A Modeste Propsal

One of the most famous satirical pieces of all time is Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal. Although the issues contained within the text are aimed specifically at the political and economic situation in Ireland and England during the early eighteenth century, the thematic ideas that Swift develops so effectively in his work remain important to this day. Swift utilizes satire and wordplay to underscore the oppression of the Irish by the English, and in doing so, creates one of the longest-lived pieces of social and political satire and sustained irony of all time.

To truly understand the impact of Swift’s satire and wordplay, it is important to have a basic understanding of the time period in which he wrote the piece, and the political and social situation facing England and Ireland at that time. Swift himself was Irish, living within the confines of Ireland; at this juncture, Ireland had been politically, socially, and even religiously controlled by England for five hundred years (Quintana, 1965). Ireland had recently been refused a union with England, even though Scotland had been granted the union; many suspected that Ireland’s large, poor, Catholic population had a lot to do with England’s refusal (Quintana, 1965).

Religion in England, Ireland, and Scotland during this time was a particularly contentious subject; the Church of England and the Catholic Church were continuously at loggerheads, and the English Crown and Parliament were unwilling to accept into its ranks a bevy of poor, hungry Irish Catholics, for fear of social unrest or even uprisings (Quintana, 1965). As a result, Irish power in England was limited, as was its ability to do trade and govern itself independently.

Although Swift seems to have considered himself English, he expressed great sympathy in his work for certain causes, and championed some of the more important issues facing the Irish poor (Quintana, 1965). He was particularly concerned with economic issues, although he attacked...