Jonathan Swift 1667 1745 Study Questions Millennium I

Jonathan Swift (1667 - 1745) Study Questions Millennium I p. 174

STUDY QUESTIONS 1. What are Swift’s origins and where did he spend his life? • He was born in Ireland of English parents. There he spent most of his life except for a number of years (10) in England where he stayed at Sir William Temple’s house, one of the most important statesmen of the day. 2. Did he attain any fame while alive? • Yes, he did. He was considered one of the great writers of the Augustan Age. 3. What prose genres did he write in ? • He wrote satirical works against corruption in the political world, especially against the Whig Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole , and in religion and in learning ( see for example “A Tale of a Tub” 1704), especially against the Roman Church. His most famous prose work, however, is “Gulliver ‘s Travels” (1726), a novel in which his satirical vein is also clear. 4. What is he remembered for? • He is particularly remembered for being a brilliant polemist. His works are characterized by his polemical genius. 5. In which pamphlet did he best express his bitter disapproval of the English policy in Ireland? • In “A modest Proposal” where he paradoxically suggests the use of poor Irish children as food for the rich English landowners 5. What kind of book is “Gulliver’s Travels”? • It is both a satire on man and institutions and a fascinating travel book.