Jonathan Swift Was One of The Greatest Satirists

Jonathan Swift was one of the greatest satirists of his time, becoming a national hero of Ireland. After Swift was forgotten by Ireland he made a return by defending Ireland from the English rule. “First, there was The Drapier's Letters to the People of Ireland (1724), which caused the king of England, the prime minister, and the Parliament to back down from the insult to the people of Ireland in the proposed coining of William Wood's copper halfpence”(Ward, David).

Impact on Irish Society

In the quote above shows the start of Jonathan Swift's biggest impact on Ireland, where he indirectly attacked the monarchy. Insulting the king of England by showing his flaws was a great success, for example, Jonathan's work A modest proposal exemplified the idea that children of Ireland were being overworked. “Which employed shock technique to apprise the Irish people of the fact that slaughtering and dressing infants for the dinner tables of English absentee landlords were really little different from prevailing conditions, which allowed them to die of starvation.”(Ward, David). Here we see how powerful a satire can be; once word got around people considered how poor their actual living condition is compared to the ones in the satire, The Parliament knew that word of the satire began to spread and they backed down before they could receive backlash from the public.

The Significance of Gulliver's Travels

Gulliver's travels was made at the end of Swift's career, however, from all his satires This was one of his most famous. The end of Gulliver's travels explains how shows how Gulliver found out how humankind can devolve if they make the wrong choices, especially when they let their wants and greed overcome their reason. When Swift wrote Gulliver's travels, he did so anonymously, and yet people believed he was a real person some claiming to know him well. Swift had also been influenced by the era itself, changing the way he thought after growing up in the “harsh” environment of Ireland. “His early education in School included a rigorous Anglican training, as did his undergraduate years in College, Dublin. There he did well in literature but badly in the barren, abstract philosophy of the period (with its heavy emphasis on logic)”(New Catholic Encyclopedia). Swift was largely influenced by the schools he went to and the people he met, however, what probably drove him to make the works he's so famous for was his views on philosophy by using irony and satire. All the work Jonathan swift has done both influenced both the poor and the rich, other writers even took inspiration from him.

The Neoclassical Period: A Time for Change

The Neoclassical period was an age of understanding and reason; people questioned theirs and others morals, the era was largely influenced by satirical and logic-based writers, artist, and poets who challenged authority; one of the most influential satirists of the time was Jonathan Swift who changed the lives of many. The Neoclassical era largely impacted Eastern Europe, especially with the introduction of the middle class. People had been largely influenced by the things they read, causing people to change their entire lifestyle or at the very least changed their views on society. Famous artist and writers changed history by writing clever works of their opinions, this either caused them to be powerful political leaders or shunned them from society. People such as Jonathan Swift, Johnson, and John Drufen left lasting impacts on their surroundings with their works alone, forever leaving their marks on their country and people.