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Class Notes on "A Modest Proposal"
-- Gulliver's Travels and "A Modest Proposal" are works of satire;
Swift is best known as a satirist.
-- He is in a unique position to write this work as an Englishman born
and working in Ireland.
-- His message here? We (the British) are consuming the Irish
in every way (land, resources, labor), why not extend this to physical
and literal consumption (for food).
-- A satirical solution to the "Irish problem."
-- Irony of the title
-- How do you know when he’s kidding? He sets up the work as
if he's serious the entire time, especially at the beginning when he explains
his role as projector (one who plans for these types of problems).
Why do it at one year? (cheap to feed babies the first year)
Reasons for eating the babies:
feed and clothe thousands
will prevent abortions
they are tasty
efficient (2 meals)
in season all year
clothes
less Catholics (Catholicism was abhorrent to the English)
own property to sell for the tenants (since they are basically denied
owning land by their landlords, the people who basically own their country)
new goods
new customs
kids are a bother
inducement to marriage
DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT DOING THESE THINGS: (488) These are Swift's
real solutions hidden here.
--taxing the absentees
--reject foreign materials
--quitting our animosities
Why not sell them into slavery? Not good until 12.
Note that the "author" here will not be affected since his own wife is beyond childbearing age.
Problems with satire? Could be taken seriously (and this sometimes is/was both in his own time and, sometimes, by today's readers).
Modest proposal for our time? What could compare?