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AN ANALYSIS OF IRONY
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in [A Modest Proposal].... More...
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Paper Abstract:
in [A Modest Proposal].

Paper Introduction:
A contradiction between the literal and the intended meaning, "A Modest Proposal" brings to mind a "Hansel and Gretel" aspect of fattening someone for slaughter. However, this aspect is far from the immediate message of the satire, or so it seems. " I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London; that a young healthy child, well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food; whether stewed, roasted, baked or boiled; and, I make no doubt, that it will equally serve as a fricassee, or ragout." Undoubtedly, a strange saying unless one considers the irony of the stage set for era and country where famine played the lead role. With children left to starve in the streets, might it not have been simpler to "sell" them for nourishment of other bellies? At least, Swift seems to cry out, they would serve a

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Merrill Literary Casebook Series, ed. Yet while Swift himself must have been emotionally involved withgetting the message across to his reading audience, he lets the proposernot only underplay his proposal and his arguments to justify the proposalbut also underplays his emotions. J. Merrill Publishing Company, 1969.The English Humourists of the Eighteenth Century. But he is not a maggot -- he slaughters fast, and kosher, not likeCromwell who traded Irish lands to secure soldiery. Charles Beaumont among other critics, praises the classical form ofthe essay itself as an important constituent of Swift's irony. he still separates the writer from the written matterin many more ways than one. . The Charles E. Louis A.Landa had this to say ". Addingthe suggestion of cannibalism, Swift draws a proposal of such monstrositythat there is hope for a solution to the problem of poverty . According to Ricardo Quintana . [4]Swift, p. . the poorer tenants will have something valuable of their own" takinginto consideration that corn and cattle had already been seized and thatmoney was "a thing unknown." In its very cool and analytical, distant, unemotional and logicalform, the essay makes people shudder . London: Smith, Elder & Company, 1869.----------------------- [1]Jonathan Swift, "A Modest Proposal," ed Charles Beaumont, TheCharles E. Merrill Literary Casebook Series, ed. There is no denying that Swift's style does achieve an easy anddirect conveyance of meaning -- or rather the style he has created for "AModest Proposal." And while Swift did not succeed in doing something aboutthe lamentable situation, he did, however, succeed in producing a cleverpiece of literature in ironical form. And, in addition to everything,therecame a failure in grain crops, some three years prior to Swift's "AModest Proosal." Consequently, the truths upon which the irony is based,deserve the reader's full attention. Edward P. . and Swift achieves in his effortto make the unthinking man "sit up and listen" to a degree that may makehim a good Samaritan, and possibly helping the human race survive. 12-13. . The tract was written for a public inwhose consciousness the maxim was firmly implanted, in the expectation thatthe ironic impact would thus be greater."[5] Populousness, however, can only be a blessing to a country where careis taken to keep unemployment under control. . the mainrhetorical strategy in the essay. . Otherwise, theironic axis of Swift's essay is left to decipher by the reader. For, little is there to ridicule of childrenbeing sold like swine. . [5]Swift, p. Swift regularly undercuts his sentences with fine irony, concludingthe whole essay with a subdued minor point which is almost an ironic aside: his reference to the fact that his wife is past child-bearing. . . . why not eat them?" At least they would serve a purpose other thansatisfying worms beneath rotting level of upper earth. disobliging England."