Jonathan+Swift

__Jonathan Swift __ Created By:

"I never saw, heard, nor read, that the clergy were beloved in any nation where Christianity was the religion of the country. Nothing can render them popular, but some degree of persecution.``

The Enlightenment was a period of time with numerous ideas suggesting reason rather than fact. With this, more and more intellectuals and philosophes came into the picture and began to re-question life as they knew it, and Jonathan Swift (1669-1745) was caught in the midst of it. Jonathan Swift was a very famous satirist in the 17th century who often picked fun at religion, society, and the government of his time and often rose a wide range of controversy.

-Jonathan swift was born November 30th 1667 in Dublin, Ireland, he was an Irish writer, satirist and clergyman -He was the son of Protestant Anglo-Irish parents -His ancestors had been Royalists -1688- William of Orange invaded England, which initiated the Glorious Revolution and left Swifts hometown of Dublin in turmoil -Swift took the opportunity to go to England where he hoped to gain preferment in the Anglican Church -1694- Swift left the church of England & returned to Ireland to take Holy Orders -1695- Swift was ordained a priest in the Church of Ireland, the Irish branch of the Anglican Church -1696 to 1699- composed most of his great works including "A Tale of Tub"- a prose satire on the religious extremes represented by Roman Catholicism and Calvinism -Jonathan Swift ridiculed the pettiness of human concerns in [|Gulliver's Travels] (1726) which became a major literary vehicle - Gulliver's Travels was even translated into French by Voltaire (1694-1778), who was at the time living in England, this helped the book be made known across the Channel. - The Book took a satirical view of the state of European government and of petty differences between religion (such as their morally debased political culture, and a limitless lust for power). It also took an inquiry into whether men are inherently corrupt or whether they become corrupted. This book reflects the new way of attempting to change the world through parodying the ways of their predecessors. <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">- Swift, aside from his fantastic satirical work, he was also involved in politics. This was mainly because it was very involved with the Anglican Church, of which he was a member. It was also during Swift's time where there was a constitutional revolution where the powers of monarchy suddenly became more limited than ever before, while parliament had the better advantage. <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">- The following link leads to further information on the political party that Swift joined, the "Whig Party", it was at this time that he published the infamous essay "[|A Modest Proposal]", which not only became one of his most famous parodys, but attacked the political instability going on in England and Ireland and defended his country in terms of the interests of his church and his class. He became a national hero and, more importantly, was the first national leader Ireland ever had.

__<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Swifts Big Idea : __ <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Swift lived in a time where life was being questioned and the idea of "reason" was being brought up. He was an intellectual who attempted to improve society in Ireland through parody and satire. His works attacked the stereotypes and petty differences between religion and human concerns and succeeded in showing society how ridiculous their actions seemed when put in a satirical context. ** Before his death Swift composed this epitaph for himself: **


 * // "Swift sailed into his rest; //**
 * //savage indignation there// **
 * cannot lacerate his breast. **
 * //Imitate him if you dare,// **
 * //world-besotted traveler; he// **
 * served human liberty." **