LECTURE 10
LITERATURE OF THE XVII-XVIII CENTURIES
1.
Jonathan Swift – the greatest literary critic of the XVII century. Literature of the Age. Swift’s
outlook.
2.
Literary activity of Henry Fielding and Richard Sheridan.
1.
Jonathan Swift – the greatest literary critic of the XVII century. Literature of the Age. Swift’s
outlook.
Jonathan Swift was the greatest of English satirists. He is generally thought to be the greatest prose
writer of the eighteenth century. He was a man whom many considered a misanthrope (one who hates
humankind) because his writings were deeply critical of humanity. It was, however, his deep love for
humanity that caused him to criticize it, and his great dream was to cure the ills of his age through humor.
Jonathan Swift was born in Dublin, but he came from an English family. The writer’s father died at
the age of 25, leaving his wife and daughter penniless. Jonathan Swift was born on November 30, in 1667,
after seven month his father’s death. His son was born 7 months after his death and was named Jonathan
after his late father. The boy knew little of his mother’s care: she had to go back to her native town and
Jonathan hardly ever saw her during his childhood. He was supported by his uncle.
At the age of six, he was sent to school and at the age of
fourteen, he entered Trinity College in Dublin. He got his bachelor’s
degree in 1686. After many years, he once again saw his mother in
Leicester. She helped Jonathan to become a private secretary and
account-keeper to Sir William Temple. Sir William Temple’s estate
was at Moor Park, not far from London. Sir William was a retired
diplomat and writer. At Moor Park Swift made friends with Esther
Johnson, the daughter of the housekeeper. Their friendship lasted all
his life.
Having improved his education at Moor Park by taking advantage of Sir William’s library, Swift went
to Oxford and took his Master of Arts degree in 1692. A year and a half he worked as a vicar at a church in
Ireland and then returned to Moor Park. He continued to live and work there until Sir William Temple’s
death in 1699. By 1697, Swift’s had written his first satires “The Battle of Books” and “A Tale of a Tub”. But
both of them were published later, in 1704. In “A Tale of a Tub”, the author ridiculed the extravagances of
religion, literature, and academia. “The Battle of Books” is a mock debate between ancient and modern
authors.
Swift kept an eye on the political events of London. He wrote political pamphlets in defense of the
Whigs. His contributions to “The Tattler”, “The Spectator” and other magazines show how well he
understood the spirit of the time. Jonathan’s conversations with the leaders of the English political parties
are described in his letters to Stella (Esther). His letters became his famous work “Journal to Stella”.
In 1713, Swift was made Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin. In Ireland Swift came into contact
with the common people and saw miserable conditions in which the population lived. Swift wrote
pamphlets criticizing the colonial policy of England. In 1726 Swift’s masterpiece “Gulliver’s Travels”
appeared and it made a great sensation.
Conditions in Ireland between 1700 and 1750 were disastrous. Famine (hunger) had depopulated
whole regions. The districts were covered with unburied corpses. Swift wrote the pamphlets: “The Present
Miserable State of Ireland”, “A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a
Burden to Their Parents or the Country” and others.
Hard work and continuous disappointments in life undermined Swift’s health. By the end of 1731, his
mind was failing rapidly. In 1740, his memory and reason were gone and he became completely deaf. He
died on October 19, 1745, in Dublin. During all his hard later years of a mental decline, his friends stayed
loyal to him. The Irish people continue to this day to celebrate him as a hero. The generosity of spirit, deep
learning, and genuine humor were characteristic features of his writing, and they were a great gift to the
literary tradition.
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