Comparison of Swift and Pope
Although there are many different themes and writing styles in early 18th Century writings, two of the greatest satirists of all time, Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope, shared some of the most effective, moving, and influential themes and writing styles of the time period. These great writers, authors of ?The Beast?s Confession? and ?An Essay on Man? respectively, both utilized similar writing techniques and subject matter to portray, to the best of their ability, the themes which they felt were most important for the general public to understand. It is for these reasons: the time period, similar interests, correspondence of writing techniques, and likeness of style and method, that I believe Jonathan Swift?s work, ?The Beast?s Confession? and Alexander Pope?s piece ?Essay on Man? to be analogous in the above respects. Of extreme importance in the comparison of these two poetic works is the time period in which they were written. The time period of the early to mid-18th Century was one of self reflection, philosophy of mankind, and self-improvement. In Jonathan Swift?s Work ?The Beast?s Confession?, Swift places major emphasis on the importance of knowledge on one?s place in the great cycle on life. For instance, he stat
es, ?Creatures of ev?ry kind but ours well comprehend their natural pow?rs; While we, whom reason ought to sway, Mistake out talents ev?ry day. Upon dissection of these deep and paradoxical lines, the reader is able to ascertain a meaning much deeper than that which appears superficially. What Swift intends the reader to infer from his lines is not the literal sense that men are less intelligent then their four-legged counterparts, although figuratively this meaning fits his sarcastic intentions, but rather that, of all creatures created by God, whom Swift portrays a great respect for, Mankind is the only who unrelentingly questions, not only his own purpose in life, but the purpose of all aspects of life around him. This makes Mankind inherently more vain and narcissistic than the other creatures with whom Man is compared. Therefore, since Swift?s sarcasm is portrayed in the form of constructive criticism, the point which Swift wishes to be made is of the utmost importance when determining Swift?s intentions for writing the poem. In the case of ?The Beast?s Confession?, Swift wishes that Mankind would simply refrain, if only for a moment, from the constant dissection, and questioning of God?s plan for the future of Earth?s creatures. Therefore, it becomes apparent that Swift?s intentions are to force Mankind into self-understanding, which must be attained before a thorough understanding of all other aspects of life can be expected. The line ?we?mistake our talents ev?ry day? is of great importance when dealing with the theme of Mankind?s self inflation of their
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Approximate Word count = 1064
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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