English 12 / Unit 3: The Enlightenment and Satire
3.4 Swift's "A Modest Proposal"
Notes
Jonathan Swift published "A Modest Proposal" in 1729 in Ireland. The speaker, a calm, reasonable-sounding persona, suggests that poor Irish families sell their babies as food to rich people to solve poverty.
- Swift does not mean this. The target is English landlords, politicians and economic thinkers who treated poor Irish people as resources.
- The persona uses statistics and logic ("a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food") to describe a monstrous idea in a polite, businesslike tone, which creates irony and horror.
- The tone contrasts with the subject. This deadpan style shows how cold economic calculation can become inhumane.
- Late in the essay Swift lists real solutions the speaker rejects (such as taxing absentees and ending cruelty), so the reader sees what should be done.
Practice
What is the main purpose of Swift's proposal to eat children?
The outrageous idea is satire, designed to expose neglect and exploitation.
The speaker of "A Modest Proposal" calmly calls the plan "a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food" for the rich. What effect does this tone create?
The deadpan, rational tone makes the proposal more horrifying.
Who is the "I" in "A Modest Proposal"?
Swift writes in the voice of a character to expose his flawed logic.
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