account-keeper to sir William Temple. Sir William Temple’s estate was at Moor Park, not far from London. Sir William was a retired diplomat and writer. At Moor Park Swift made friends with Esther Johnson, the daughter of the housekeeper. Their friendship lasted all his life.

Having improved his education at Moor Park by taking advantage of Sir William’s library, Swift went to Oxford and took his Master of Arts degree in 1692. A year and a half he worked as a vicar at a church in Ireland and then returned to Moor Park. He continued to live and work there until sir William Temple’s death in 1699.

By 1697 Swift had written his first satires “The Battle of Books” and “A Tale of a Tub”. But both of them were published later, in 1704. In “A Tale of a Tub” the author ridiculed the extravagances of religion, literature, and academia. “The Battle of Books” is a mock debate between ancient and modern authors.

After sir William Temple’s death, Swift became vicar again and went to live in Ireland. He invited Esther Johnson to come to his place. It is believed that Swift made a secret marriage with her, but much of his private life is unknown.

In Ireland Swift kept an eye on the political events of London. He wrote political pamphlets in defense of the Whigs. His contributions to “The Tattler”, “The Spectator” and other magazines show how well he understood the spirit of the time. Swift’s conversations with the leaders of the English political parties are described in his letters to Stella (Esther). These letters became his famous work “Journal to Stella”.

In 1713 Swift was made Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin. In Ireland Swift came into contact with common people and saw miserable conditions under which the population lived. Swift wrote pamphlets criticizing the colonial policy of England. In 1726 Swift’s masterpiece “Gulliver’s Travels” appeared and it made a great sensation.

In 1728 Stella died after a long illness. This loss affected Swift deeply.

Conditions in Ireland between 1700 and 1750 were disastrous. Famine depopulated whole regions. Some areas were covered with unburied corpses. Swift wrote the pamphlets: “The Present Miserable State of Ireland”, “A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burden to Their Parents or the Country” and others.

Hard work and continuous disappointments in life undermined Swift’s health. By the end of 1731 his mind was failing rapidly. In 1740 his memory and reason were gone and he became completely deaf. He died on the 19th of October 1745, in Dublin.

During all his hard later years of a mental decline his friends stayed loyal to him. The Irish people continue to this day to celebrate him as a hero. The generosity of spirit, deep learning, genuine humor were charac-teristic features of his writing, and they were a great gift to the literary tradition.

“Gulliver’s Travels”
In “Gulliver’s Travels” (originally the novel was called “Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World by Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon and then a Captain of Several Ships”) Swift criticized and satirized the evils of the existing society in the form of fictitious travels. Apart from being a good story, it is the indictment of the human race for refusing reason and benevolence as the ways of life. The scenes and nations described in the book are so extraordinary and amusing, that the novel still arouses interest with both children and adults. It covers the adventures of a ship’s surgeon who is washed up on a number of imaginary shores. The novel is divided into four parts that are actually four voyages:

Part 1. A voyage to Lilliput.

Part 2. A voyage to Brobdingnag.

Part 3. A voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glabdubdrib and Japan.

Part 4. A voyage to the country of the Houyhnhnms.
Thus, Gulliver first visits Lilliputians - tiny people whose bodies and surroundings are only 1/12 the size of normal people and things. At first the Lilliputians treat Gulliver well. Gulliver helps them, but after a time they turn against him and he escapes their land.

Gulliver’s second voyage takes him to the country of Brobdingnag, where people are 12 times larger than Gulliver and amused by his tiny size.

Gulliver’s third voyage takes him to several strange kingdoms. The conduct of the strange people of these countries shows the types of foolishness Swift saw in his world. For example, in the academy of Lagado, scholars waist all their time on useless projects such as extracting sunbeams from cucumbers. Here Swift satirizes impractical scientists and philosophers.

In his last voyage, Gulliver discovers a land ruled by wise and gentle horses called Houyhnhnms. Stupid, savage creatures called Yahoos also live there. The Yahoos look like human beings. The Houyhnhnms dislike and distrust Gulliver because he looks like Yahoos, and they believe he is also a Yahoo. Gulliver wishes to stay in the company of the Houyhnhnms, but they force him to leave.

Thus in each country Gulliver makes observations about society in general. He finally returns to England with a painful recognition of his own country’s flaws.

The greatest merit of the novel is the satirical description of all the vices of the society of the time. Under the cloak of fantasy Swift satirized the politics of the time, religious prejudices, wars of ambition and the absurdity of many aspects of science.

Swift’s style is uniquely simple. Every line and every detail is alive but it is full of biting satire. The author presents the most improbable situations with the utmost gravity and makes the reader believe them. Defoe’s prose is clear, it is a clarity sustained by the most vigorous mind of the century. It defies imitation. Never is the meaning obscure, and each argument is developed with a deadly certainty, not through rhetoric, but by putting the proper words in the proper places.

Jonathan Swift had a great influence on the writers who came after him. His work has become popular in all languages. Like Defoe’s “Robinson Crusoe”, it has the merit both of amusing children and making men think.