[3] Still, 1667-1745computed a satiric use of imagination much in style with the twentiethcentury, bringing to mind a successful cartoon: two missionaries half-boiled in an iron pot, with happy natives dancing about, and captionreading: "Heavens, they forgot to say grace!" If there is humor in Swift's tale, it borders on the macabre ratherthan the satiric in which vices, abuses, follies and so forth re held up toscorn, derision or ridicule. Thus he mentions". Merrill Publishing Company, 1969), pp. There is no evidence that Swift did any extendedor systematic reading in economic theory according to the Sales Cataloguereprinted by Harold Williams in Dean Swift's library (Cambridge, 1932).Where population growth is often encouraged by more liberal immigrationlaws, counting "that people are the riches of a nation . It is interesting to note that the very quotation mentioned aboveshould be the one selected by William Makepeace Thackeray[2] while leavingout "fricassee, or", while, calling it a "pretty joke" argued with "perfectgravity and logic." If Jonathan Swift could have lived in a computer age, dissectingchildren into "sort-of" stews might have been conveniently reduced tomathematics instead of ". Generally defined, irony is the difference between what actually istrue and what a person either thinks or pretends to think is true. It is a "humanistic projector" who writes "AModest Proposal." Essentially, Swift is an exhibitionist who unveils bone, liftingflesh. . When hewitnessed children left to starve in the streets, he cried out in sarcasm:". Swift's essay was meant to be a "shocker" not only for its satiricvalue, but the fact that lack of work and overpopulation were treated withtotal neglect, a state of affairs that perturbed Swift greatly. And any person who does notfit in economic or political society or is unallowed to function thereinmakes the nation poorer. " I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintancein London; that a young healthy child, well nursed, is, at a year old, amost delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food; whether stewed, roasted,baked or boiled; and, I make no doubt, that it will equally serve as africassee, or ragout."[1] Undoubtedly, a strange saying unless oneconsiders the irony of the stage set for era and country where famineplayed the lead role. A contradiction between the literal and the intended meaning, "AModest Proposal" brings to mind a "Hansel and Gretel" aspect of fatteningsomeone for slaughter. English laws near theend of the seventeenth century virtually ruined the Irish economy. With children left to starve in the streets, mightit not have been simpler to "sell" them for nourishment of other bellies?At least, Swift seems to cry out, they would serve a purpose for havingbeen born in the first place. Englishparliament kept passing laws protecting the English producers byprohibiting the exporting from Ireland into England of all cattle, swine,sheep, and the edible products thereof. Charles Beaumont. Edward P. Under Elizabeth I, Irelandsuffered from other economic abuses. Thus, the Modest Proposer talks forEngland when he says: "I think it is agreed by all parties, that thisprodigious number of children in the arms, or on the backs, or at the heelsof their mothers, and frequently of their fathers, is in the presentdeplorable state of the kingdom, a very great additional grievance; andtherefore, whoever could find out a fair, cheap, and easy method of makingthese children sound and useful members of the commonwealth, would deserveso well of the public, as to have his statue set up for preserver of thenation."[4] It is Swift's clever artistry that continues to attract. . . . Corbett. Columbus, Ohio: Charles E. The inhuman proposal thrusts forth apositive exposition of ideas only near the end of his work. Corbett(Columbus: Charles E. J. However, this aspect is far from the immediatemessage of the satire, or so it seems. who praisesSwift's style . . 17. " Swift withunusual knowledge of or insight into economic matters points out thatIreland was at least one country where populousness was not a virtue. The very fullness of meaning that Swift's irony suggests saves thetract from the flatness of propaganda; the Modest Proposal implicates moreand more of us in his own madness. A modest proposal is seen to be anotherprotest, in Swift's unique manner, against the unqualified maxim thatpeople are the riches of a nation. 11. . . . BibliographySwift, Jonathan. "A Modest Proposal," ed. Swiftcreates a fictive author to be his spokesman whom readers refer to "theModest Proposer." One of Swift's ironic devices is to use his opponent insuch an argument as the model for his persona and then to expose theopponent's position as the character and mind and values of that personaare gradually revealed to the reader. [3]Ibid., p. Swift's repetition of key words serves as ahammering-in motif especially where the proposal violates on of the mostfundamental of human relations -- the child-parent relationship. [2]The English Humourists of the Eighteenth Century (n.p.: Smith,Elder & Company, 1869). The horror of this irony hits one evenharden when realizing that the proposer, in his naivety, intends his wordsto be taken literally. 39.----------------------- 7

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