1667
Birth
Jonathan Swift was born in Dublin by an Anglo-Irish family. His father died before Jonathan came to life. He studied at Trinity College, before moving to England.
1688
Life in England
In England, Swift worked as a secretary for Sir Temple, a statesman who supported Jonathan’s passion for writing.
1694
Joining the Anglican Church
Swift was ordained Anglican priest. At the time, Ireland was mainly Catholic. The Anglican were about 10% of the population and they were the only ones to be allowed to vote, to go to university and to be MP (Members of Parliament).
1699
Back to Ireland
Swift went back to Ireland, but travelled to England on several occasions.
1700s
The Scriblerus Club
Together with other intellectuals, Swift founded the Scriblerus Club, based in London. It was an association of satirist writers, prominent men of letters and intellectuals who contributed to the literary debate of the time.
1704
A Tale of a Tub
In this pamphlet, published anonymously, Swift satires the Church and modern learning.
1713
Dean in Ireland
Swift was appointed Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin.
1720
Proposal for the Universal Use of Irish Manufacture
Sympathetic towards the sufferings of the Irish, Swift published anonymously this pamphlet, an invitation to the Irish to boycott English goods.
1725
Drapier’s Letters
Increasingly interested in the Irish question, in this collection of pamphlets Swifts invited the Irish to boycott English goods.
1726
Gulliver’s Travels
Published with the name Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in four parts, by Lemuel Gulliver, it is a satire on courts, parties, statesmen and religious conflicts.
1729
A Modest Proposal
This pamphlet is a masterpiece of satire in which Swift attacks the British for their injustices to the Irish.
1745
Death
Swift died in Dublin, after spending the last years of his life living in isolation, due to misanthropy and suffering from mental illness.
Gulliver’s Travels
Year of publication: 1726
Genre: satirical novel
PLOT AND SETTING
CHARACTERS’ PROFILE
THEMES
STYLE
Gulliver's Travels is a first-person narrative. Swift uses a matter-of-fact style to create a realistic description of places and people, even in the details he offers the reader. The protagonist, Gulliver, is an invented character and an object as well as an instrument of satire. The novelist uses irony, allegory and wit to surprise his audience and forces it to recognise the deeper meaning of his stories. The aim is to satirise some aspects of public life and to instruct his readers by defining new moral standards and denouncing everything distasteful in human nature. One of the main stylistic features is the use of symmetry. There is a continuous juxtaposition between opposites: the short Lilliputians and giants, wild and wise, rational and savage characters. He also uses a particular stylistic device called ‘listing’, a catalogue of words belonging to a common semantic area, considering that his novel was meant to be read also aloud, which was a common practice at Swift’s time.
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Inizia
Year of publication: 1726
In 1714 the Hanoverian King George I ascended the British throne. He was German, so he spoke poor English, and spent most of his time in Hanover. As a consequence of it, the Prime Minister Robert Walpole and the Cabinet administered the kingdom becoming more and more independent from the crown.
Walpole was a Whig, representing the interests of the merchants and the business men of the time. His long government was seen as a Golden Age both from an economical and cultural point of view. In this lively atmosphere, coffee houses became very popular and there the new middle classes enjoyed social class mobility.
Walpole was a Whig, representing the interests of the merchants and the business men of the time. His long government was seen as a Golden Age both from an economical and cultural point of view. In this lively atmosphere, coffee houses became very popular and there the new middle classes enjoyed social class mobility.
Genre: satirical novel
A novel is the most common form of prose literature and it emerged in its modern form in 18th century Europe. In a satirical novel, the author attacks with humour or exaggeration what he considers as problems of his time, such as vice or corruption. The author often expresses his own opinions on how the criticised aspects can be improved.