Neoclassical Period 1660 1798 emphasis reason logic order

Neoclassical Period 1660 -1798 • emphasis: reason, logic, order, balance, individual (over group) • Locke: social contract exists between the gov’t and people • “natural rights” of life, liberty, property • logical justification for Glorious Revolution • Restoration • belief that man is basically/innately evil • Industrial Revolution begins • Impoverished masses begin to grow (decline of farming, demise of traditional village life)

Neoclassical Period 1660 -1798 • Enlightenment = Age of Reason • Tory & Whig parties • English Bill of Rights – limited royal authority • Glorious Revolution • Catholics excluded from serving in Parliament • James II overthrown; William & Mary (Protestants) become monarchs in 1689 • lots of unrest in Ireland as result of Glorious Revolution corruption Swift’s satire • Ireland declared inseparable from England (1719)

Neoclassical Period 1660 -1798 • satire, poetry (heroic couplets, iambic pentameter), novels, letters/diaries • many writers modeled works on ancient Rome, “new classicism” • focus on grammar, spelling (Samuel Johnson – 1 st dictionary) • dramatic rise in functional literacy among men (up to 50% of population)

• coffee houses • center of cultural, political life in London (1650 -1860) • where educated men spent evenings dining & talking w/ literary friends, political associates • newspapers could be read there for no charge • Scriblerus Club – met in England (1714) • Assn. of writers, including Swift, Alexander Pope, John Gay, John Arbuthnot, who met to “satirise all the false tastes in learning”

Jonathan Swift Nov. 30, 1667 - Oct. 19, 1745 EARLY LIFE • Born in Dublin to English parents (Anglo-Irish) • Frequently moved between Ireland & England • Graduated from Trinity college (Ireland) • First job in Surrey, England • Worked as secretary, Anglican priest, author • 1 st job: secretary for Sir William Temple, retired diplomat • persuaded him to start writing • Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin

SATIRE & POLITICS • Clergyman & political writer for Whig party, wrote satires • first two satires were published anonymously • Conservative, strict moralist – politically & scientifically • Believed in traditional scientific findings & lampooned “modern” thinkers (Locke, Newton) • Satires focused on justice, order, moral rectitude, rational thought & against arrogance, shallowness

IRISH PATRIOT • Returned to Ireland in 1714; appointed dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral by Queen Anne (of England) • Angered by tyranny of England • Ireland dependent on England b/c of repressive politics, poverty, famine; barred from trading w/ American colonies • Catholic majority in Ireland couldn’t vote, hold public office, buy land, receive an education • The Drapier’s Letters (1724) – series of publications published anonymously, but easily recognized as Swift’s • Rhetoric never before raised by Anglo-Irish voice vs. English • became hero to Irish Catholics & Protestants

Gulliver’s Travels 1726 • Had reputation for “fierce satire” as result of The Drapier’s letters in both Ireland & England • Published anonymously in London • Fictional voyage, increasingly pessimistic • Allowed Swift to vent about political corruption, annoyance with humans’ worthlessness • Goal: vent anger and rally others to get angry • Result: people entertained by novel

THE SATIRIST • Misanthropy – hatred of humankind • Swift hid deep rage with humor & sarcasm in satire • Probably grew from religious conviction • Humans = fallen victims of original sin • Opposed ideas of most Enlightenment thinkers (humans = rational creatures) • “A Modest Proposal” (1729) • Last major work about Ireland • Outrageous attack on those who mistreated Ireland’s poor • Died in 1731 – epitaph shows satire, religiosity, misanthropy • Left remaining fortune to go toward building a mental