1. Jonathan Swift and Satire

2. Upcoming Dates January 26 th – Research novel finished, annotated, ready to research topics in the library February 9 th —Wuthering Heights Quiz over complete novel. Handouts, handouts, handouts

3. Horatian Satire Horace was a Roman poet and satirist during the time of Augustus. Horatian satire is humorous and intended to make us laugh at human foolishness or weakness.

4. Juvenalian Satire Juvenal was a Roman poet and satirist during the 1 st century. Juvenalian satire is harsh and intended to make us angry at human vice and corruption.

5. INVECTIVE If critics simply abuse, they are writing INVECTIVE From the mouth of a wit, INVECTIVE can be a piercing tool, but when delivered from a shallower mind, invective invariably is simple abuse

6. JEREMIAD If critics are sad and morose over the state of society, they are writing a JEREMIAD From Jeremiah bemoaning the state of the Hebrews to Jonathan Edwards espousing Puritan beliefs to the Christian Coalition trying to restore “values” in the country, the JEREMIAD has always had a popular appeal

7. http://tinyurl.com/orgcx9e Or

8. GREECE AND ROME: Classical Ancestors of Satire Aristophanes Juvenal Horace Martial Petronius

9. DIRECT SATIRE The satiric voice speaks, usually in the first person, either directly to the reader or to a character in the satire, called the ADVERSARIUS DIRECT or FORMAL satire is fundamentally of two types: HORATIAN and JUVENALIAN

10. INDIRECT SATIRE The satire is expressed through a narrative and the characters or groups who are the butt are ridiculed not by what is said about them but by what they themselves say and do

11. THE NOVEL The chief vehicle for satire in the modern world. CERVANTES, RABELAIS, VOLTAIRE, SWIFT, FIELDING, AUSTEN, THACKERAY, TWAIN, HUXLEY, ORWELL, JOSEPH HELLER, and THOMAS PYNCHEON have made extended fictional narratives the vehicles for the satiric treatment of human beings and their institutions

12. Jonathan Swift 1667-1745

13. Biography Born in Dublin on November 30, 1667 Always a kind of displaced person – an Englishman by blood living among Irishmen; an Anglican by choice surrounded by Roman Catholics or, in his own diocese, Presbyterians Had an ominous start to life when he was snatched from his cradle by a loving but misguided nurse. He remained separated from his mother for three years Studied at Trinity University, Dublin’s great Protestant university

14. Contd. He worked as the Tory party’s chief propagandist He assumed the editorship of the Tory journal, The Examiner, with the assignment of justifying the change in ministry from Whig to Tory, of preparing the public for the peace that the Tory party was working for, and of allaying fears that the Tories would bring back James the Pretender (James II) and popery Installed as Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in 1713

15. Contd. Swift began in 1720 to engage himself more vigorously in Irish causes, though the character of Irish patriot was not one he relished. As he wrote to Alexander Pope, “What I do is owing to perfect rage and resentment, and the mortifying sight of slavery, folly, and baseness about me, among which I am forced to live.” His task was an exasperating one of rousing a people to look after its own interests The causes he took up and shouldered throughout the remainder of his productive life were mainly the improvement of Irish agriculture and manufacture and the encouragement of home consumption, the protection of the currency against the threats of devaluation from English coinages, the protection of the rights of the clergy, and the care of the poor

16. Works The most famous – and best – of his nationalistic essays are The Drapier’s Letters (1724-25) and A Modest Proposal (1729), but the condition of Ireland must have been a primary inspiration for his monumental satire on intellectual, moral, and spiritual subservience - Gulliver’s Travels. The passage from the letter to Pope, quoted earlier, might have come from the pen of Gulliver returned from his travels

18. A Modest Proposal

20. The author assumes the persona of a political arithmetician (forerunner of the modern socioeconomic planner) whose attitudes reflect the very evils he proposes to remedy by his “project.” The full title continues: for Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from Being a Burthen [sic] to Their Parents, or the Country, and for Making them Beneficial to the Publick.

21. Swift’s Satire Swift is a Juvenalian satirist Juvenal is a Roman satirist who wrote at end of the first century CE Juvenal and Swift are misanthropic satirists who feel that evil is rooted in man’s nature and the structure of society The misanthropic satirist finds life not comic but contemptible

22. A Modest Proposal Not a single sentence deviates from the essay’s bitter tone Its persuasive power lies in its irrefutable indictment of Irish and English indifference and sheer folly in the face of unspeakable injustice and misery Its immediate attraction is its wildly original and creative idea

23. Ironic Persona Swift employs a narrator whose views are obviously antithetical to his own Always be careful to separate the artist from his art Swift’s audience is multifold: primarily the Protestant Ascendancy of which he is a member; the English legislators, landlords, and economic apologists; the Irish commoners who, if we view Swift as an angry preacher, are being scolded for their sloth, stupidity, and wanton behavior

24. Historical Parallel An actual plan to solve Ireland’s problems was suggested by Irish patriot, Colonel Edward Despard Despard suggested that he could solve the country’s problems through a separation of the sexes Swift satirically proposed that the Irish institute a system of regulated cannibalism Despard very seriously proposed racial suicide, which, had it been instituted, would have eliminated the entire Irish population in a few short generations In Colonel Despard’s suggestion, what had been ironic in Swift became theoretical truth, for it was seriously proposed

25. T.R. Malthus In 1798, Thomas Malthus wrote:Thomas Malthus The power of population is so superior to the power of the earth to produce subsistence for man, that premature death must in some shape or other visit the human race. The vices of mankind are active and able ministers of depopulation. They are the precursors in the great army of destruction, and often finish the dreadful work themselves. But should they fail in this war of extermination, sickly seasons, epidemics, pestilence, and plague advance in terrific array, and sweep off their thousands and tens of thousands. Should success be still incomplete, gigantic inevitable famine stalks in the rear, and with one mighty blow levels the population with the food of the world. —Malthus T.R. 1798. An essay on the principle of population. Chapter VII Cruel way of thinking about population; wrote this as a reaction to the situation in Ireland, the satire of Swift, and Despard’s suggestions. His mathematical and logical essay was heartless yet accurate. He suggested that the population would naturally die off.

26. Read and Annotate Individually “A Description of the Morning” “A Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed” “Cassinus and Peter” Look for elements of: satire, restoration, poetry, Swift v. other “age of reason” sentiments. Summarize every 10 lines or so. Finish for homework. Bring annotated on Block Day