Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal: Summary & Analysis

Lesson Transcript

In this lesson, you will learn what Jonathan Swift's 'A Modest Proposal' is about, what it means within the context of the British (1) _____ of Ireland and the prevailing political perceptions of the time.

Summary of 'A Modest Proposal' 'A Modest Proposal,' written by Jonathan Swift in 1729, begins by deploring the sad fate of the (2) _____ Irish who have to spend all their time trying to feed their large families. As a solution to the poverty in which these families are forced to live, by virtue of having so many mouths to feed, Swift suggests that these poor Irish families should (3) _____ their children and sell them to the rich English land owners.

He argues that children could be sold into a (4) ____ as early as the age of one, giving poor families some much needed income, while sparing them the expenses of raising so many children. With 100,000 Irish children out of the population being set aside for dinner, his solution, he reasons, will also help to resolve the issues of overpopulation and unemployment in Ireland, giving the Irish economy a much needed boost, while making it easier for England to deal with its unruly Irish subjects.

Swift then goes on to offer statistical support for his proposal and specific data about the number of children to be sold, their weight and price, and the projected (5) _____ of their consumers. He even suggests some recipes for preparing this delicious new meat, reasoning that, with innovative cooks generating ever more and delicious new dishes, it will expand and improve the (6) _____ experience of the wealthy, resulting in a healthier and happier population as a whole.

'A Modest Proposal' ends with the argument that the practice of selling and eating children will have positive effects on Irish (7) _____: husbands will treat their wives with more respect, and parents will value their children in ways as yet unknown. His proposal, he argues, will, if implemented, do more to solve Ireland's complex social, political and economic problems than any other measure that has yet been proposed. Analysis of 'A Modest Proposal' 'A Modest Proposal' uses an approach called (9) _____ to make its point, which is the use of irony, humor or exaggeration to criticize the ideas of others. Swift obviously doesn't sincerely want the people of Ireland to sell their children as food, but he's using the outrageous concept to deliver a message.

With 'A Modest Proposal,' Swift makes fun of similar pamphlets that were being circulated at the time. His word choice throughout the piece, including the word 'modest' in the title, highlights this by mocking the false modesty in the tone of many of the pamphlets of his contemporaries. Their style may have seemed reasonable, but their proposals displayed an arrogance only too common among the British ruling class toward their Irish subjects.

In his proposal, Swift vents his growing aggravation at the incompetence of Ireland's politicians, the hypocrisy of the wealthy, the tyranny of the English and the squalor and degradation in which he saw so many Irish people living. But, while 'A Modest Proposal' bemoans the bleak situation of an Ireland almost totally subject to England's exploitation, it also expresses Swift's contempt for the Irish people's seeming inability to stand up for themselves. It is not only the English, but the (10) _____ themselves, he declares, who are responsible for their nation's poverty-stricken state.

Swift makes his point by stringing together an appalling set of morally-untenable propositions in order to cast blame far and wide. He offers up (11) _____ as a means of solving Ireland's social and political ills, mocking the political opinions and ineffectual remedies proposed by others. He uses the prevailing (12) _____ that Irish Catholics tend to have a lot of children, to mock the English indifference to the plight of the Irish and to their own part in it. He even goes as far as to argue that the practice of selling and eating children will have positive effects on Irish family morality, mocking the English upper classes' prejudice against the Irish lower classes as lacking in morals and civilized values, deeming them lazy and prone to petty crime.

The essay progresses through a series of surprises that first shocks readers and then causes them to think critically, not only about policies, but also about motivations. In Protestant England, many people might have shared the stereotypes about Irish Catholics, who would never go so far as Swift suggests in eating children. Yet Swift's declaration that the British landlords have already '(13) _____' the Irish economically implies that his proposal to eat their children is no more than a more literal continuance of what is already happening.

In the end, 'A Modest Proposal' is anything but modest. It is an outrageous and biting satire aimed at exposing England's (14) _____ view of Ireland and its people and to illuminate the inability of the Irish themselves to stop their own degradation as, little by little, they are devoured as much by their own incompetence as by their English landlords.

Lesson Summary Jonathan Swift's 'A Modest Proposal' is a satirical essay meant to underline the problems of both the English and the Irish in 1729. Satire is the use of irony, humor or exaggeration to criticize the ideas of others. In his essay, Swift argues that children could be sold into a meat market as early as the age of one, giving poor families some much needed income, while sparing them the expenses of raising so many children. With 100,000 Irish children out of the population being set aside for dinner, his solution, he reasons, will also help to resolve the issues of (15) _____ and unemployment in Ireland, giving the Irish economy a much needed boost, while making it easier for England to deal with its unruly Irish subjects. In his proposal, Swift vents his growing aggravation at the incompetence of Ireland's politicians, the hypocrisy of the wealthy, the tyranny of the English and the squalor and degradation in which he saw so many Irish people living. But, while 'A Modest Proposal' bemoans the bleak situation of an Ireland almost totally subject to England's exploitation, it also expresses Swift's (16) _____ for the Irish people's seeming inability to stand up for themselves.

Learning Outcomes The purpose of studying this lesson is to become better-prepared to:

Summarize the content of Jonathan Swift's 'A Modest Proposal' Remember the definition of satire

Analyze the meaning behind this satire

Swiftian Satire: exploitation -- fatten up -- devoured -- meat market -- culinary

-- Irish -- satire -- poverty-stricken -- family morality -- eating patterns --

cannibalism -- stereotype -- prejudiced -- overpopulation -- contempt