A Grand Satire (A modest Propo
This essay will examine the use of satire within a great work of English literature, Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal.” To do so one must first understand what is meant by satire. It is a trenchant use of wit, irony or sarcasm used to expose and discredit vice or folly. “A Modest Proposal” is just that, mocking the absentee British landlords who take great advantage of the Irish peoples. The title itself holds a great deal of the humor. If it had been named A Grandiose Proposal it would obviously have lacked most of the shock to the reader. When first published it was handed out as a pamphlet to people on the street. With the title as it was no harm was seen in it. However, upon reading it a great deal of people must have been quite unnerved. The proposal within was to take the children of the poor Irish and selling them as a delicacy to the rich English. The comedy is quite clear now and shows the wonderful wit that Swift made use of. The pamphlet itself was presented as a proposal “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.”(2473) This introduction is quite mild for the topic at hand. Yet this is a convention used th
. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
Francois Rabelais, Grandiose Proposal, James II, Modest Proposal, Finally Swift, March Reasoning, Irish English, American French, , modest proposal, Edward Stewart, poor irish, advantage irish, children poor, rich english, french physician, absentee landlords, poor people, pay landlords,
Approximate Word count = 1422
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
